Does monitor calibration (or not) affect CC?

[triptych]

How many of us look at images on calibrated screens when offering CC?

It came to me because when people CC my images they always say that they are over exposed and when I see their images they seem really dull to me, so it has me wondering.

Yes I calibrate, but also find differences in browers whether colour managed or not!

So how much does calibration (or not) affect a proper CC of an image?

[ricktas]

Definitely.

The biggest issue of working on a non calibrated monitor would be white balance. If your monitor is set to blue for example, as you process your photos you are likely to warm them up, by adjusting white balance or introducing a slight orange/red saturation to remove the colder blue tones.

Now I look at your result on a calibrated monitor and my CC suggests that you have oversaturated the photo.

A non calibrated screen leaves you with no way of knowing if your photo is 'correct', until someone looks at the photo on a calibrated monitor and then when they CC your photos saying they need a white balance adjustment, or are over-saturated in the oranges, you are left looking at your photo on your uncalibrated monitor, thinking the person doing the CC has no idea what they are talking about.

[Wayne]

I calibrate about monthly, and I have 2x Dell U3011's which both calibrate very well.

[Tommo1965]

good point..Ive just used the AP sites calibration help to get my monitor a little better..I had to adjust the blacks a tad..other than that it seems ok...

[triptych]

Its an interesting thing because I know a guy who wont offer his training to you unless you're working on a calibrated monitor...I think its hugely important when working with images. and really its not a huge investment these days to get a calibration system. I mean if you are investing thousands in camera equipment, what a few more $$ on a Spyder or similar?

Colour management has been on my mind lately after the prophoto incident of 2011 hahaha

[milesy]

how many different calibration 'standards' are there though......does calibration with one system necessarily give you the same results if you do it with another......the most improtant calibration really is so that what you see on the screen matches what you print with - be it your own printer or a commercial printer

[ricktas]

how many different calibration 'standards' are there though......does calibration with one system necessarily give you the same results if you do it with another......the most improtant calibration really is so that what you see on the screen matches what you print with - be it your own printer or a commercial printer

Most of the devices stick to a standard, so if you calibrate using a color munki and process your photos, then I view them on my screen calibrated using a spyder, the colour shades and brightness levels should be the same on both. This is what calibration does, it profiles the screen and makes it conform to a standard.

As for screen and print, they will always look different, purely because the screen is a transmitted light (the light source comes out of the screen) and print is a reflected medium, with the light coming from around you and you seeing the image using the ambient reflected light off the surface of the paper. Yes you can get them close but never exactly the same, cause the 'type' of light is different.

[William]

You need to Calibrate, Thats it !! I use Spyder 3 Express, $120 delivered , Cheap compared to Cameras and lenses , You have the satisfaction that what you see on screen will be the same as the printed product . I guessing most of the major companies use the same Profiles for colour management , It's very comforting to know you are Calibrated , You can CC in Confidence on Colours and tones

[JM Tran]

I can tell you that I dont offer CC unless I am home and viewing it on my calibrated external monitor, on my calibrated laptop monitor its still not as good so therefore - I dont

[I @ M]

......the most improtant calibration really is so that what you see on the screen matches what you print with - be it your own printer or a commercial printer

That sums it up neatly to me.

A properly calibrated monitor shows you the correct colours to align with a printer whether it is a commercial lab or your printer at home. Light levels are another part of the equation again that need to addressed by viewing your monitor under the same or very similar conditions each and every time you use it to finalise an image to be printed.

If you present an image on this site it might be viewed by several hundred different monitors, some calibrated and some not. If they aren't seeing your image the same way that you see it on your monitor and then in a final print it is them that are missing out.

[fess67]

I answered no to your poll as the actual question in the poll was 'Do you calibrate' although the thread is 'Does calibration affect....'

I am sure calibration does affect post processing and CC however because I am slightly colour blind I really cannot tell the difference anyway. The end result would have to be way way off for me to notice it so I don't tend to give CC based around colours

Would it make a difference to my processing if I calibrated? I doubt it so I don't bother.

[soulman]

It came to me because when people CC my images they always say that they are over exposed and when I see their images they seem really dull to me, so it has me wondering.

That suggests to me that your monitor is too bright, which is very common. A lot of the pictures I see here look like they come from systems where the monitor is set too bright. I set mine to 80cd/m2, which is very dim and which is hard to achieve on a lot of monitors because they're designed to run at 120cd or higher.

[fess67]

Since I first responded to this I have bought and use a calibration tool. Yes it does make a difference for me. I used to have my screen bright and therefore processed my images quite darkly. I now process much better with the calibrated screen (or at least I think I do)

[arthurking83]

...... I now process much better with the calibrated screen (or at least I think I do)

The proof is in the pudding(they say).

Go back to some of your later early shots processed pre calibrated screen and see how they look.
I've done that and some of them looked quite awfully yuk, so I went through a process of rectifying as many as I dare too attempt to fix. One thing I really noticed was sharpening halos on earlier images.
May have something to do with contrast rendition maybe .. but on the whole I had been pleased with most of those earlier images .. just that some looked a lot more yuk than I remembered them to be at the time of processing.

[Rattus79]

My work monitor is only calibrated by eye, so I only CC based on composition rather then technical aspects like exposure unless it's totally obvious that the sky is a pure white overexposure etc.

My home monitor is calibrated, but it was done some months ago (several in fact) and would be due to be done again.

[wmphoto]

I recently switched from Windows to an iMac and first thing I did was calibrate the monitor. However there are two issues I found with the iMac. 1) it is a backlit screen and even calibrated photos don't come out the same when printed. 2) I turned off the "automatically adjust brightness" setting as this was altering the way my shots looked depending on ambient lighting. I now run a second LCD monitor that is calibrated and do all my final adjustments on there before printing and getting more accurate results. I also trust my histogram a bit more than my eyes now.

[ameerat42]

In case you're wondering, I voted "No". There's more to a picture than just colour and tonal considerations.
When I give CC (which is well-meant, btw) I have also compared lots of other images for tone and colour.

If some images are dull/flat/off-colour and others are not, then I can't just put it down to non-calibrated monitors.

Going on some of the foregoing comments, I am surprised the poll bar is still mainly "Yes".

Anyway, there it is.
Am.

[Tommo1965]

after replying to the is thread in 2011 I wanted to reply now after gaining some more knowledge on my photography ....a calibrated screen is an absolute must and you should not give CC on a non calibrated monitor particularly about exposure and colors etc

also be aware that most HTML browsers are not calibration aware straight out of the box...so its best to download the image and view it in the editing software that is ..so even a calibrated screen can look off when just using your browser ..

see this thread about my observations


http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ching-browsers

for Google chrome

http://blog.dreamstime.com/2012/03/2...hrome_art37325