Monitor Calibrator: instruction and general description

It's no secret that each monitor has its own unique technical characteristics and settings. The same color on different devices will be different. Sometimes the difference is noticeable even with the naked eye, but minor deviations from the conditional ideal can play a bad joke. Especially with those people who intend to work professionally with digital images.

The closest example is the situation that arises after a successful photo session. The photographer can check and double-check the balance settings a thousand times, edit the brightness and contrast in the graphic editor, but if there are problems with the monitor, all his efforts will be in vain. The more offensive it will be to hear a negative response to the work done on the conscience. The reason here lies in the wrong settings of the monitor itself.

What is the monitor calibrator for?

Each device sold initially has factory default settings. But even the average user knows that this is almost always not enough. Most people after buying have to adjust the balance of colors and brightness of the monitor to your taste. It is not difficult to guess that the same parameters for a professional photographer or designer play an even greater role. After all, even a simple white color can appear yellow on one screen, and blue on the other.

It is extremely important for professionals that the work sent to the customer should look exactly the same as it was intended. For this it is necessary that both monitors be calibrated close to the ideal value. There are two ways to solve the problem. The first is connected with the use of a device called the "monitor calibrator". But, contrary to popular belief, LCD monitor calibration is not necessarily the purchase of a special device and the associated significant costs.

You can go the other way and download or purchase special programs. In this case, the monitor color will be calibrated with their help, but at the same time it will require more human participation than the hardware one. Also, we should not forget that the second method is considered less accurate. As programs that replace the monitor calibrator, you can use Atrise lutcurve (paid), Cltest (free) or Natural Color Pro. In fact, there are a lot of such utilities on the Web, so everyone is free to choose what they like.

Hardware Calibrator for Monitor: Instruction

All actions in this case will be shown on the basis of the program basiCColor display 4. The general order of actions is suitable for almost all models of calibrators, with the exception of certain nuances. In this manual, an Eye-One Display device was used as an example.

So, how does the monitor calibrator work? First of all, it must be connected to the computer, after which the program window usually opens automatically. The next step is to determine the model of your device. After the selection, the "Connect" button becomes available. Important: before confirming, you must place the calibrator on any matt dark surface.

After a while you will need to specify the type of your monitor. Among the calibration methods (which the program offers several), it is better to choose "Calibration software (LUT video)", and the profile - LUT. The next step is to select the color temperature of the monitor. Fortunately, most devices are able to measure it yourself, just click the appropriate button and direct the calibrator to the light portion of the screen. Otherwise, you have to specify the temperature approximately, guided by your feelings.

Now the user will have to assign a tonal scale. It all depends on the type of monitor: for most models, the value of 2.2 is best. Gamma is important so that the picture does not look too faded. Next, the target brightness of the white and black dots is adjusted. It is desirable to have a standard (for example, another monitor), otherwise you will have to enter the value manually. For a white point, we recommend 90-100, for black you need to specify the minimum possible figure. Ideally - nativ, if there is such an item.

The contrast ratio is determined by dividing the white level by the black level. The next important point is the "Profile". We select 16 bits (LUT), the model of chromatic adaptation of CATo2. After creating a color profile, he needs to give a name and click the "Start" button. It will start the process of calibrating the monitor, which will pass by itself, without user intervention and in accordance with the specified parameters.

Verification of results

The last but necessary step in your actions is verification. Here, the user will see a diagram. Pay attention to ensure that all indicators remain within the green zone. This is quite difficult when it comes to household monitors. In addition, the parameter ΔEab, which must be less than three, is important.