Monitor calibration: should I?

[BobKnDP]

One benefit I got out of having a monitor calibrator is it actually tells you how good a monitor is (relative to another), as well as calibrating it.

For instance I had an old BenQ upstairs and I thought they were a quite good brand so I thought I'd bring it down and use it for photo editing.

When I calibrated it, it said that it could only display about 50-odd percent of sRGB. My Samsungs can display about 95% sRGB, and my macBook air can display 100% of sRGB.

So that told me that the BenQ was probably a lot worse for editing photos on than the Samsungs or my macbook.

Also it doesn't take long, only about 5 minutes at most.

Wow. What model BenQ was that?

GW 2480

A quick online check doesn't find an sRGB coverage spec.

Benq claims 72% of NTSC. NTSC is a wider gamut than sRGB. If I understand it right, a monitor with exactly 100% sRGB coverage would have 72% NTSC by definition. (But a monitor with 72% NTSC may not cover 100% sRGB.)

The GW2480 uses a 6 bit panel, and gives 8 bit color using FRC. Seems like a relatively inexpensive monitor.

 

[James Stirling]

I used to do wedding and event work where colour fidelity was important . And in the name of consistency I calibrated my monitors faithfully. Though I used an excellent photo printing company at the time for work ( still do for personal use) I found that their printing calibration was more reliable than mine. So eventually I ended up just editing any image to my taste . Before sending it to the printers and the results they delivered where excellent.

I think that there are so many variables involved in colour from personal preferences to the myriad of changing light situations . That unless you are doing critical commercial photography where the client has demanding needs for accuracy. It is as the others guys mention often overkill. There can be quite a divergence between what gives an aesthetically pleasing image and an image that is as true to life as possible.

This article by rtings gives a very good explanation of the hows and whys of colour calibration if you want to go that way

How To Adjust Your Monitor's Settings: Choosing The Best Settings For Your Needs

If you can't afford a full calibration, the next best thing is to adjust the picture settings to your liking. This article covers the most common settings found on monitors and explains how each affects the image.

www.rtings.com

 

[Box Brownie]

One benefit I got out of having a monitor calibrator is it actually tells you how good a monitor is (relative to another), as well as calibrating it.

For instance I had an old BenQ upstairs and I thought they were a quite good brand so I thought I'd bring it down and use it for photo editing.

When I calibrated it, it said that it could only display about 50-odd percent of sRGB. My Samsungs can display about 95% sRGB, and my macBook air can display 100% of sRGB.

So that told me that the BenQ was probably a lot worse for editing photos on than the Samsungs or my macbook.

Also it doesn't take long, only about 5 minutes at most.

Wow. What model BenQ was that?

GW 2480

Not a model I had heard of....so looked it up?

I may be asking the obvious but it does have what they call:-

"Color Weakness Mode

Red and green filters on the monitor help individuals with color deficiency distinguish colors more easily"

Could you have inadvertently set the Red or Green Filter that they illustrate on this page?

GW2480｜23.8" 1080p Eye-Care IPS Monitor

BenQ GW2480, an IPS LED Stylish Monitor, is the perfect choice with 178°/178°wide-viewing angles and Low Blue Light technology for everyday work and play.

www.benq.eu

near the bottom of the page.

 

[ppage]

One benefit I got out of having a monitor calibrator is it actually tells you how good a monitor is (relative to another), as well as calibrating it.

For instance I had an old BenQ upstairs and I thought they were a quite good brand so I thought I'd bring it down and use it for photo editing.

When I calibrated it, it said that it could only display about 50-odd percent of sRGB. My Samsungs can display about 95% sRGB, and my macBook air can display 100% of sRGB.

So that told me that the BenQ was probably a lot worse for editing photos on than the Samsungs or my macbook.

Also it doesn't take long, only about 5 minutes at most.

Wow. What model BenQ was that?

GW 2480

Okay, I see the problem. That monitor is a very inexpensive monitor not made for image editing. BenQ is in fact a very good brand, but a good monitor for photo editing will cost a fair bit more than than.

I bought an SW 320 about 6 years ago. It was very good and I could get almost 100% Adobe RGB on it. About 2 years ago a vertical red line 1 pixel wide appeared on it. I tried to ignore it as the warranty had expired three years earlier. But when a second vertical line appeared I decided that I should at least get in touch with BenQ, describe the problem, and ask if this might be something I could fix myself. They asked for a photo of the screen. And then, despite the fact that it wasn't covered by the warranty anymore, they offered to replace it with a refurbished SW 321C at no cost. They even paid the cost of shipping the defective monitor back to them. So I wouldn't judge their brand by the quality of the GW 2480.

 

[tbcass]

GW 2480

A quick online check doesn't find an sRGB coverage spec.

Benq claims 72% of NTSC. NTSC is a wider gamut than sRGB. If I understand it right, a monitor with exactly 100% sRGB coverage would have 72% NTSC by definition. (But a monitor with 72% NTSC may not cover 100% sRGB.)

The GW2480 uses a 6 bit panel, and gives 8 bit color using FRC. Seems like a relatively inexpensive monitor.

I have a simple way of judging a monitor. I look at it and if the photos look good the monitor is good. This saves me from spending money on expensive monitors because even cheap ones look good to me. This reminds me of the days when people, me included, would judge cameras based on barely perceptible differences in noise at high ISO. Now that I've gotten off the GAS train, I am much happier not lusting after the temporary rush of buying the latest and greatest. I even find the IQ my iPhone good enough although I rarely use mine as a camera because of the ergonomics and lens limitations.

 

[tbcass]

GW 2480

Okay, I see the problem. That monitor is a very inexpensive monitor not made for image editing. BenQ is in fact a very good brand, but a good monitor for photo editing will cost a fair bit more than than.

I ca edit photos with any monitor, even cheap ones. How does a cheap one limit that capability?

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

GW 2480

Okay, I see the problem. That monitor is a very inexpensive monitor not made for image editing. BenQ is in fact a very good brand, but a good monitor for photo editing will cost a fair bit more than than.

I ca edit photos with any monitor, even cheap ones. How does a cheap one limit that capability?

When you edit photos on a monitor that can't display all the colors in the photo, you're 'flying bind' regarding how some colors will look on a monitor and/or in a print that can display them. And generally speaking, the smaller the monitor's gamut, the larger the range of colors where this is an issue and the greater the degree of an issue it becomes, at least with certain ranges of color. So what may be a minor issue if your monitor is e.g. 100+ % sRGB and 85% Adobe RGB may be a major issue if your monitor is only 60% sRGB--and IIRC, there are some cheaper and/or older monitors with gamuts that small.

 

[tbcass]

GW 2480

Okay, I see the problem. That monitor is a very inexpensive monitor not made for image editing. BenQ is in fact a very good brand, but a good monitor for photo editing will cost a fair bit more than than.

I ca edit photos with any monitor, even cheap ones. How does a cheap one limit that capability?

When you edit photos on a monitor that can't display all the colors in the photo, you're 'flying bind' regarding how some colors will look on a monitor and/or in a print that can display them. And generally speaking, the smaller the monitor's gamut, the larger the range of colors where this is an issue and the greater the degree of an issue it becomes, at least with certain ranges of color. So what may be a minor issue if your monitor is e.g. 100+ % sRGB and 85% Adobe RGB may be a major issue if your monitor is only 60% sRGB--and IIRC, there are some cheaper and/or older monitors with gamuts that small.

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

 

[ishwanu]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

Are you certain those aren't two different things? Because I understood that warning to show colors that are outside of PhotoLab's color working space--either the old Adobe RGB one or the new wide gamut Pointer's one--not outside of the gamut of the monitor. So I think that warning is showing you colors DxO cannot process, not colors that your monitor can't display.

 

[ishwanu]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

Are you certain those aren't two different things?

I can only refer to the documentation.

Because I understood that warning to show colors that are outside of PhotoLab's color working space--either the old Adobe RGB one or the new wide gamut Pointer's one--not outside of the gamut of the monitor.

DxO's wide gamut color space is described in detail in the link below. If the description is accurate, there should be few if any real world colors that fall outside of it.

https://www.dxo.com/news/white-paper-wide-gamut/

From the PhotoLab manual, with the relevant part in bold:

The histogram not only displays RGB or CMYK channels, depending on the selected profile in the Soft proofing subpalette, but also off-gamut warnings (out of color range) in the form of colored masks embedded in the image.

To do this, you have the following two buttons, which you can also use together:

Show/hide the gamut warning screen: indicates the out-of-range colors for the screen as a blue mask on the image. As these colors cannot be properly rendered on the screen, they should be carefully considered.

Show/hide destination gamut warning: indicates the off-gamut destination colors (e.g. non-printable colors with a particular ICC profile) as a red mask on the image.

The bold paragraph applies to the monitor icon. The other paragraph applies to the gamut chart icon. I should also mention that these icons are available with the histogram in the PhotoLibrary workspace as well.

This is from another section on soft proofing:

To do soft proofing:

. Go to the Customize tab, then select your master image.

. A dialog box confirms that you are in soft proofing mode and invites you to create a virtual copy instead of using the master image (recommended workflow).

. In the Color palette, enable the soft proofing subpalette.

. Select the desired pro{le from the Profile menu.

. If the test is for printing, check Simulate Paper and Ink.

. In the Histogram palette, enable off gamut warning depending on the image destination: for screen (web display or on a particular device, tablet, mobile, etc.) or for a destination media (printing paper, publishing).

. If the image shows off gamut indications (blue for screen, red for paper), make the necessary corrections with the tools in the Custom tab (Saturation, Vibrance, TSL, etc.) to reduce non-printable colors. You can also use it to make any corrections that affect image rendering.

. You can also alter color saturation and detail in saturated areas with the saturated color protection slider in the soft proofing subpalette.

. Once the corrections have been made and verified, you can leave the screen test on, especially if you are using virtual copies. This way you will always see the thumbnails with the test icon in your Image Browser.

How do you interpret the documentation?

So I think that warning is showing you colors DxO cannot process, not colors that your monitor can't display.

I can't say for sure whether or not the warnings would change or disappear if I had a wide gamut monitor. Do you have a wide gamut monitor but still see frequent warnings?

PS: I have now found this reference:

https://support.dxo.com/hc/en-us/ar...arning-and-the-monitor-gamut-warning-indicate

Activating this monitor gamut warning by clicking on the corresponding icon will show you which colors in the displayed image cannot be precisely reproduced on your monitor. This mainly occurs with particular hues or saturated colors that fall outside of your monitor’s gamut.

Seems fairly clear to me.

 

[tbcass]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

I have never seen these warnings and if I did, I wouldn't be concerned either. I only care about what my eyes tell me. I understand that for professional publishing issues this may matter but for me, it's just for my enjoyment.

--
Tom

 

[ishwanu]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

I have never seen these warnings

Have you looked by clicking the icon? Many images shot in my own back yard show some warnings. The point is that now you know how to check on what your monitor can't do ... if you want to know.

and if I did, I wouldn't be concerned either. I only care about what my eyes tell me. I understand that for professional publishing issues this may matter but for me, it's just for my enjoyment.

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

Are you certain those aren't two different things?

I can only refer to the documentation.

Because I understood that warning to show colors that are outside of PhotoLab's color working space--either the old Adobe RGB one or the new wide gamut Pointer's one--not outside of the gamut of the monitor.

DxO's wide gamut color space is described in detail in the link below. If the description is accurate, there should be few if any real world colors that fall outside of it.

https://www.dxo.com/news/white-paper-wide-gamut/

From the PhotoLab manual, with the relevant part in bold:

The histogram not only displays RGB or CMYK channels, depending on the selected profile in the Soft proofing subpalette, but also off-gamut warnings (out of color range) in the form of colored masks embedded in the image.

To do this, you have the following two buttons, which you can also use together:

Show/hide the gamut warning screen: indicates the out-of-range colors for the screen as a blue mask on the image. As these colors cannot be properly rendered on the screen, they should be carefully considered.

Show/hide destination gamut warning: indicates the off-gamut destination colors (e.g. non-printable colors with a particular ICC profile) as a red mask on the image.

The bold paragraph applies to the monitor icon. The other paragraph applies to the gamut chart icon. I should also mention that these icons are available with the histogram in the PhotoLibrary workspace as well.

I think you're correct and that is a good point: you can probably use soft-proofing and from there select the monitor's ICC profile to see what parts of the image are outside of the monitor's gamut. Obviously that only works if you have an ICC profile specifically for your monitor.

 

[ppage]

GW 2480

Okay, I see the problem. That monitor is a very inexpensive monitor not made for image editing. BenQ is in fact a very good brand, but a good monitor for photo editing will cost a fair bit more than than.

I ca edit photos with any monitor, even cheap ones. How does a cheap one limit that capability?

When you edit photos on a monitor that can't display all the colors in the photo, you're 'flying bind' regarding how some colors will look on a monitor and/or in a print that can display them. And generally speaking, the smaller the monitor's gamut, the larger the range of colors where this is an issue and the greater the degree of an issue it becomes, at least with certain ranges of color. So what may be a minor issue if your monitor is e.g. 100+ % sRGB and 85% Adobe RGB may be a major issue if your monitor is only 60% sRGB--and IIRC, there are some cheaper and/or older monitors with gamuts that small.

Right. And I'd also add that an inexpensive monitor will probably have some colour and brightness inconsistencies across the panel.

 

[ishwanu]

I can't see any lost colors on my inexpensive monitors compared to reality or when I print. I am happier not spending money on expensive monitors I won't appreciate.

By definition, you can't see 'lost' colors - at least not as they are supposed to be seen.

You use PhotoLab. Look at some of your most colorful RAW photos and click the little monitor icon above the histogram in the Customize workspace. Any 'lost' colors that you can't see will be highlighted with warnings. If you don't see warnings among any of your own files, there are online examples that will trigger warnings.

I see warnings among some of my files, but I'm not concerned about it.

Are you certain those aren't two different things?

I can only refer to the documentation.

Because I understood that warning to show colors that are outside of PhotoLab's color working space--either the old Adobe RGB one or the new wide gamut Pointer's one--not outside of the gamut of the monitor.

DxO's wide gamut color space is described in detail in the link below. If the description is accurate, there should be few if any real world colors that fall outside of it.

https://www.dxo.com/news/white-paper-wide-gamut/

From the PhotoLab manual, with the relevant part in bold:

The histogram not only displays RGB or CMYK channels, depending on the selected profile in the Soft proofing subpalette, but also off-gamut warnings (out of color range) in the form of colored masks embedded in the image.

To do this, you have the following two buttons, which you can also use together:

Show/hide the gamut warning screen: indicates the out-of-range colors for the screen as a blue mask on the image. As these colors cannot be properly rendered on the screen, they should be carefully considered.

Show/hide destination gamut warning: indicates the off-gamut destination colors (e.g. non-printable colors with a particular ICC profile) as a red mask on the image.

The bold paragraph applies to the monitor icon. The other paragraph applies to the gamut chart icon. I should also mention that these icons are available with the histogram in the PhotoLibrary workspace as well.

I think you're correct and that is a good point: you can probably use soft-proofing and from there select the monitor's ICC profile to see what parts of the image are outside of the monitor's gamut. Obviously that only works if you have an ICC profile specifically for your monitor.

There's more that I added to my post beyond that - primarily this:

PS: I have now found this reference:

https://support.dxo.com/hc/en-us/ar...arning-and-the-monitor-gamut-warning-indicate

Activating this monitor gamut warning by clicking on the corresponding icon will show you which colors in the displayed image cannot be precisely reproduced on your monitor. This mainly occurs with particular hues or saturated colors that fall outside of your monitor’s gamut.

Seems fairly clear to me that the monitor gamut icon is intended to be used for showing monitor gamut issues.

 

[tbcass]

I have never seen these warnings

Have you looked by clicking the icon? Many images shot in my own back yard show some warnings. The point is that now you know how to check on what your monitor can't do ... if you want to know.

I'd rather not know. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Ruby Rod]

FWIW, my monitor is an older Viewsonic VP2468 at home and a slightly better VP2768 at work. They're very accurate out of the box but they're sRGB. They do in the high 90s percentage-wise and they come with individual color test result printouts when you buy them. They also support hardware calibration, where the corrections are held in monitor hardware, rather than in an icc file, though an icc file is still produced. This supposedly has some advantages in accuracy. I know some/many Benq monitors do hardware calibration, and no doubt others. I find the Viewsonics to be real bargains for what they deliver.

You'll generally have to use the monitor manufacturer's calibration software for hardware calibration as the pucks software doesn't support it. I keep hoping they'll add that because I'm not sure the monitor company's software always takes full advantage of the latest calibration hardware (pucks).

Something I've noticed is when the calibration software reports back the percentage of coverage, it's brightness dependent. I need to look at this more. You don't want your monitor too bright, but it seems the gamut is slightly reduced as you dim it. Hopefully not much.

 

[ppage]

In addition to having some colour and brightness inconsistencies across the panel, a cheap monitor may not display colours accurately.

Why does any of this matter if they look fine on your monitor? It doesn't. The issue is colour management across devices. As long as all you ever do with your images is look at them on your monitor and never get a new monitor there won't be a problem. But if you get a new monitor the colouts may look different, and if you post images on the web, they won't look to others the way they look to you, and if you ever print them, the prints will look different.