Monitor calibration recommendation?

Hi,

 

I read the Dry Creek recommendations on Monitor Calibration. Most of

it is way over my head so was hoping for a recommendation.

 

I have a 19" Samsung Syncmaster LCD monitor on my computer. I do not

own a scanner (nor want one). My only reason at this time for wanting

to calibrate the monitor is because the colors and contrast I see on

the monitor aren't what is printing with my Canon printer. I do very

little work in the digital darkroom beyond the automatic "fix" tools

in the s/w. Don't know a gamma from a bagel.

 

I see references to the Colorvision Spyder 2 and Monaco Optix XR Pro.

I am not price sensitive to the point that one or the other makes a

difference. Just want something that out of the box does whatever it

is supposed to do so that what I see on the monitor is what the

printer prints (reasonably close).

 

With those qualifying comments, does it matter which of these two I

pick or am I wasting my time and money given my lack of knowledge of

color space?

Hi Scott,

 

You may just want to set your monitor at 5500K-6000k or so. This is about the temperature

of daylight. I think you can do this if you are using a Windows computer. See what happens.

From what you say I am not sure you need one of those products.

 

Since I do have all the other paraphernalia I calibrate my monitor about once a month. I use

the Gretag MacBeth Eye One to do the calibration. Couple of hundred bucks if I recall.

Go to My Computer>Control Panel>Adobe Gamma (if you have it). Set Description to sRGB and Hardware to 6500K.

 

Click on Wizard and follow the instructions.

 

You won't need other gizmos if you view your prints in strong diffuesed daylight or under daylight fluorescent lamps.

Skip the Spyder and go directly for the Optix. And despite what others have said, you DO

want an instrument to do this. Digital images are big piles of numbers and unlike cheese,

they don?t change (unless you change them). That means the digital file you open and view

today should look identical in a week, a month and a year. Displays are unstable devices that

change. Your eyes are poor tools for placing a device in a consistent repeatable state. Use an

instrument. That?s why you see so few carpenters without rulers! <G>

Hi Scott. I coroborate Andrew's above comment, especially the part about using a ruler. My ruler is the Gretag EyeOne (the older version) and I think it is great. You can purchase these for around $70 now since the new model has come out. The software is easy to use and can be updated for free from the Gretag site. You do not need to be a specialist in color management to appreciate how much of a difference a hardware calibration tool will make in your workflow. Regards.

Andrew - do you have an opinion in relation to the Eye One 2 versus the Monaco XR.

Both are excellent. I like how the Monaco product tracks change over time and their

colorimeter has excellent filters for use with LCDs. The newer Eye-One can measure the

ambient light which is useful. Both products are very good.

Thanks again Andrew. Would you necessarily recomend the XR Pro / over the XR. In am running a dual display (from one video card). One of the displays is a Viewsonic P95+ which or some reason only allows you to adjust the red and blue guns.

 

Sorry for all the Qs - does the ambient light sensor in the Eye One 2 just take the ambient light into account when calibrating, or does it adjust the settings based on the light. This ambient light would obviously change throughout the day.