Monitor Calibration... I'm doing something wrong somewhere!

[ReelSteel]

Well apparently it's be a hot minute since I've posted on DPReview... Enough time to forget my old login and have to make a new account!

I hope the Mac Forum is appropriate for this, but if this would do better somewhere else, please point me in the right direction.

Here's the situation:

- M1 Ultra Mac Studio (Tahoe 26.0.1)

- Apple Studio Display 5K (via TB) and BenQ PD2700U (via HDMI to mini DP)

- ColorChecker Display Plus

I know that even getting two identical monitors to match can be a PITA, but I feel like I'm still missing something in the chain here that is throwing these two off much more than need be.

I'm using the Calibrite software and I follow ArtIsRight's method for calibrating both monitors, the Studio Display here:

, and the BenQ here:

.

BenQ: RGB LED, D65, L120 / Studio Display: GB LED, WB fine-tune calibration then D65, L120

I use the BenQ for video, set to sRGB 2.2 since it only covers the sRBG/rec. 709 colour space and I edit and grade video in a non light-controlled room (although for some projects I do wait until it's darker out.) I only set the luminance, leaving the monitor in sRGB mode. For the Studio Display I choose P3, to take advantage of the larger gamut for photo editing.

While both monitors say they've got average Delta E's of less than 1 and no more than about 2.4/2.5 for their max 10% patches, the BenQ comes out looking vastly bluer than the Studio Display. I checked the two via the 'Measured K - Measure second screen luminance' in the Calibrite software.

The Studio Display gave me: 116.194 cd/m2, 6495 K, x: 0.313, y:0.329

The BenQ: 111.498 cd/m2, 7082 K, x: 0.300, y: 0.338

The I ran the BenQ again, this time putting the monitor into User mode and setting the RGB values myself: 112.078 cd/m2, 6540 K, x: 0.312, y: 0.329

I understand monitor variation, but I don't understand how both could pass calibration with flying colours and still look this different.

I've attached two images below, the first is the sRGB BenQ calibation, the second is the User setting. (Both are just the white background from a Google Docs file.) What am I doing wrong? Am I doing something wrong? What can be done about it? Thanks!

 

[Kenneth Morris Lee]

I never noticed any color cast on my Eizo.

Sorry, perhaps I was unclear: the monitor itself is fine. The built-in calibrator gives results that are skewed towards magenta.

Sorry to have steered this off-topic and appreciate the recommendations.

 

[lightandaprayer]

Did you ever contact Eizo tech support regarding this issue?

No. I didn't want to bother with the inevitable shipping charges etc. Had the monitor been paying the bills, so to speak, I would have addressed it, but the faulty calibrator was actually my second disappointment.

To each their own of course but if I paid as much as I assume that you paid for your Eizo, I would have been on the phone ASAP about either/or both issues.

I don't find the built-in calibrator specifically mentioned nor other verbiage that may refer to it on the U.S. Eizo ColorEdge Warranty webpage. But panel-related warranty coverage for your specific model ranges from 5 years/10,000-30,000 hours, so one would hope that other display-related hardware has similar excellent coverage.

The Eizo built-in calibrator sensors have always concerned me because it's another mechanical piece of hardware that can fail or require adjustment. (Granted, yours is the first time that I can recall casually coming across such a problem without doing an issue-specific online search.) So as of this writing I lean toward a CS-model to ultimately replace my NEC display.

The shipping charges probably wouldn't be enough to dissuade me in comparison to my investment in the display. I would not assume that Eizo would not offer to cover the shipping if they confirm a warranty-covered defect, especially if it was early in the warranty period. I have had stranger totally unexpected positive things happen when dealing with higher-end companies.

And if they did not offer to cover shipping, I would politely suggest that they consider doing so. . . My motto is "If you don't ask, you don't get." I estimate that as of this writing my success rate tops 80% but admittedly this covers all kinds of minor as well as major expenditures. ;-) LOL Fortunately, it doesn't cost anything to try. . .

Obviously, I am not writing this with only you in mind since you are likely beyond your display's warranty period anyway. . . Kindly consider it as food for thought that is mainly for others who in the future find themselves in a similar pickle.