Can all color calibration tools program the LUT internal to the monitor?

I'm going to be getting a new monitor for my photography, probably something like this ProArt Display PA32UCX-K that has a built-in, programmable LUT for use in calibration. That way the calibration applies, no matter which computer is driving the monitor.

My question is will all modern screen color calibration tools such as Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra be able to calibrate the colors and then program the LUT in the monitor or can only certain calibration tools work directly with the LUT internal to the monitor?

I'm trying to avoid having to use separate PC-based lookup tables that all have to be maintained on each computer that will connect to the monitor so I'd like to use the LUT internal to the monitor.

jfriend00 said:

I'm going to be getting a new monitor for my photography, probably something like this ProArt Display PA32UCX-K that has a built-in, programmable LUT for use in calibration. That way the calibration applies, no matter which computer is driving the monitor.

My question is will all modern screen color calibration tools such as Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra be able to calibrate the colors and then program the LUT in the monitor or can only certain calibration tools work directly with the LUT internal to the monitor?

I'm trying to avoid having to use separate PC-based lookup tables that all have to be maintained on each computer that will connect to the monitor so I'd like to use the LUT internal to the monitor.

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You still need to generate a display profile for each computer that you will connect to that monitor. There is zero benefit to using the monitor's own LUT for your intended use. Internal LUTs are only useful if the monitor has several and you need to switch from one color space to another at the monitor.

After many years, I switched from an X-rite i1 Display Pro to a Datacolor SpyderX Pro. Better physical puck design (how it sits on the monitor when hanging from the cable), and the SW gives me lower color-match errors. It also has a convenient profile loader. Your results may vary.

From the link:

"X-rite i1 Display Pro included"

I presume that device is required for Asus' software. If third-party software can program the LUT in the display, I have no idea.

You will need the monitor profiling tool supplied by the monitor manufacturer to program the monitor's internal LUTs. You will still need colour profile generated during calibration as well.

mclewis said:

You will need the monitor profiling tool supplied by the monitor manufacturer to program the monitor's internal LUTs. You will still need colour profile generated during calibration as well.

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Thanks.

So, you generate a profile with whatever color calibration system you're using and then use the manufacturer's software to load that profile into the monitor's LUT? Is that how it works?

Are the color profiles a standard format such that it doesn't matter exactly which color calibration tool you use? Or would a given manufacturer's software only be compatible with certain color calibration tools?

BobKnDP said:

From the link:

"X-rite i1 Display Pro included"

I presume that device is required for Asus' software. If third-party software can program the LUT in the display, I have no idea.

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Well, I'm actually looking at a number of different monitors, most of which don't come with a color calibration device so the question is more about those.

Stay away from the Spyders, they´re unreliable (their design is irrelevant). Take a look at any dedicated colorist/calibration forum (like Lift Gamma Gain, DisplayCal, etc) and see what they say about the Spyders. The only low budget option for a colorimeter should be an X-Rite, nowadays Calibrite, i1D3. X-Rite´s/Calibrite´s software, like Datacolor´s software, isn´t also the best (they lack in backlight corections/offsets options, and also provide wrong ones), you´d be better using DisplayCal.

As for the internal LUT: some brands provide their own calibration software that can access it, on select models (LG, Asus, Eizo, Benq). Eizo, Benq, Asus, also have models with 3DLUT capability, but for that you´d have to use Calman, or LightIllusion´s ColourSpace.

You´d better check the specific info for the display you wish to have, as well as, if you wish to go the Calman or ColourSpace route, their respective sites to see if your chosen display is supported.

jfriend00 said:

mclewis said:

You will need the monitor profiling tool supplied by the monitor manufacturer to program the monitor's internal LUTs. You will still need colour profile generated during calibration as well.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

So, you generate a profile with whatever color calibration system you're using and then use the manufacturer's software to load that profile into the monitor's LUT? Is that how it works?

Are the color profiles a standard format such that it doesn't matter exactly which color calibration tool you use? Or would a given manufacturer's software only be compatible with certain color calibration tools?

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Profiling vs Calibration

I'm not sure that this is the best possible description, but it's fairly brief.

You can profile any monitor using a colorimeter (like an i1 Display Pro) and general software. If you need to do a hardware calibration that involves uploading data to an LUT in the monitor, that may most commonly be done with proprietary software.

My primary monitor has no programmable LUT, but some might say that I still can calibrate it, because it has individual RGB adjustments, as well as brightness and contrast.

jfriend00 said:

mclewis said:

You will need the monitor profiling tool supplied by the monitor manufacturer to program the monitor's internal LUTs. You will still need colour profile generated during calibration as well.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

So, you generate a profile with whatever color calibration system you're using and then use the manufacturer's software to load that profile into the monitor's LUT? Is that how it works?

Click to expand...

No.

I'm not sure, but I think the format of the LUT data for the monitor's internal LUT is likely to be proprietary, and you probably need their software to generate it. As I say, I'm not certain about that, but I've used monitors from two makers with internal LUTs (Eizo and Benq) and never come across any software other than their own for creating LUT calibration data and loading it into the monitor.

jfriend00 said:

Are the color profiles a standard format such that it doesn't matter exactly which color calibration tool you use? Or would a given manufacturer's software only be compatible with certain color calibration tools?

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Profiles are a standard format. See https://www.color.org/icc_specs2.xalter

Profiles are a measure of the colour characteristics of a device. In the case of sRGB, Adobe RGB etc, they are the characteristics of a theoretical standard device.

LUT data is the mapping information used to map between a standard device (usually a theoretical standard device such as sRGB) and the actual characteristics of a real device. Either it's done in the monitor, so the LUT data has tobe loaded into the device, or it's done by Windows/Mac/whatever software before the RGB data is sent to the monitor.

For many years I used a LUTS and non LUTS monitor side by side, calibrated to the same numbers with the same calibrator and software. They were made by the same vendor and otherwise had immeasurably different gamuts.

The Luts monitor made zero difference in print output.

Luts based calibration is not more accurate in real world use in my experience. I was very enthusiastic about the whole Luts thing before I got experience using it.

You absolutely need calibration software than can access the LUTs.

You absolutely need a specific profile for every computer and every OS that uses the monitor. I used my Luts monitor with several computers, Windows and macOS.

My primary monitor now is non-Luts but with a wider gamut. Although I can see more colors on screen from my 16 bit raw masterpieces I also see how some colors are whacked in sRGB conversion and soft-proofing/printing.

There are advantages to using a quality sRGB only monitor even for wide gamut raw image processing with or sans LUTS.

bmoag said:

The Luts monitor made zero difference in print output.

Luts based calibration is not more accurate in real world use in my experience. I was very enthusiastic about the whole Luts thing before I got experience using it.

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I understand that the color values from the PC can be either modified by a LUT on the computer before sending to the monitor or by the monitor via it's own software using it's built-in LUT. Supposedly, there are slight advantages to using the built-in LUT, but probably so slight that most uses would never notice.

In any case, that's not why I want to use the built-in LUT. I want to use the built-in LUT so that the monitor corrects itself (using the built-in LUT) no matter which computer it is plugged into or which OS I boot on that computer rather than having to separately install software for each PC to install a PC-based LUT on each computer that this display might ever be hooked into. I realize this is not everyone's use case, but is relevant to mine.

bmoag said:

You absolutely need calibration software than can access the LUTs.

You absolutely need a specific profile for every computer and every OS that uses the monitor. I used my Luts monitor with several computers, Windows and macOS.

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I found this ASUS video about using the ASUS calibration software which isn't particularly detailed, but does show direct support for X-Rite, Datacolor and Klein colorimeter products (in a drop-down menu where you select what colorimeter you're using) and I presume it is that same ASUS software that loads the right info into the in-monitor LUT.

Now, just found this ASUS video that does specifically talk about loading the calibration values into the in-monitor LUT.

Thanks all for helping me understand enough of how this works so I knew what to go looking for as online references.

One more question, when using one of these HDR-capable monitors for photo editing where the intended targets are both print and screen, do you set and calibrate the monitor for the adobeRGB colorspace?

--
John

jfriend00 said:

mclewis said:

You will need the monitor profiling tool supplied by the monitor manufacturer to program the monitor's internal LUTs. You will still need colour profile generated during calibration as well.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

So, you generate a profile with whatever color calibration system you're using and then use the manufacturer's software to load that profile into the monitor's LUT? Is that how it works?

Click to expand...

No. You need the manufacturer's monitor software to program the monitor LUT. Those are not standardised. The monitor profile generated at the same time is a standard colour profile.

The monitor software programs the monitor LUT and creates the required monitor profile.

You do not use the software that came with your monitor calibration device (i1 Display, Spyder, etc).