bleirer

So I'd like to spend less than $200 to calibrate a HP laptop. Of course I'd rather spend less. I notice some products are $97 and some are $350, but those from the same company say that say they 'use the same technology' in both. Is there a practical reason to pay more if it is the same sensor?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Software makes the difference. The higher priced kit may use the same “puck,” but offers higher end controls. Most people don’t need them and would be confused by them.

Go to the vendor websites and read carefully.

https://www.datacolor.com/photography-design/product-overview/#workflow_2

https://www.xrite.com/industry-solutions/photography

BebuLamar

I use NEC Spectraview II to calibrate my monitors. I used the old Spyder2 puck so which puck should I upgrade to as I don't want different software because the NEC software works very well for my NEC monitors.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

The only reason to calibrate your monitor(s) is for accurate color printing. IF you just look at images on screen, it isn't needed. For accurate color output to a printer, considering the individual cost of a print, color calibration is needed if for nothing else, to stop throwing money away on a mediocre print.

For a Canon Pixma Pro-100, for the cost of ink $125, the cost for high quality paper (Epson Exhibition Fiber) $85 for 25 sheets, figuring you did 2x per month in A3 size, the cost approaches $9 per print. And this doesn't even figure the cost of the printer in the first place.

I use the X-Rite Photo Pro and am very pleased with the results. X-Rite's tech support has walked me through issues with Windows color profiles and configuration problems to the point where my calibration operation is fairly straightforward.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Calibrating a Laptop monitor is questionable because the screen angle affects the contrast and color saturation and it is almost impossible to replicate the exact angle every time.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Call or email NEC or DataColor or X-Rite and ask.

BebuLamar

These are the ones that compatible.
My question is that if I pay for the higher price one do I get better accuracy since I don't use the software that came with the "puck"

• NEC MDSVSENSOR3
• NEC SpectraSensor Pro
• X-Rite i1Pro and i1Monitor
• X-Rite i1Pro2
• X-Rite i1Studio
• X-Rite ColorMunki *
• X-Rite i1Display Pro
• Datacolor Spyder3
• Datacolor Spyder4
• Datacolor Spyder5
• BasICColor Discus
• Photo Research PR-655, 670, 680, 730, and 740 Spectroradiometers

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Probably, only photographers calibrate their PC so when putting your images onto the internet what is the point.
Studies have shown that the companies that produce prints for the general public - produce markedly different prints of the same image sent to them.
Unless you use the same paper and ink consistently, you will get differences in the printed image. Also if you use a different program to print you will see differences.
If you use a single image in more than one Post processing program they can look different both on screen and when printed.
Depending upon the intensity of the light in the room and the brightness of the PC screen 'what you see' is not going to be 'what you get.'

We talk about 'Individuality' in photography. We also Post process images to individual tastes. There is no 'standard'.

The advice is to print an image and reprocess the file to correct any discrepancies in the first printed image. As part of your workflow ensure consistency in paper used, ink supplied, and which program you use to 'send to printer'. Look at your printed image in soft daylight (early morning or late afternoon).

You will gain recognition from people who 'like' what your images look like - not how they got there.

have fun

bleirer

Took the middle road on cost vs. Features and ordered the colormunki display for $129. Let's see if it turns me into a photographic genius overnight.

So what if I did want my prints sent to Bay Photo to look like the real world? Calibrate display, shoot with a color checker card? Download printer profile for softproofing? Turn off Bay's color correction or leave it on?

TomV Loc: Annapolis, Maryland

I purchased a Dell IPC laptop for precisely this reason. However, my son has it now so I cannot compare it yet to my Dell 27" IPC monitor with my desktop.

I use a ColorMunki for cal, and there are subtle changes it makes to match my Pro-100. Making sure you can crank down the intensity of the screen is very important. I had to replace an otherwise excellent HP monitor since it was always too bright at the lowest setting.

Also, viewing lights will reveal the colors as they should be (or at close to it). I use an Ott brand task lamp and have been seeing the prints matching the screen much better than with other lighting.

I assume the printer, with proper lighting, is my standard and the monitor should be adjusted to match.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

How cynical.

As a former digital products manager of a huge school portrait lab, I can assure you that there ARE standards. It just takes time, patience, knowledge, and diligence to implement them.

We had 40 mini labs, two large format silver halide printers, three 44” Epsons, 18 ID Card printers, a NexPress, two Konica-Minolta high speed digital electrostatic color printer/copiers, and nine color-matched reference monitors in the color correction department.

Everything was color managed with custom ICC profiles. The Epsons were “dumbed down” to the much narrower color gamuts of the Noritsu mini labs, via simulation profiles.

No, everything was not a *perfect* match. But we used statistical process control and kept all devices within a reasonably rigid range of deviation (+/- 2 points from aim on any primary color, with no more than a 3 point spread between colors).

That was ONLY possible with calibration and profiling.

Before implementing color management practices, we wasted over 15% of our paper, chemistry, and labor on remakes. That dropped to 5.6% afterwards. Since we bought two 53’ truckloads of paper each fall... that was a HUGE savings.

Our monitor cal kit cost $250. Our printer cal kit was a few thousand. They paid for themselves almost instantly!

Yes, many people have uncalibrated monitors. But “studies show” that images color corrected on calibrated monitors consistently look better on UNcalibrated monitors than images improperly corrected on other uncalibrated monitors.

Out of the box, most Apple devices and some other premium brands are quite well-corrected. But the moment a user starts pushing buttons without a calibration tool kit involved, things get ugly.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I use Bay (and highly recommend them). I calibrate using my DataColor Spyder 5, downloaded their ICC profile and soft proof in PS. Once I calibrated my monitor and workflow, I stopped using their color correction (which saves almost half the cost of the print), and my prints are perfect with respect to color, saturation and brightness.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

The first thing I would do is look very carefully at which HP laptop you want to calibrate. The one I still have has such a bad screen that after calibration (and photos looked better on it then) it was useless as a general purpose laptop. In fact the only way it was usable was to turn calibration on or off depending on what you wanted to do. So got a new laptop but even then found almost the same problem. A desktop was so much better that laptops really aren't up to it.
If you wanted to persevere than only get a laptop with a very high resolution and preferably one that could tell you at the very least it was it had an IPS csreen. It will probably be a gaming or high end workstation type and cost at least twice the one you are looking at. Or dare I say it maybe a Mac although the 2x cost will still apply.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

NO GADGETS NEEDED: Owning and using fancy gadgets to "Calibrate" your monitor, while fun, is rarely necessary. I assume that anyone wanting one of these gadgets has a decent video/graphics card. Those cards have calibration software built in that is quite decent. Also, there are graphics downloadable that aid you in calibrating brightness and individual colors.
https://www.equilter.com/help/calibration

Ambient light and wall colors are rarely considered in your perception of the color of monitor or print. One UHH person was insane painting his walls 18% gray!! others black rooms!! Insanity indeed. OK, a flat black hood around the monitor can help by eliminating all but the light radiated by the monitor. Oh "radiated" but, what, my print is not radiated light it is absorbed and reflected light... yep..! That reflected and absorbed light depends on that light bulb... the degrees K, Kelvin... [no not Calvin the guy fighting the Catholic Church] To eliminate any light bulb effect, I suggest viewing your prints in an absolutely dark, pitch black, room!

OK, you get all calibrated and synchronized with 5200K room light, print perfectly and then frame and view in a "warm" 3200K room... aaa, perception thy name reeks loudly.