Dual monitor color calibration profiles?

MainManiac · Sep 2011

I just got a new second monitor but the color on it is tinted slightly blue, and im not sure why. My main display draws colors perfectly but anytime I throw in a second one its always off a bit. Obviously I need to be able to see colors correctly, does anyone know how I can get them running the same colors?

Both at 1600x900
One is HD but im pretty sure that only applies to movies connected via DVI
One is samsung and one is hp connected via hdmi

Im on an ATI 6570

chrisradsby · Sep 2011

Well it'll be kinda tricky, since they're not the same manufacturer etc etc

tried the Windows 7 Display Calibration tool? It might help you

MainManiac · Sep 2011

helped a bit but theres still a tiny yellow tint on everything and my second monitor is too dark

Why would they make the colors off in the first place... no matter what the brand

chrisradsby · Sep 2011

frell wrote: »

helped a bit but theres still a tiny yellow tint on everything and my second monitor is too dark

Why would they make the colors off in the first place... no matter what the brand

Well, it's the same thing with TV:s, it all depends on the components, to get a really good screen for photography and art you should not buy a cheap one. It's also recommended that you buy two of the same brand.

If your second monitor is too dark , try and figure out if it's the brightness or the gamma. Second check what kind of "user-settings" it uses : "Cold, Warm, Custom etc" Try to make both match up, my bet is that they never really will match up 100% though. =/

AlecMoody · Sep 2011

Every panel is different and a monitor's color is constantly shifting. The only way to get accurate results is through a hardware calibration system.

System · Sep 2011

It can even vary with the same brand, out of the box

I had two Samsung monitors, both 22", both the same res, but one just a newer model of the same display and one had a noticably warmer hue, or one had a cooler hue depending how you looked at it. Without a hardware calibrator I could never get it perfect which was annoying.

Racer445 · Sep 2011

pony up a little money for a decent hardware calibrator that has dual monitor support- you won't be sorry that you did.

chrisradsby · Sep 2011

TeeJay wrote: »

It can even vary with the same brand, out of the box

I had two Samsung monitors, both 22", both the same res, but one just a newer model of the same display and one had a noticably warmer hue, or one had a cooler hue depending how you looked at it. Without a hardware calibrator I could never get it perfect which was annoying.

I don't know if I trust Samsung, they really have a lot of different versions of the same models. C, B, A, S-panels etc etc, all different quality panels of the same model for the same price, it drives me crazy.

System · Sep 2011

chrisradsby wrote: »

I don't know if I trust Samsung, they really have a lot of different versions of the same models. C, B, A, S-panels etc etc, all different quality panels of the same model for the same price, it drives me crazy.

Not only that, but they insist on 'developing' those stupid mode settings like 'Movie' or 'Games', and then on another model they're called 'Entertainment' or 'Cool' etc etc

BoBo_the_seal · Sep 2011

Don't do it! Leave them different. If you can make something that looks good on both monitors it will look good for most people (unless both of your monitors are way off).

My thought on the subject is that the average person doesn't adjust their monitor, or if they do, they typically adjust them to their personal liking. There is no guarantee that what you see is going to look the same way on someone elses monitor so I try to factor that into the way I work.

At Work they usually try to calibrate everyones monitors. I let them calibrate my viewing monitor but I have them leave my workspace monitor alone. I find that if I can get my art to look acceptable on both that it will usually still look good in the conference room and at home.

- BoBo

Treboras · Sep 2011

You should invest into a hardware calibration thing like this one:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Datacolor-DC-S3X100-Spyder-Express/dp/B0037255LC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315392014&sr=8-2[/ame]

i calibrate all my displays with this one and the results are quite good. of course you cant get more colors out of your display, than it can display, but at least they are more accurate representations.

System · Sep 2011

BoBo_the_seal wrote: »

Don't do it! Leave them different. If you can make something that looks good on both monitors it will look good for most people (unless both of your monitors are way off).

I agree with this sentiment. I always wonder why people go to such lengths to achieve 'correct' color when 99% of end users are probably not going to have corrected their displays anyway. I can understand it if you design for a fixed medium like print, but for digital content, it seems like a wasted effort.

I don't think I've met a single consumer in my life that has calibrated their display properly, so as BoBo said, what you see on your display is likely to be different on practically everyone else's anyway so unless you're working for print or a client who you know has properly calibrated their displays, then I wouldn't worry about it.

AlecMoody · Sep 2011

BoBo_the_seal wrote: »

Don't do it! Leave them different. If you can make something that looks good on both monitors it will look good for most people (unless both of your monitors are way off).

My thought on the subject is that the average person doesn't adjust their monitor, or if they do, they typically adjust them to their personal liking. There is no guarantee that what you see is going to look the same way on someone elses monitor so I try to factor that into the way I work.

At Work they usually try to calibrate everyones monitors. I let them calibrate my viewing monitor but I have them leave my workspace monitor alone. I find that if I can get my art to look acceptable on both that it will usually still look good in the conference room and at home.

- BoBo

This is a bad practice. When you produce content you need to be working in an accurate environment in order to minimize the color inaccuracy to the end user.

I put together an image to illustrate what happens:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/am/h7rmwikelql6.gif

Racer445 · Sep 2011

what alec posted is 100% true. think about it this way: you want people to see a deterioration of the best, not the deterioration of a deterioration.

EmAr · Sep 2011

BoBo says he makes them look good on both a calibrated and an uncalibrated monitor. So he's actually on two points one being the red dot on that radar diagram which sounds good to me.

Racer445 · Sep 2011

well the way i see it, averaging out between an accurate display and a "looks good" display would be more like a dot between the green and red, which means you are still deteriorating from wrong.

System · Sep 2011

I won't pretend to know anything about how these things actually work in terms of color handling so something I've always wondered with this topic in mind is;

If there is such a thing as 'correct color', and all displays can be calibrated to display this, why don't manufacturers make their panels default to 'correct color'?

Or is it that they do, and the environment in which the display is used affects the color (temperature, age of panel, lightness of room etc) and it needs to be calibrated by the end user?

EmAr · Sep 2011

After giving it a second thought I think you're right Racer445. Better to work with calibrated hardware unless you know what you're doing(I think BoBo does.)

But still I find myself thinking there should be a way to test how the game will look on players' systems. This is mainly because console gamers mostly play on larger displays with longer view distances. It seems inefficient to make this on the artist level. How does large studios manage this kind of stuff? Any ideas?

System · Sep 2011

With console gamers in mind... can TV's be hardware calibrated? I assume not, although I've seen things like test cards etc for setting up manually, but it still comes down to the users ability to do it properly.

MainManiac · Sep 2011

As long as grass looks like grass to the viewer then everything else should look relatively correct

Malus · Dec 2012

The major issue I struggle with when calibrating is the correct luminance.

Most articles/discussion I read state you should be trying ot work with a luminance of 120 cd/m2 but I often find that to be quite dull.(Using an Xrite i1 Pro on a Dell U2410 Monitor btw).

Considering most people won't tweak their screens it I'm concerned a lower luminance could mean blown out images in the general publics screens.

Anyone dealt with this, any suggestions?

ZacD · Dec 2012

Doesn't luminescence also depend on your environment? If you are in a pitch black room the same screen will look completely different in a well lit room with the windows open.

Dual monitor color calibration profiles?

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