Tutorial for Argyll and dispcalGUI

To have an idea about the modes and values to calibrate the monitor, first check the links below and see how they did with your respective model, if your model is not there, cry... LoL
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm and/or
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html

The option #3) White level (CRT:Gain/contrast, LCD: Brightness/Backlight) from dispcalGUI will give you the luminosity level, maybe you will aim at 120cd/m2, all depends on the environment luminosity level, also consider reading this
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

To help find the ideal balance for brightness and contrast, check the links below
http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/Calibration/monitor_sensitivity.html

In the next link, only look at the the Black Point and White Point part, the gamma will be Argyll work! http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/

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Argyll http://www.argyllcms.com/
dispcalGUI http://hoech.net/dispcalGUI/

Current versions:
http://www.argyllcms.com/Argyll_V1.3.2_win32_exe.zip
http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/archive/0.6.7.7/dispcalGUI-0.6.7.7-win32.zip

I unpacked to c:\Argyll \ and c:\Argyll\dispcalGUI \ without the version numbers in the names!!
Now install the Argyll driver, look at the part USB Instruments:
http://www.argyllcms.com/doc/Installing_MSWindows.html

In Windows Vista/7 you must run dispcalGUI.exe as an administrator, go to C:\Argyll\dispcalGUI \ and click with the mouse right button over dispcalGUI.exe, go to Properties> Compatibility and enable Run this program as an administrator

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The first time we run dispcalGUI, have to go to menu File> Locate Argyll CMS executables and point to c:\Argyll\bin \

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Change some values like the config below, click in Calibrate & profile , then Start measurement

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Select option #2) White point (Color temperature, R,G,B, Gain/Contrast) and tweak the RGB channels to achieve a value as near as possible to 6500K and a Delta as lower as possible , my best result was 6542K and a Delta of 0.2 the lower Delta have preference above the Kelvin value, the symbols + and - after the R G B letters are to guide you, in my case the R+ means increase the RED just a bit and the G-- decreeeease the green.

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When satisfied press Spacebar then #7 , now wait for the process to finish, it will be a long time... When finished, install the profile to all users and you may also want to check the quality, then
go to menu Tools> Verify profile

The END

My current option is:

Generally speaking, the best option to calibrate is the manufacturer own custom puck tweaked for
their models like the NEC Spectraview II bundle(soft+hard).

For those who want the ultimate "king", basICColor DISCUS is the new badboy in town http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=47154.msg422090#msg422090

Now back to Earth...

For non LED or Wide Gamut the best option is the DTP-94, very difficult to find and here they got http://www.integrated-color.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ICC&Product_Code=DTP-94&Category_Code=hardware

For LED or Wide gamut the safest bet, (a bit expensive and profiles printer too) is the ColorMunki Photo http://www.amazon.com/ColorMunki-Photo-Monitor-Projector-Profiler/dp/B00169N0BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302122969&sr=8-1

The best bang for the buck is a Spyder3 Express, it may also calibrate LED and Wide gamut, only testing to know, some have success and others not, looks like the new Spyders are better tweaked. Datacolor says that they can and I was able to calibrate a wide gamut for a friend.

Excluding high end monitors with hardware internal LUT, where you have to use the manufacturer software and maybe third part soft like basICColor or ColorEyes, the best results I ever saw are from the free and high quality Argyll+dispcalGUI, Argyll also profile printers(EyeOne Pro/ColorMunki) http://www.argyllcms.com/ http://hoech.net/dispcalGUI/

OBS, Argyll can create a correction matrix that enable DTP-94(Spyder/EyeOne 2 too) to calibrate LED and wide gamut monitors, but for that we need a spectrometer like EyeOne Pro or ColorMunki, rent one and create a correction matrix... lol http://www.argyllcms.com/doc/WideGamutColmters.html

Check http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=32608747

I need time to digest all the interesting information form the sites you posted but I am getting the feeling that your post is going to cost me money. I am not happy that my current Monitor is good enough or flexible enough.
Claude

The DTP-94 measure the dark parts better than ColorMunki, EyeOne Pro, EyeOne 2 and Spyder3, only the Discus is better(it is better in everything).

A bit old but interesting...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=39210.msg324901#msg324901

I would like to see an updated test, looks like current Spyders are better tweaked than the 2009 models http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=37813638

You are welcome, I know this feeling... lol

Pictus wrote:

The first time we run dispcalGUI, have to go to menu File> Locate Argyll CMS executables and point to c:\Argyll\bin \

Hi Pictus, thanks for the tutorial but I'm having problems with this step. When I try to run dispcalGUI it crashes and I can't access the settings. It's on Win XP, the Spyder3 Argyll driver is installed. It's my second or third attempt to try to use Argyll but I always come to this step and it's no-go for me. Any ideas what might be wrong?

Hi Sankos, you are welcome!
Strange, I do not know...
Test the zip files for integrity, disable any anti-virus.
Switch the DEP state, if it is on, try off and the other way around
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352
/noexecute=AlwaysOff and try with /noexecute=AlwaysOn

The same about any tweak you have in the boot.ini like /PAE and /3GB
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb613473%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

dispcalGUI is just a frontend, you can use Argyll without dispcalGUI
http://www.marcelpatek.com/argyll.html

Update:

Notebook users that do not have the option to adjust the RGB channels, may want to use 6500K Daylight instead of Native.

Thanks for thinking to update this thread. What is the reason for 6500K instead of Daylight for laptop users?

Also, I'm about to (finally...) calibrate my HP LP2475w monitor which I've connected to my Dell XPS 15 laptop which I've already calibrated following your tutorial.

My goal would be that both my laptop and the HP monitor will be identical in colour but also in brightness. I read that 120 cd/m2 is what's considered 'typical' brightness but I was wondering if the calibration software will automatically lower the brightness to 120 cd/m2 or that I should do that manually with the buttons/options available on each device? Any hints, tips?

Thanks again!

Glad to help, you can use both at 6500K, the difference is that theoretically the native mode may have less banding, but as some notebook do not have the RGB controls to tweak the values to match 6500K, the only way to have achieve 6500K is to set this value at the menu, setting to 6500K may also be a vantage because the calibration of both monitors will be more near theoretically

The luminosity level depends on the environment light level, but with less luminosity is harder for the puck to calibrate and the performance of the LCD monitor may also be bad, that is why the common value baseline is 120, I always use the monitor brightens/contrast controls to achieve the desired value, never tested dispcallGUI to do that...

Another value I forgot to comment is the Black point correction, I suggest 8, but using 4 or 3 may be better, check the documentation http://hoech.net/dispcalGUI/#settings_calibration

“Black point correction rate (only available if using Argyll CMS > = 1.0.4) If the black point is not being set completely to the same hue as the white point (ie. because the factor is less than 100%), then the resulting calibration curves will have the target white point down most of the curve, but will then blend over to the native or compromise black point that is blacker, but not of the right hue. The rate of this blend can be controlled. The default value 4.0, which results in a target that switches from the white point target to the black, moderately close to the black point. While this typically gives a good visual result with the target neutral hue being maintained to the point where the crossover to the black hue is not visible, it may be asking too much of some displays (typically LCD type displays), and there may be some visual effects due to inconsistent color with viewing angle. For this situation a smaller value may give a better visual result (e.g. try values of 3.0 or 2.0. A value of 1.0 will set a pure linear blend from white point to black point). If there is too much coloration near black, try a larger value, e.g. 6.0 or 8.0.”

Make sure to select the bin folder from the Argyll folder as that is where the executables are:

it's been that way with other programs as well. You have either the option to tweak the rgb chanels to get them as close as possible or to go for a target temperature...

Thanks for the Tutorial. Its working great with my spider 2 and monitor.

But is it also possible to verify my calibrated monitor against the standard sRGB colorspace with "dispcalGUI" ?

Good to hear!
I do not know, maybe with Argyll, check/try the list
http://www.argyllcms.com/mailinglist.html

I think i found the solution:

After selecting "Verify profile" in the tools menu, you have to select first the simulation profile. There are two profiles in the ref directory (sRGB.icm and ClayRGB1998.icm).
For sRGB select "sRGB.icm" and afterwards select the testchart file.
Start verification and the result is displayed against the sRGB standard.

Veriy nice feature to see if your (calibrated) monitor can display sRGB properly with your own monitor profile.

Glad to help.
It can be long, but it is OK.

The calibration device is slow and is having difficult reading the dark parts, Argyll retries many times(10 per patch?) until get a good reading, whereas other solutions simple goes ahead.

The ambient light can contaminate the reading, that is why have to make sure the puck is perfect flat on the screen, you can also calibrate in the dark.