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M38A1
03-23-2009, 02:12 PM
How does one know the colors they see on their computer monitor are in fact the true colors? Is there a site that compares them or tools available?
DaveC
03-23-2009, 02:16 PM
what do you care , your leaving in 4 days!




:mrgreen:
Chirpy
03-23-2009, 02:34 PM
If you're really serious, Pantone is the answer. The new ColorMunki (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=711&ca=2) reads your existing screen and allows you to calibrate accordingly.

$500 bucks, which is actually cheap compared to what this stuff was a view years ago.
M38A1
03-23-2009, 03:12 PM
what do you care , your leaving in 4 days!
:mrgreen:

Sure, but I've got a computer/monitor at home! ;-)



If you're really serious, Pantone is the answer. The new ColorMunki (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=711&ca=2) reads your existing screen and allows you to calibrate accordingly.

$500 bucks, which is actually cheap compared to what this stuff was a view years ago.

Thanks. I'll have to take a look at that, but for $500, I can live with whatever I see. Or, would that be whatever you see? :mrgreen:
Chirpy
03-23-2009, 03:28 PM
The old fashioned way is to beg, borrow or buy a Pantone book off eBay or something and just hold it up to the monitor and see how far off you are.
WoodButcher
03-23-2009, 03:57 PM
I've got something called ColorPlus sitting at my desk right now. Some sort of gadget that attaches to the monitor and software and it reads the screen and adjusts it. You are welcome to try it out. I haven't tried it yet, a friend of my folks used it and passed it on. I had forgotten it was sitting in the drawer until I saw the post.
Skillet
03-23-2009, 04:24 PM
I'm fixin' to borrow one of these ...

Spyder (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/525535-REG/Datacolor_S3P100_Spyder3Pro_Display_Calibration_Sy stem.html)

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers,

Ben
DFW_Warrior
03-23-2009, 04:53 PM
If it looks good to you, then you are golden. Or if you want "true" colors, ditch the flat panel and go with a tube.
M38A1
03-23-2009, 04:55 PM
... Or if you want "true" colors, ditch the flat panel and go with a tube.

Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. I had always assumed the flat panels with digital output were quite 'true'.
Chirpy
03-23-2009, 05:10 PM
Going with a tube guarantees nothing. Radius got their start selling color corrected monitors way back in the day. You can pick different gamma profiles and change the colors on a tube pretty easy. Which one is right? Grab the pantone book.

This guy has some pretty good stuff for calibration (http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration.htm) if you want to wade through it.
STScott
03-23-2009, 05:13 PM
Nope..the tube is the golden standard.

You really only need to worry about fixing your monitor if you are going to be printing from your printer and really the color correction is only good for the light source that is in effect in the area you have your computer in at that time...different sources of light (high sun, low sun coming through the windows as an example) will have an effect on how your monitor looks at that time so I don't worry about it, besides good labs color correct when you send your files in.

I did have MPIX (the lab I use) send me a color calibration kit that they have....I sent off one file without messing with my monitors and sent the same file after calibrating it....they looked the same when I got them.
Chirpy
03-24-2009, 08:22 AM
Uhhh, monitors usually have different color profiles for you to choose from, so what if you have have the "wrong" one? For instance one for viewing by incandescent, one for viewing by fluorescent. The phosphors also degrade over time, and you can change profiles to help compensate for that as well.

So simply having a tube guarantees no more accuracy than a first-tier LCD monitor.
DFW_Warrior
03-24-2009, 08:23 AM
Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. I had always assumed the flat panels with digital output were quite 'true'.

Every wonder why most major studios and control rooms still have those tube things in them? Now you know.;-)
DaveC
03-24-2009, 08:28 AM
Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. I had always assumed the flat panels with digital output were quite 'true'.

You've got three days, you better get crackin'. quit this slackin'


:mrgreen:
jblaze5779
03-26-2009, 03:18 PM
I've got a spyder that works really well. All my prints come back looking the same as on the screen.
HiSPL
03-26-2009, 09:27 PM
We use the Pantone Huey,

http://www.amazon.com/Pantone-MEU101-huey/dp/B000CR78C4

It works pretty well and it changes your color temp based on room lighting in real time. When you're working in the dark, then flip on the lights it will fix the color temp after just a few seconds....
M38A1
03-31-2009, 10:14 PM
Today I picked up from Rusty a Pantone ColorPlus Spyder thinggie. When I break free and get it hooked up I'll give a report on how it works.
Tracker
04-01-2009, 05:46 PM
we found the Apple LCD's to be pretty close to true, using the provided UCC profiles. That was checking the against the LaCie calibration tool. This is in a studio where we do pre-press work. It all depends on how close you want to get and how much money you want to spend.