JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

I have a two year old Samsung 27" monitor, and the Sypder5 Express calibrator. The software that comes with the Spyder "recommends" that the monitor be re-calibrated at least every 30 days and the warning to do it defaults to 30 days although it can be set to longer periods.

Question: Is the "going out of calibration" process a function of time or use? I generally only make perhaps six prints per month; is it really necessary with that infrequent usage? It isn't more difficult than the initial setup, but it's just one more consumer of time, and it's aggravating to have the "Do it now" message constantly popping up after the 30 day period.

How often do you guys recalibrate?

Linary Loc: UK

Every three weeks - or whenever I change the lightbulbs in my office - whichever is sooner, also, during the Summer, I close curtains and recalibrate. The ambient light sensor should really take care of these changes, but I do it anyway. It only takes a minute or so to set up on each monitor, then the process is automatic so very little time is actually wasted.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I recalibrate first weekend of every month.
--Bob

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I calibrate before every extended image editing and/or printing session. Otherwise, I calibrate once a month.

NEW monitors drift more and faster than older ones. After about six months of daily use, most monitors don't drift much. My two-year-old iMac is very stable. But it wasn't at first. I re-calibrated twice a month for the first few months.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Every 30 days.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Thank you for all your comments; based upon them I think I'll calibrate the first time the warning comes up each month before I do any PP or printing.

I also think Bill Burkholder's comment about re-calibrating before any "...extended editing and/or printing session..." makes a lot of sense---THANK YOU BILL!

Jim

williejoha

I calibrate once a month. The Spyder5Elite+ works great. It has the nice feature of notifying you that your brightness needs adjusting. To answer your question is. How critical are you when it comes to judging the results?
And do not forget the the quality of your room lighting.
WJH

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

I do mine every 2 months, you can set the interval you want in the software supplied. You can set it to:

Never,
one day,
2 days,
1 wk,
2 wks,
monthly,
2 months,
3 months,
4 months or
6 months.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I re-calibrate every two months (or 60 days.... I forget exactly).

It doesn't matter in the slightest how many prints per month you make.

Monitors change over time. They lose brightness, as well as shift how they render colors. My monitor is about 6 or 7 year old. When I first got it, I found myself turning the brightness down to "20". I forget what it was defaulting to, but it was way, way too bright. Now after regular use for roughly 7 years it's brightness is set to "57", using the same calibration device to check it and set it. I imagine there is some similar shift in the ICC profile, but it's harder to quantify, although my calibration software lets me compare the "before and after", as well as historic "color triangles" of different palettes.

If you don't re-calibrate regularly, the monitor will shift brightness and and color rendition... causing you to incorrectly adjust your images.