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05-02-2011, 10:43 AM   #1
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monitor issues...

i recently purchased a new computer and monitor - a total upgrade to my old clunker. in the last couple of weeks when i am done with post processing and save the final image it looks great on my new monitor - but when i get to work the next morning and see the images on a different monitor (granted the one at work is not as good as mine at home) but the photos look awful! totally dark - no detail - where as just moments before - at my house - they pop out and are vibrant - they look as they did when i shot them but not from an older monitor. so assuming someone viewing my work somewhere didnt have a monitor made in the last year or two - are they going to be seeing the same dark and essentially crappy photos that im now seeing? its literally like night and day...any suggestions? i dont have examples because its the same file im viewing now that i was viewing at home - is it just that older monitors (even if they are flat screens) dont 'look' the same? IE - if i had done the post processing on my computer at work - with the older monitor - would they look like crap on the new nice vibrant monitor? what to do? they looked great (tooting own horn) last night - i come to work this morning - and they look like a 3 year old blind kid got his hands on a k20. HELP!

05-02-2011, 11:13 AM   #2
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You are seeing something that is just a fact of the digital photography world and uncalibrated monitors. The first question is are you calibrating your monitor? This is the first step in solving your problem. The way computers are set up these days, the monitors are often way too bright with way too much contrast. If you are using it as is, processing your photos, and then go to a different computer and monitor, it is likely you'll see something different (in your case darker images). You might also find that if you were to make prints, they would be dark.

Now, if your monitor is calibrated, the other issue you are probably having is that others computers aren't calibrated. I generally found that once I calibrated my monitor that my photos look ok on most other computers. More importantly, my photos now print ok (I notice my problem when making a book that ended with all photos being dark). There isn't a whole lot you'll be able to do on the end of the other computers.

As far as calibrating your monitor goes, search this site and use Google. It can be an overwhelming and daunting task. There are multiple methods, hardware, software, etc. that can get you towards a solution, and the best solutions will are not necessarily cheap.
05-02-2011, 11:23 AM   #3
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Original Poster
so monitors arent calibrated out of the box? yes - the new one is brighter than the 4 year old one i am on now (at "work" haha) but its not SUPER bright or anything - the photos on the monitor at home look pretty much like they do in camera - i did very little post processing to them - some curves and touch up but nowhere near my normal post processing (do a lot of HDR work) but these are straight from the camera to the computer and look wonderful there...
a friend just called me - was looking at the photos on a mac that is less than a year old and said they looked great - spot on color - nice exposure - etc etc etc - im looking at one now and it is pure trash! eff...
05-02-2011, 12:51 PM   #4
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The problem is that the default monitor settings are not often setup with a photographer in mind. Often times they are setup for gamers, office workers, or typical internet users. As such, they are often by default set to really bright and really contrasty.

The other problem comes about if you have a high gamut monitor, which may be more common with a MAC if that is what you have and is what your friend has.

Calibrating and Profiling your monitor is a way to make sure all your color and brightness settings are just right between your OS and your hardware. Now it is possible that your images and your monitor are in fact just fine on your computer, but if you are saving them with odd profiles that your computer is able to handle but others can't that can be a problem, too. There are a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately, there is no one surefire way to make your images look great on EVERY computer. Even if you calibrate your monitor and profile things correctly, you are going to have the monitor here and there that is too dark or those that are too bright.

Short of going out and making the investment in calibration tools, the only other suggestion I could have is to make an actual print from your photos. See how those look. Are they dark, bright, or just right. Specifically use a photo that you are seeing your problem with the most. Also check that when you save out your images that they are saved in a colorspace like sRGB. sRGB isn't the best space, but it is the one that works on the internet and on the most computers. You may want to see that your monitor at work is turned up enough in brightness. Maybe you need to set it brighter or even increase the contrast. Maybe it is just too old.

Ultimately, you will want to really dig into information on color profiles, calibration, etc. It is a topic that isn't terribly easy to grasp, but it is worth knowing even if you don't need it directly. It helps explain when you order prints somewhere and they don't come out right and often even on your home printer when things don't come out right.

05-02-2011, 03:13 PM   #5
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If your computer isn't calibrated, you will be wasting time PP. End of story. You have no control over other computers, but at least yours should be good to start with.
05-04-2011, 10:25 AM   #6
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Can anyone recommend a good calibrater? Spyder 3 or Eye One maybe?
05-04-2011, 10:31 AM   #7
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Calibration can be done now with Windows 7. This is done true color management in the the configuration panel
Here the details
Calibrate your display

05-04-2011, 10:25 PM   #8
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Newer monitors are quite brighter and have much higher resolution than older ones. I notice this myself after a recent upgrade. Moving from 1024 x 768 to 1920 x 1080 is quite a difference. I check my monitor against a print, as Emalvick suggested. That has been a decent compromise in a house where multiple people are using the same computer for different things. I'd like a dedicated computer and monitor just for photo editing but it's not in the budget.
05-08-2011, 10:10 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by bobmaxja Quote
Calibration can be done now with Windows 7. This is done true color management in the the configuration panel
Here the details
Calibrate your display
I have a MAC.
05-10-2011, 05:19 AM   #10
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You need a hardware calibration puck and software. The X-Rite i1D2 is good value and gives good results on normal- and wide-gamut monitors (unlike the Spyder3 in my experience). The next step is to choose your calibration targets - in particular, you need to set a luminance value that may seem very low - something in the region of 120 cd/m2. This may not be ideal for gaming, say, but it's best for photographic work. Now your photos may look too dark - you will need to open up the shadows a little. Then, if you wish to share them across several computers, tag them with a colour space - sRGB is the standard for viewing online (not recommended for anything else though, so make sure you tag a copy).
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