Tools to calibrate a monitor

In this article we will help you with the best tools to calibrate a monitor and why you should do it. We will explain the definition of color calibration, the use of a colorimeter, the physical tools and software if you do not have a good budget.

Index of contents

Color calibration should definitely be an essential part of every photographer's workflow. Otherwise, it is impossible to know if the colors displayed by the monitor are really accurate and if what you see corresponds to the print.

There are many ways to do this, and the process can be quite simple or complex, depending on how accurately you want to reproduce colors and whether you're also printing your work at home.

The simple method involves a hardware colorimeter to profile the monitor color for daily photo editing and image viewing, and there is also a professional color profile that requires very concise calibration of all display and output devices, such as printers.

Every time you open, select or edit the digital images you have photographed, or correct them using post-production software such as Photoshop or Lightroom, you trust a display device such as a monitor connected to your computer, tablet or smartphone, to show you a Accurate representation of colors, color saturation, monochrome hue, contrast, and other characteristics of images captured by your camera.

If what you see on the monitor does not match what the camera captured, the prints made from these files will never look exactly as you had imagined: color balance may be disabled, certain colors may appear washed out or excessively intense, or Images may have a general color.

That's why photographers who take creative image control seriously, maintaining an efficient workflow and minimizing frustration, always make sure their monitors are properly calibrated. Today, that's easy to do, and the required hardware and software is intuitive and very affordable in terms of price.

There are ways to fix a poorly calibrated monitor by using applications included in various post-production software programs or by downloading them from the internet, but all of these methods are very time consuming and none of them provide the degree of precision or consistency of a true calibration.

By far the best way to calibrate your monitor and keep it accurate, recalibrating it at regular intervals, is to purchase a good monitor calibration tool. This typically includes a package that includes calibration software to install on your computer, a calibration device (essentially a precision colorimeter) that plugs into the USB port and reads directly from the monitor screen, and simple step-by-step instructions.

All the devices mentioned in this article can be used to calibrate multiple types of displays, are compatible with Mac and PC, and detect changes in the display conditions of ambient light to obtain the most consistent results.

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What type of monitor do you have?

Choosing a monitor is undoubtedly very important for accurate color reproduction. If you bought a cheap monitor, it will most likely come with a “TN” or “Twisted Nematic” panel that cannot accurately display colors due to limited color gamut and blur, and may not have a good angle Of vision.

That's because such monitors were never designed for critical color work in the first place. They are consumer monitors designed for basic computing, gaming and other needs.

Having a reliable monitor for color calibration is important, as cheap monitors can change their colors and brightness levels from time to time, which can make color calibration less accurate and effective over time. So if you have one of those cheap monitors and don't want to be plagued with inaccurate colors and tones, it is highly recommended that you replace it with a better monitor.

Visual calibration or hardware calibration

When it comes to color calibration, you'll find plenty of free and commercial tools that will allow you to calibrate your monitor through visual comparisons only by software, or using a hardware colorimeter.

Maybe you didn't know, but one of the free tools can be part of your operating system, and is normally available for both Windows and Mac platforms. For example, Microsoft's "Screen Color Calibration" tool is part of all recent Windows operating systems, such as Windows 10, which allows you to adjust the gamma, brightness and contrast, and even the color balance of the monitor.

Although it may sound like a good idea to use these tools to calibrate your monitor, apart from configuring the gamma settings, all other adjustments are potentially very dangerous and that's for one simple reason: you can't use your eyes to adjust colors, the brightness or contrast, because everything is very subjective.

People's perception of color in particular is very different and for that reason alone, it's not worth tapping into these free or built-in tools that you could find online to calibrate your monitor. And if you think you can sit down with a color chart and make side-by-side comparisons and adjustments, good luck with that process, as it will never work, as even the type and quality of paper will make it impossible to make proper comparisons with your monitor.

To accurately profile a monitor, it is necessary to analyze and compare the colors that the screen emits with the real colors, and this is only possible with a hardware colorimeter, such as X-Rite i1 Display Pro.

A colorimeter works by analyzing the colors that come out of a screen and provides the necessary adjustments for color, gamma, brightness and contrast through software.

Once the calibration process is complete, these settings can be loaded via software each time the computer is restarted, or if the monitor has a built-in lookup table (LUT), the information can be stored within the monitor itself.

Because of all this, there will always be a huge difference in precision between these two methods, which is why hardware calibration is so important. Finally, the hardware calibration process is much less time consuming and can be carried out periodically without much trouble.

How to calibrate the monitor

Before starting the hardware calibration process, be sure to reset your monitor settings to the factory default settings. The reason you do this is because you don't want to start calibrating a monitor that already has too many manual adjustments that could have been done earlier.

On some monitors you can return to the factory default settings through a menu setting, while on others you can press a combination of buttons to return to the factory settings. If you can't find a way to do it on the monitor, check its manual to find out how to reset these values.

Do the following:

1. If your monitor and video card have a DP (Display Port) connection, be sure to connect both cables instead of DVI or HDMI.Make sure your monitor is in an area where sunlight or other light sources do not They reach directly. Leave the monitor on for at least 15-20 minutes to warm up. The screen resolution should be at its optimal setting. If you have an LCD monitor, press the screen resolution to the maximum number allowed, also known as "native resolution." The video card must be outputting in the highest bit mode. Uninstall all existing color calibration software and tools..Install the color calibration software that comes with the colorimeter (ideally, be the latest version).Run the software and follow the instructions.

After the calibration process is complete, be sure to use only color-managed software applications to view or edit your images in the future.

Calibration hardware: colorimeters

The most popular hardware calibration colorimeters on the market are:

• X-Rite ColorMunki DisplayDatacolor Spyder 5 EliteX-Rite i1 Display ProDatacolor Spyder 5 Pro

X-Rite i1 Display Pro and Datacolor Spyder 5 Pro are generally the most popular colorimeter options today. You may find that the X-Rite i1 Display Pro is much better at accuracy, especially when profiling multiple screens that need to appear consistent. We leave you the best tools to calibrate a monitor via hardware. It is the most expensive but also the most reliable.

X-Rite ColorMunki Display

X-Rite ColorMunki Display - Screen Calibrator for Monitors, Projectors and Tablets, Color Black

• Smart Control Ambient Light X-Rite for continuous measurement, compensation, and monitoring of ambient light conditions Automatic Display Control (ADC) adjusts the display hardware to speed up the process and eliminate manual adjustments Use the following display technologies: CCFL, White LED, RGB LED, Spread Spectrum Display Alignment Function Clear Correct and adjust display profile to reduce contrast caused by display glare

Buy on Amazon

Ergonomic and multifunctional, it calibrates wide-range LCD and LED displays and can be used to profile both projectors and monitors.

It is also spectrally calibrated, making it upgradeable to support future technologies, featuring easy and advanced calibration modes, reflex correction, a rotating diffuser arm, and an integrated tripod. Before and after images load instantly and there is an automatic reminder when it's time to recalibrate them.

System requirements: monitor with 1024 x 768 screen or higher, 16-bit video card at least, USB port, DVD-ROM drive and internet connection for software updates.

Datacolor Spyder 5 Elite

Datacolor Spyder5ELITE - Black Screen Calibrator

• Suitable for automated color augmentation and brightness calibration With sensor that detects changes in ambient light and adjusts the luminance of the display device The ReCAL application allows you to recalibrate your monitor quickly and easily Compatible with LCD, LED, OLED, CRT, DLP and other display device technologies

321, 48 EUR Buy on Amazon

Configured as the Spyder5Pro, it provides all the same features, but adds color analysis and screen comparisons, plotting uniformity, tone response, front projector calibration capability, StudioMatch for fine-tuning of studio screens, and an unlimited selection of gamma, white point, black and white luminance, and gray balance adjustments.

It also includes presets for video standards and calibrates professional workflow targets. System requirements: monitor with a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 (1024 x 600 netbook optional) or front RTF projector, 24-bit video card and USB port.

X-Rite i1 Display Pro

X-rite i1Display Pro - Monitor and monitor calibrator and profiler

• Ergonomically and technologically advanced multifunctional measuring device Infinite white point control, luminance, contrast ratio, gamma and more Profile of multiple monitors and workgroups Intelligent ambient light control Compatible operating systems: Windows XP / Vista / 7 (32-bit / x64), Mac OS X 10.5.8 / 10.6 / 10.7

223.95 EUR Buy on Amazon

With its advanced i1Display Profiler software, you can calibrate and profile all current projector and display technologies, including wide-spectrum LED and LCD displays, and like the ColorMunki, it is spectrally calibrated and can be upgraded to support future displays.

Advanced features include ambient light metering, automatic display control (ADC), user-defined pass / fail tolerance tests, 5x faster speed than previous units, virtually infinite control of white point, luminance, ratio contrast, gamma and more, and the ability to create unique patch sets in 3 sizes for precision profiling.

Pantone Color Manager software is part of the package. System requirements: 1 GB of RAM, 2 GB of disk space, minimum monitor resolution of 1024 x 600 and a USB port. The dual display requires 2 video cards or a dual-head video card.

Datacolor Spyder 5 Pro

Datacolor Spyder5PRO - Screen Calibrator, Black

• Ensures the calibration of all your laptops and desktop monitors The software guides you in 4 easy steps for exceptional color accuracy With "Before and After" comparison to evaluate calibration resultsBlack colorThe box contains: Spyder5 colorimeter with USB connector, Hardware and Welcome Card Serial Number Software with Download Link Software, Eco Friendly, Reusable Storage, Link to Online Demonstrations, Quick Start Guide, User Manual

280, 88 EUR Buy on Amazon

The Spyder5Pro has a seven-detector color engine that is said to have been enhanced in such a way that it will provide improved tonal response at lower luminance levels, resulting in more accurate shadow detail.

The Spyder5Pro is the easiest calibrator to configure and use. The hardware comes with a link that leads to the downloadable software. Once the software is installed, it provides an easy-to-follow installation guide to quickly calibrate your monitor.

The actual calibration takes less than five minutes and the results are easily visible. The eyes adapt quickly to changes and there are no problems with editing.

All of these color management tools are the latest offerings from companies with long experience in monitor calibration, and any one of them will go a long way in ensuring that what you see is what you will get in the final print.

Use color-managed applications

You'd be surprised, but many apps don't support color profiles. One of the most basic applications that we hope to manage in color is the Internet browser. But unfortunately, even some of the most popular browsers may not be fully compatible with ICC color profiles.

If you have a color-managed browser like Firefox, Apple Safari or Google Chrome, the images should appear as accurate based on your calibration. But if you are using a different browser, or perhaps an older browser that is not color managed, the images will appear with dark blue / purple sky and yellowish sand.

All the applications you use must be able to read ICC color profiles that are saved in the images. For example, the photo application that comes with Windows 10 cannot display images correctly, because the ICC color profile is completely ignored, while the most current versions of other software tools like Lightroom, Photoshop, ACDSee and others, have this built-in capacity.

After your images are exported from the photo software, never completely remove all metadata from those images as chances are you will also delete ICC profiles.

5 tools to calibrate your monitor

Calibrating our monitors is one of the basic steps that most of us forget or ignore. Perfect monitor calibration is a fundamental rule of thumb for photographers and graphic artists. If you are one of them, you should know everything about monitor calibration.

A good monitor can be expensive. But its impact will be lost if you don't take the time to calibrate it carefully (and on and off). The colors on the screen may not exactly match what they really are.

Imagine that you took a beautiful panoramic photo and downloaded it to your computer. Only to discover that the blue of the sky or the green of the grass do not resemble the one you saw through the viewfinder. If you also do not have a very large budget and cannot afford a colorimeter, we recommend the following tools to calibrate a monitor for free.

Photo friday

Photo Friday is a photography site. Think about the challenges of adjusting the brightness and contrast of a photo, and you'll get the reason why you should calibrate your monitor.

The site offers this simple monitor calibration tool to adjust the brightness and contrast of your screen with the help of gray scale tones. The idea is to adjust the monitor settings (or buttons) so you can clearly distinguish the transition from true black to true white tones. After calibration, blacks should look black and without any hint of gray.

The instructions start by telling you to turn down the lights and press F11 to view grayscale in full screen mode.

The Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages

They are a much more complete set of tools than Photo Friday. The site includes a series of test patterns that start from checking contrast to checking monitor response times. It is recommended to go through the tests in the order in which they are placed.

To a beginner, it can seem overwhelming. But the test patterns come with useful explanations. The developer also states that you can put the images on a USB drive and test them in the computer store when you buy an LCD monitor. It is one of the best tools to calibrate a monitor for free.

Online Monitor Test by Vanity

The Online Monitor Test website has a range of interactive tests to fix the colors on your screen. The menu appears when you move the mouse up. Start with a test that checks the brightness and contrast of the black and white tonal spectrum. It is similar to Photo Friday.

The color gamut test then checks to see if the monitor can produce color gradients smoothly. From the menu, you can choose different color cards.

Look for “ghost images” or image traces in the Trailing test. Move the box across the screen and check if any trace has occurred. Controls and options to change the color and shape of the box are placed at the bottom.

The homogeneity test helps to accurately determine damaged pixels and faulty monitors with backlight bleeding. Pixel 1: 1 mapping and text blur tests are the last two tests of the alignment.

While the former is not so much a problem with LCD computer monitors, the latter is worth a test if you feel that the text on the screen is not sharp enough.

If you have a dual monitor set up, test the text playback on the connected screens and check the input delay.

PhotoScientia

This entire page and the test associated with it are dedicated to gamma values. The importance and the process are clearly established and it is useful for any user. Most importantly, color saturation and hue change with gamma values.

These things come to the fore when trying to fix common color issues in Photoshop.

The author also provides a series of "Gamagic" test standards that you can use to calibrate the monitor. Refine your eyes and adjust the gamma settings with the monitor controls until all the squares match your backgrounds as closely as possible.

W4ZT

This single page calibration table has some of the test images that we have already covered in the previous tools. Make color, grayscale, and gamma adjustments.

The only feature to use it is that it is easy to understand. Just follow the instructions and you can adjust your monitor for optimal viewing.

Calibrate the monitor with Windows and MacOs

The monitor may also have calibration software on the computer.

Windows 10 comes with Windows Calibrate Display Color calibration color. You can access it from Start> Control Panel> Display> Calibrate Color. Or, simply search Cortana's search box with a keyword like "calibrate."

On MacOS Sierra, use the "Screen Calibration Wizard". You can access it from the Apple menu> System Preferences> Screens> Color> Calibrate. You can also use Spotlight.

Most users don't have to worry about steps or rely on third-party tools. Unless you're a professional photographer or graphic designer who needs hi-fi colors, these basic tools should suffice.

conclusion

As you can see, calibrating your monitor is extremely important, especially if you are serious about photography. Unless you're just playing computer games and watching movies on your computer, you should never use free, built-in software calibration tools, as they are unreliable and inaccurate.

Ideally, you should use a reliable colorimeter, with which you can profile your monitor and use it to calibrate any device you are planning to use to edit or view your images. Don't skip color management and calibration and don't hesitate to buy a good quality monitor. What did you think of our article on the best tools to calibrate a monitor? We want to know your opinion!