Monitor Calibration: Why Bother?

[Rob Wadsworth]

Get any six TFT's, CRT's, and laptops, go ahead and turn them all on, and then put up the same picture up on the screens.
And what do you get?
Anything but exactly the same picture.
Oh, it will be the same photo by exposure, position, and camera - but the chances of them all looking the same are almost nil.
Inconsistency is what you can expect, uniformity is somehow lacking...

Too bright, too dark, too much contrast, and too little contrast.
And how come this monitor used that color?
Some of this can be blamed on the quality of the monitor you use; but how much of this inconsistency is blamed on its adjustments?
What - might one ask - is the great equalizer?
What trickery in the world of software and hardware runs to your rescue?
Or - there is no problem as far as you can tell...

Inconsistencies...
Ambient - read "room lighting" is one that is often overlooked - or not even considered.
The age of your monitor is another.
Is it a new high contrast TFT/LCD - or is it a sweet, old Sony CRT?
Did you adjust the color and contrast to your liking - or was it part of PhotoShop Gamma program that brought it "close enough"?

Why should this all matter?
Maybe it doesn't - or vice versa.
If you only need to get your pictures close - and you really don't care because you are going to put them in your photo album - or the purchaser of the rights to your photos will re-PhotoShop to their own liking anyway - then perhaps it doesn't matter.
If you are going to print them for whatever reason; or you want to have a pro edge on your final product - then it may matter greatly.

Printing photos creates a plethora of problems. First, you must get a reasonable rendition of the photo that you want to print. Then, the copier needs to be able to render what you expect from your photo processing. Getting all of these ducks in a row to look like the same duck picture that you took is problematic.

Start with your monitor being calibrated...
Before a good print from the copier can happen, the monitor must be calibrated, then the printer must be calibrated. X-rite Eye-One and the ColorVision Spyder are two popular brands. If you can believe the majority of reviews by pro photographers, the X-Rite Eye-One is the best for about $200. If you want the full kit - which includes the printer calibration too; then the price jumps to almost $500 - or more if you are a print shop.
You can use the Eye-One calibrator and use a color card for another $40 to get your print quality close. It may well be the cheapest means to get it close vs money spent.

Personally, I just want my laptop to look as good as my 22" ViewSonic. Playing games, web browsing, and photo processing are my needs - since I neither have or want a printer. Since I look at my monitor(s) several hours a day, I think that it makes the cost worth while. Since one can calibrate all of the monitors in your home with just one device, I think it makes the expense even more worthwhile.
Mileage may vary from user to user...


Do you use a monitor calibration device?
Has it helped you and your photographs?

See the X-Rite Eye-One at Adorama
http://www.adorama.com/GHEOD2.html?sid=122308721853128

 

[Paul Hadfield]

On the money! I used to obsess over monitor calibration but have long since given up. I found that what I got when printing at home with the all-in-one was considerably different than that recieved from an online photofinisher. Jumping between services like ezprints, winkflash, snapfish and even Walmart online, each one produces remarkably different results. I have yet to try Mpix but for all of the above, when it comes to closeness, ezprints.com has consistently been the best. You can even request a free sample print intended for calibrating your monitor to match their equipment settings.

 

[Mike Umscheid]

Only the higher end LCD monitors will reach the color gamut of CRT monitors, which is why I still only do serious post-process editing on my 4-year old Dell CRT monitor. That will all change in a couple months when I purchase a new workstation and hook up a high-quality Eizo ColorEdge monitor to it. High color gamut is very important for fine-art landscape/storm photographers doing serious color work. There is an article on www.smartshooter.com that ranks monitors by color performance for this very thing.

 

[Cris Schroeder]

I calibrate both my desktop and laptop monitors. My goal is fine art photography so I have a fully color-managed workflow from my profiled camera to my printer profiles. Does it make a difference? Maybe, maybe not. I've seen noticeable differences in my prints from before and after using profiles. Honestly, when I started color managing my images, they looked a lot worse. My best prints were from shooting JPEGs directly to the printer using Canon's Easy-PhotoPrint. However, once I learned how to manage my printer settings to avoid double-correcting, I started to make better prints. I am very happy with the prints I am currently making.

Maybe I've been reading too many books by Ansel Adams, but his recurring theme is consistency. It is difficult to master anything if you don't get consistent results. If I'm going to spend so much time shooting the image, processing it, and spending the money on printing materials, why not eliminate all the variables I can control? I guess it just depends on what your end goals are.