Imaging Tip: Secrets of Monitor Calibration

IMAGING TIP: Secrets of Monitor Calibration
By Rich Seiling

Nothing is more important in fine art digital printing than having an adequately calibrated monitor. Without it, you are printing blind. I’d rather go back to the darkroom than use a monitor that isn’t calibrated and profiled properly. Let’s look at some secrets to making your monitor as accurate as possible, so you can use it to make great prints.

Secret 1: The quality of your monitor matters.
Why is it important to have a good display? Because no calibration system can make a bad monitor into a good one. The rule, “garbage in, garbage out” definitely applies here.

There are three different types of computer displays you can choose, and it’s important to choose the right one:
1. CRT monitors using Aperture Grill technology
2. CRT monitors using Shadow Mask technology
3. LCD monitors

Aperture Grill
At West Coast Imaging, we use CRT Aperture Grill monitors. They are a mature technology and have a great track record. I’ve been using them for over ten years, so I know they are up to the task. Aperture Grill monitors sometimes come under the brand names Trinitron® or Diamondtron®. They use a grid-like grill to define the pixels on the monitor (you can see it with a magnifying glass). They produce sharper results than shadow mask monitors, but are more expensive to produce, so they are the minority of monitors produced at this point. They cost less than LCD monitors, but they produce better quality, dollar for dollar, than any LCD. You can get a 17" model for about $180, 19” for $250, and 22” for about $600.

At West Coast imaging, we’re currently using NEC FE700+ monitors that are no longer being produced (and we happen to have a stockpile...) I have not used the current equivalents, but the following models should work well:

17 inch
Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 74 (17" CRT)
NEC MultiSync 17 “ model FE771

19 inch
NEC MultiSync 19" model FE991SB

22 inch
22” NEC MultiSync model FE2111SB

Shadow Mask
Shadow mask monitors--the kind that ship with most PC bundles--are not up to the demands of critical color decisions for several reasons. Most importantly, the phosphors do not display as wide of a range of color as the aperture grill monitors do. Secondly, their picture quality is softer, and this does not allow the subtle variations of color to be displayed properly. This also makes it more difficult to see defects in files that need to be removed. The only place I use shadow mask monitors is as a second monitor to hold all of my Photoshop palettes.

LCD Monitors
I can hear the question you are asking yourself....what about LCDs? Images look incredible on LCDs, but incredible doesn’t mean accurate.

There is a large difference in quality when it comes to LCD displays, and you have to pay a lot to obtain accurate results. The only people I know who are successfully using them are using the 23-inch Apple Cinema Display at the (not so) bargain price of $1799, and you need a $1000 calibration device to boot. I do not know of anyone using less expensive hardware and getting good results. That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there...I just haven’t met them. Please e-mail me if you’ve found a silver bullet. Even the LCD in my $2000 Apple Powerbook is not accurate, even when profiled.

The problem is that LCD displays are still an emerging technology. An “inexpensive” $500-$1000 LCD can change color if you get off center even slightly. My friends in Silicon Valley tell me that you have to spend $1500-2000 to get an LCD up to the standards of a CRT aperture grill monitor. In time, this will change, but I’ve decided to stick with CRT for now. I know from years of experience that CRT Aperture grill technology is adequate for the task, and a cardinal rule of photography should be “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” A new lens, or a photo trip, or just some time to work free from distraction will improve my photographs more than a $2800 display system. I’m not criticizing anyone who chooses differently...I’m just trying to give background on why I’ve made the choices I have. Only you can decide what you should use.

Secret#2: You still need to make proofs

No matter how accurate your monitor, there will always be a difference between your screen and your final print. Some specific differences:

1. Light reflects off prints, whereas it transmits through images on a computer monitor. This means prints have a much smaller dynamic range than images viewed on a monitor.

2. Your printer and your monitor have different gamuts, which means they have different colors that they can or cannot display. One may be able to display colors the other can’t, and vice versa. Using soft proofing helps, but there will always be a difference between the two.

3. The type of light you use to view your prints makes a huge difference in how they look. The pigments and dyes in a print react differently under different light sources, and no monitor can match tungsten-halogen gallery light. So, you need to see how prints react to the viewing lights you’ll be using.

By proofing, you can bridge any differences between the print and the monitor. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if a print perfectly matches the monitor. We are not trying to reproduce numbers, but emotions. In the end we have to judge a print by how well it expresses the intended emotion.

To sum it all up:

Always proof
Always use the same printer (and inks, paper, settings, etc.) you’ll use for the final prints.
Always pay attention to what light you are using to view your prints.

Secret #3: Control the RGB guns for the best white point

The more accurately you can set your white point, the better your calibration will be. There are three different controls manufacturers can give you to do this:

1. Preset color temperatures. (least accurate)
2. A slider bar that lets you adjust overall color temperature. (better but still not best)
3. Control of each individual RGB gun. (best option)

If you are buying a new monitor, the only way to go is to buy a monitor that allows individual control of RGB guns. When using calibration software such as the ColorVision products, you’ll have the chance to fine tune the white point with extreme accuracy if you can control the RGB guns individually.

This discussion would not be complete without telling you what white point to use. I know many people that use different white points successfully. Our standard is to use D65 or 6500 degrees Kelvin at 2.2 gamma. Chances are, that setting will work well for you, too.