Monitor Calibration
In the production
of individual prints, we go to considerable lengths to produce
just the image the photographer was looking for. It is not easy
to reproduce this on the Internet. The images are smaller and
less detailed, but the biggest variable is how you, the viewer,
have your system set up. Many people never adjust their
monitor's brightness and or contrast.
The calibration
procedure here is designed to help you get the best possible
rendition of the images on this, or indeed any other, site.
Of course the process described here is just a rough guide and
is no replacement for a correctly calibrated ICC profile.
However, if you haven't already calibrated your monitor , we
have some images here that we hope you can use to enhance your
viewing experience...
Step 1
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Contrast & Brightness
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Using the controls on your
monitor, adjust the contrast so that it is at 100%.
Then adjust the Brightness control to give the best possible
rendition of the image here. There are 20 separate
bars on the image and all should be perfectly defined. The
lightest bar on the far right should be bright white and the
darkest bar on the far left should be as black as the
surrounding background on this page. You should just
be able to make out the next bar to the right.
If you can't discern the two, or more,
separate sections on the far left of this image, then the
monitor brightness is too low. Increase the
brightness. If you can't see the separate white
elements at the far right of the graphic, then your monitor
is set too light. In this case, you should reduce your
brightness. Once you
have the contrast and brightness set to your satisfaction,
carry on to step 2. |
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Step 2
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Screen Setup (Colours)
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To get the best colour
definition on the images on this site you should to have
your video colour setting on 24Bit, or better, colour mode.
The top colour bar should show
a smooth colour graduation from red through all of the
primary colours and back to red again. If the image
appears speckled or blocky, as demonstrated by the middle
and bottom colour bars respectively, then changing the
settings on your video card will make a big difference to
the viewing quality of the images on this site.
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Step 3
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Colour Balance (RGB)
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Having
established the optimum settings for the contrast and for
the video colour resolution, we can now look at the colour
balance. Changing these settings can be done directly
on the monitor itself for some designs, but achieving
optimum colour balance can more easily be achieved using the
video card settings.
There are 16
clearly defined patches in each strip. If you cannot
distinguish between them towards the dark end in any of the
strips, you may need to lighten the respective colour, or
darken the other two colours. If you cannot
distinguish patches towards the light end in any of the
strips, you may need to darken the respective colour, or
lighten the other two colours. You can also try to
work with saturation controls for the individual colours, if
they are available in your Software. |
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Step 4
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Colour Balance (CMY)
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There are 11 clearly defined levels in each strip. You will
find a relationship between how these are displayed and how
Red, Green and Blue are displayed. Once again all of
the bars should be clearly defined with the darkest colour
being discernable from its adjacent neighbour and the
lightest colour being pure white. The panel to the
left of the pure white panel should have a noticeable colour
cast.
-- If the deepest yellow patches are indistinct from each
other, your darkest blue is probably too close to black..
-- If the deepest magenta patches are indistinct from each
other, your darkest green is probably too close to black..
-- If the deepest cyan patches are indistinct from each
other, your darkest red is probably too close to black. |
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