Image is everything, Part 2: Get your monitor to show you what's really there

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Image is everything, Part 2: Get your monitor to show you what's really
there
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Computers are getting cheaper and better year by year. But one thing
hasn't changed. Most PCs can't do justice to a good color photo.
Most desktop computers have screens that have never been adjusted
properly. Their color is wacko, the brightess has been turned up so
high it needs a pilot's license and nobody has ever paid attention to
the contrast control.
Getting your computer's monitor adjusted right is too important to
be left to chance. It doesn't take long, and your digital photos and
scans will appreciate it so much they'll jump out and kiss you.
The fact that computer displays need to be adjusted at all is an
oddity. Part of the problem, at least for Windows users, is the fact
that most manufacturers have little control over which monitors will be
connected to their computers. Apple has a lot more say over the
monitors that Macs use, and in fact it sells two desktop models, the
iMac and eMac, that come with their own pre-adjusted monitors attached
to the computer.
Another difficulty is a nearly universal misunderstanding of what
constitutes "proper" adjustment. Most people probably turn the
brightness control up too far, washing out the colors and dashing any
hope that their computers will ever show them an image containing true
black.
Bad idea. Let me explain how to do it the right way. I'll also tell
you where to get software to fine-tune your display after you've done
the basic adjustment.
Pick a quiet time during the evening when sunlight is not washing
out your monitor's display.
Make sure your display mode is set to True Color, called "Millions
of Colors" on a Mac. On Windows, right click on the desktop, click
Properties, then click Settings. Under "Color Palette," click "True
Color." It might be called "24-bit Color" or "32-bit Color" on some
computers. If that setting is not available, a barely acceptable
substitute is "High Color" or "16-bit Color." It might also be called
"65,536 Colors." (Don't you wish we had a real color standard for
Windows PCs? There are far too many variations in what things are
called.)
Mac users will find their choices in System Preferences on modern
Macs or in the Control Panels on older Macs.
I have two simple calibration images. Don't open either of them
until after you've read how to use them.
The first link opens a completely black page. You won't see anything
else on that page, so be prepared to click your "Back" button. (In some
browsers, including Internet Explorer, you can press the Backspace key
to go back to the previopus page.) Make your browser window as large as
possible to create a large black background. (Windows users who have
Internet Explorer can press F11 to make the window full-screen. Get it
back to normal by pressing F11 again.)
Turn the brightness control down all the way. The screen should look
completely dark. Turn it up slowly until you can just barely tell that
the black background has started to turn gray. Then back off a tiny
amount so that the background is black again. Tape the control in place
if possible so it can't be knocked off its setting.
Close that page and -- after reading the instructions -- open the
second calibration image. Turn the contrast control down all the way,
then turn it up until the white section of the image looks pure white.
It's hard to do this wrong as long as you set it to a high enough
level. Most people intuitively figure the contrast control should be
set in the middle of its range, but it actually needs to be set in the
upper third of its range, and sometimes even higher.
This usually takes care of most misadjusted color displays. But you
can make even finer adjustments using good software. Windows users can
download two free programs. The first is the excellent Nokia monitor
test program from freepctech.com/rode/004.shtml or from
www.construnet.hu/nokia/monitors.htm. (Both sites seem slow at times,
so you might need to try both.) The other is Monitor Test Screens from
www.programming.de/. Navigate to the downloads area to find the test
program.
Mac OS X users have an outstanding adjustment program called
SuperCal. It's $19, but you can try it as long as you want without
paying. (If you use it more than once, pay up.) Get it from
www.bergdesign.com/supercal/.
Mac OS X and Mac OS users have simplified monitor calibration
programs in the System Preferences (Mac OS X) or Control Panels (Mac
OS).
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