Monitor Calibrations and RGB controls
Del Tree
<tommyphuynhtake...@yahoo.com> wrote
>I plan on getting a ColorVision Spyder with Photocal but I can't afford a
>monitor with RGB controls. Is it possible to accurately calibrate a monitor
>that doesn't have RGB controls?? I guess what I'm wondering is are the
>adjustment of the RGB guns in the PreCal merely an aid to the calibration
>process but not essential??
I find your logic and purchasing priorities bizarre to say the least.
How much is Photocal and the Spyder these days? $200?
And a decent 19" or 20" monitor with RGB Gain controls is under $500..
Even a good 21" (like the Mitsu/NEC 220 Plus) is no more than $750.
So you're spending between 30 and 40% of the cost of a CRT on
calibration software...
Don't you think that's rather putting the cart before the horse?
Or like buying a turbocharging and chipping kit for a shopping trolley.
IMV you would be far better off buying the best monitor you can afford
and calibrating it manually using it's built-in controls and then using
something like the Adobe Gamma control panel (FREE!). If you want to,
you can always buy a good calibration suite (like Optical - much better
than Photocal) and a quality spectrophotometer (DTP92) later. Your
budget monitor will be worth bugger all in two years but you will
_always_ be able to sell a good one. It's up to you! <G>
Just my ten pennorth.
Best,
--
Del Tree
Michael S. Dodds
You can get a LaCie 19"
for under $400, now.
Del Tree
S. Dodds <mic...@footprintsphotographics.com> wrote
>No kidding !
>
>You can get a LaCie 19"
>for under $400, now.
Can you? The cheapest price I've seen here in the UK is $450.00.
But then a lot of this stuff is cheaper in the States. We're stupid
enough to pay more :-)
--
Del Tree
Michael S. Dodds
http://www.macconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?product_id=258288
> From: Del Tree <d...@spamfreeuser42nospam.freeuk.com>
> Organization: not much
> Newsgroups: comp.publish.prepress
> Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 21:13:04 +0000
> Subject: Re: Monitor Calibrations and RGB controls
>
Michael S. Dodds
Unless you have vision trouble -
you will be fine with just learning to do a
good job with Adobe Gamma
and use the equipment you have.
Plenty of "big shots"
still just use Adobe Gamma.
At this point, people viewing the photos on the web
will not be seeing what you see anyway.
Just tag the files with sRGB -
color correct to your satisfaction -
make them nice and clear and bright -
and send them off
Save your originals
MSD
> From: "Tommy Huynh" <tommyphuynhtake...@yahoo.com>
> Organization: Road Runner - Texas
> Newsgroups: comp.publish.prepress
> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 01:38:42 GMT
> Subject: Re: Monitor Calibrations and RGB controls
>
> Maybe my post was misleading having posted in the prepress newsgroup so let
> me say that I'm not a graphic artist or in the publishing industry or even
> employed so I simply can't afford a $500 monitor. All I'm looking to do is
> build a decent computer system to edit the photographs that I've been taking
> on my travels the past 2 years and build a website to showcase them.
>
> Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've heard elsewhere, the opposite to
> what you are saying is true in that I hear it's better to get a Spyder and a
> mediocre monitor, than to get a high end monitor and use Adobe Gamma or
> Colorific for calibrations. Keep in mind my objective is to be able to
> accurately edit photos and make them available for viewing to others, not
> view them solely for myself.
>
> I have an old Mag DX700T with a Trinitron tube but being pretty old, I
> wanted to use it as a secondary monitor on my dual monitor setup so I went
> looking at the Sony G220RL which has no RGB controls and was still out of my
> range at $330. This gave me the impression that I would have to spend more
> to get the RGB controls, but I realize now this is not the case. Probably
> the best aperture grill monitor I can afford is the Philips 107P ($260),
> which I think I might end up getting. Turns out it has RGB controls so I
> guess I don't have to be concerned about that anymore but Philip's Lghtframe
> feature has me wondering if it will mess with my calibrations. Has anybody
> used Philip's Lightframe or Eizo's Movie Window? How do you incorporate it
> with your calibrations?
>
> To add to the confusion, I'm now hearing that the Colorvision Spyders have
> trouble with some of the newer monitors with their brighter phosphors,
> resulting in profiles that give washed out images. Has anybody else here
> had the same experience?
>
> Thanks again.
> -T
>
>
> "Del Tree" <d...@spamfreeuser42nospam.freeuk.com> wrote
Del Tree
<tommyphuynhtake...@yahoo.com> wrote (snipped some):
>Maybe my post was misleading having posted in the prepress newsgroup so let
>me say that I'm not a graphic artist or in the publishing industry or even
>employed so I simply can't afford a $500 monitor. All I'm looking to do is
>build a decent computer system to edit the photographs that I've been taking
>on my travels the past 2 years and build a website to showcase them.
>
>Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've heard elsewhere, the opposite to
>what you are saying is true in that I hear it's better to get a Spyder and a
>mediocre monitor, than to get a high end monitor and use Adobe Gamma or
>Colorific for calibrations.
If you think about it you'll see that this doesn't make any sense.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear! By the same token you
cannot make a cheap monitor with a budget tube and inferior geometry
perform like a professional model. Surely this should be self-evident to
anyone?
If all you need the monitor for is for home use and publishing on a
website third party calibration tools are a complete waste of your
money.
If you cannot afford a new quality CRT, then buy second hand. We have a
21" Mitusbishi 91 TXM here (used for web work) which at 3½ years old is
still a lot better than any monitor you can buy for $500. It cost us
over $1,500 new but there's no way we could sell it for anything more
than $400.
So my advice is shop around and see what's out there. I'd be very
surprised if you couldn't find a 2 or 3 year old pro 21" crt for $300 or
less.
Alternatively, buy a smaller tube. New 17" high quality monitors from
manufacturers like Iiyama, Taxan, Viewsonic and NEC are all available
for under $300. I would steer clear of Phillips, they are not well
regarded!
>To add to the confusion, I'm now hearing that the Colorvision Spyders have
>trouble with some of the newer monitors with their brighter phosphors,
>resulting in profiles that give washed out images. Has anybody else here
>had the same experience?
I really would forget all about calibration tools if I were you. With
only $300 to play with it seems daft to me to spend over half of your
budget on calibration kit which is primarily designed to calibrate
professional (read "EXPENSIVE") monitors for high-end photographic and
pre-press use.
Best,
--
Del Tree