lcd screen color calibration made in china

You can do verification measurements to assess the display chain"s (display profile - video card and the calibration curves in its gamma table - monitor) fit to the measured data, or to find out about the soft proofing capabilities of the display chain. You can also do a profile or device link (3D LUT) self check without having to take any further measurements by holding the “alt” key on your keyboard.

To check the fit to the measurement data, you have to select a CGATS testchart file containing device values (RGB). The measured values are then compared to the values obtained by feeding the device RGB numbers through the display profile (measured vs expected values). The default verification chart contains 26 patches and can be used, for example, to check if a display needs to be re-profiled. If a RGB testchart with gray patches (R=G=B) is measured, like the default and extended verification charts, you also have the option to evaluate the graybalance through the calibration only, by placing a check in the corresponding box on the report.

To perform a check on the soft proofing capabilities, you have to provide a CGATS reference file containing XYZ or L*a*b* data, or a combination of simulation profile and testchart file, which will be fed through the display profile to lookup corresponding device (RGB) values, and then be sent to the display and measured. Afterwards, the measured values are compared to the original XYZ or L*a*b* values, which can give a hint how suitable (or unsuitable) the display is for softproofing to the colorspace indicated by the reference.

Checking how well a display can simulate another colorspace (evaluating softproofing capabilities, 3D LUTs, DeviceLink profiles, or native display performance)

Using the simulation profile as display profile will override the profile set under “Settings”. Whitepoint simulation does not apply here because color management will not be used and the display device is expected to be in the state described by the simulation profile. This may be accomplished in several ways, for example the display may be calibrated internally or externally, by a 3D LUT or device link profile. If this setting is enabled, a few other options will be available:

Enable 3D LUT (if using the madVR display device/madTPG under Windows, or a Prisma video processor). This allows you to check how well the 3D LUT transforms the simulation colorspace to the display colorspace. Note this setting can not be used together with a DeviceLink profile.

DeviceLink profile. This allows you to check how well the DeviceLink transforms the simulation colorspace to the display colorspace. Note this setting can not be used together with the “Enable 3D LUT” setting.

If you want to know how well your profile can simulate another colorspace (softproofing), select a reference file containing L*a*b* or XYZ values, like one of the Fogra Media Wedge subsets, or a combination of a simulation profile and testchart. Be warned though, only wide-gamut displays will handle a larger offset printing colorspace like FOGRA39 or similar well enough.

Note that both tests are “closed-loop” and will not tell you an “absolute” truth in terms of “color quality” or “color accuracy” as they may not show if your instrument is faulty/measures wrong (a profile created from repeatable wrong measurements will usually still verify well against other wrong measurements from the same instrument if they don"t fluctuate too much) or does not cope with your display well (which is especially true for colorimeters and wide-gamut screens, as such combinations need a correction in hardware or software to obtain accurate results), or if colors on your screen match an actual colored object next to it (like a print). It is perfectly possible to obtain good verification results but the actual visual performance being sub-par. It is always wise to combine such measurements with a test of the actual visual appearance via a “known good” reference, like a print or proof (although it should not be forgotten that those also have tolerances, and illumination also plays a big role when assessing visual results). Keep all that in mind when admiring (or pulling your hair out over) verification results :)

There are currently two slightly different paths depending if a testchart or reference file is used for the verification measurements, as outlined above. In both cases, Argyll"s xicclu utility is run behind the scenes and the values of the testchart or reference file are fed relative colorimetrically (if no whitepoint simualtion is used) or absolute colorimetrically (if whitepoint simulation is used) through the profile that is tested to obtain corresponding L*a*b* (in the case of RGB testcharts) or device RGB numbers (in the case of XYZ or L*a*b* reference files or a combination of simulation profile and testchart). If a combination of simulation profile and testchart is used as reference, the reference L*a*b* values are calculated by feeding the device numbers from the testchart through the simulation profile absolute colorimetrically if whitepoint simulation is enabled (which will be the default if the simulation profile is a printer profile) and relative colorimetrically if whitepoint simulation is disabled (which will be the default if the simulation profile is a display profile, like most RGB working spaces). Then, the original RGB values from the testchart, or the looked up RGB values for a reference are sent to the display through the calibration curves of the profile that is going to be evaluated. A reference white of D50 (ICC default) and complete chromatic adaption of the viewer to the display"s whitepoint is assumed if “simulate whitepoint relative to display profile whitepoint” is used, so the measured XYZ values are adapted to D50 (with the measured whitepoint as source reference white) using the Bradford transform (see Chromatic Adaption on Bruce Lindbloom"s website for the formula and matrix that is used by DisplayCAL) or with the adaption matrix from the profile in the case of profiles with "chad" chromatic adaption tag, and converted to L*a*b*. The L*a*b* values are then compared by the generated dynamic report, with user-selectable critera and ΔE (delta E) formula.

In a report, the correlated color temperature and assumed target whitepoint, as well as the whitepoint ΔE, do warrant some further explanations: The whitepoint ΔE is calculated as difference between the measured whitepoint"s and the assumed target whitepoint"s normalized XYZ values, which are first converted to L*a*b*. The assumed target whitepoint color temperature shown is simply the rounded correlated color temparature (100K threshold) calculated from the measured XYZ values. The XYZ values for the assumed target whitepoint are obtained by calculating the chromaticity (xy) coordinates of a CIE D (daylight) or blackbody illuminant of that color temperature and converting them to XYZ. You can find all the used formulas on Bruce Lindbloom"s website and on Wikipedia.

It sets the nominal (target) L* value to the measured L* value and a*=b*=0, so the profile is effectively ignored and only the calibration (if any) will influence the results of the gray balance checks. Note that this option will not make a difference for a “Single curve + matrix” profile, as the single curve effectively already achieves a similar thing (the L* values can be different, but they are ignored for the gray balance checks and only influence the overall result).

If you enable “Use absolute values” on a report, the chromatic adaptation to D50 is undone (but the refrence white for the XYZ to L*a*b* conversion stays D50). This mode is useful when checking softproofing results using a CMYK simulation profile, and will be automatically enabled if you used whitepoint simulation during verification setup without enabling whitepoint simulation relative to the profile whitepoint (true absolute colorimetric mode). If you enable “Use display profile whitepoint as reference white”, then the reference white used for the XYZ to L*a*b* conversion will be that of the display profile, which is useful when verifying video calibrations where the target is usually some standard color space like Rec. 709 with a D65 equivalent whitepoint.

The EIZO-developed ColorNavigator software makes calibration simple and produces predictable color results. ColorNavigator works with a wide range of measurement devices to directly utilize the Look-Up Table of ColorEdge monitors for accurate and reliable calibration in minutes.

Preset values* for web contents, photography, and printing are available. Just select one, click "Adjust", and ColorNavigator will begin calibrating. This takes the guesswork out of assigning values for users with limited color management knowledge.

A paper white measurement function offers better color matching between the image on the monitor and the image on the printouts. By measuring the white of the paper to be used for printing, ColorNavigator will automatically set the target values for brightness and white point accordingly. (This feature is not available for ColorEdge monitors with a built-in calibration sensor.)

Sometimes due to variations in output from different printers or the special requirements of a project, it is necessary to fine-tune an otherwise perfectly calibrated monitor to match target colors. ColorNavigator lets you easily adjust hue and saturation for all six primary and secondary colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow), as well as white balance, brightness, black level and gamma, to achieve the closest possible visual match. You can decide which of the adjustments will be saved to the profile. (6 color adjustment settings cannot be saved to the profile.

For confirmation of calibration results or to achieve more accurate manual adjustments, a test pattern screen can be displayed. The test pattern screen shows a full grayscale ramp, as well as just the low tones (blacks), high tones (whites), gamma values, and the EIZO and ColorNavigator logo areas. Brightness, white point, and gamma can be adjusted manually with the results immediately reflected on the test pattern screen.

Test pattern screen divided into grayscale areas, whitescale areas, gamma areas, and EIZO / ColorNavigator logo areas. Adjustments of brightness, white point, and gamma made on the screen to the left are shown immediately on the test pattern screen.

With ColorNavigator you and prepare several profiles for different needs and switch between them as needed. You can also use past calibration results to easily adjust your monitor.

ColorNavigator emulates* the color characteristics of other media devices such as tablets, smart phones, notebook PCs, other LCD/CRT monitors and even portable gaming devices. With a spectrophotometer, ColorNavigator reads the emulated device"s color patches as they appear in a web browser and creates an ICC profile. By using this profile with a ColorEdge monitor, content creators see how their customers view color on their respective media devices.

After initial calibration, a monitor needs to be recalibrated at regular intervals to maintain color accuracy. ColorNavigator includes a recalibration reminder that will appear after a certain number of user-determined hours. When the monitor is first calibrated, the date and time are saved. After the time you set has elapsed, an LED on the front panel lights up, and a reminder message appears the next time ColorNavigator starts up.

ColorNavigator Agent allows you to quickly change the target profile without having to start up ColorNavigator. You can also use it to start up ColorNavigator and it allows you to monitor the status of your video card"s gamma if you are using Windows.

If you are using ColorNavigator"s timer function that reminds you to recalibrate after a user-specified number of hours, then the ColorNavigator Agent icon will turn from blue to red when it is time to recalibrate.

To eliminate the individual differences in measured values among calibration devices, ColorNavigator conducts settings based on EIZO"s own standards that prioritize color management settings. In addition, when color matching with other ColorEdge monitors, ColorNavigator can give priority to matching between monitors and correct the calibration devices.

With ColorNavigator and a measurement device, you can set your light box"s* brightness to the desired value. ColorNavigator takes the resulting brightness level and sets it as the monitor"s target calibration value to ensure uniform brightness between your monitor and light box when color proofing.

If you want to conduct color management between monitors in a workflow then ColorNavigator lets you load the profile of another ColorEdge monitor and use it to calibrate your own.

ColorNavigator emulates* the profiles of printers, paper, and other monitors. The profile will be added to a drop down menu of emulated profiles where you can easily access it as needed.

To verify calibration results or check to see how much the monitor"s colors have varied since it was last calibrated, ColorNavigator measures the monitor"s color patches to determine the difference between the Delta-E value of the monitor"s profile and the actual displayed values of the monitor. ColorNavigator can also measure CMYK color patches* (GRACoL 2006 Coated #1 and FOGRA39) and output them as Adobe Photoshop or Acrobat files. The measurement results of both the monitor and profile for each color patch are indicated in either CIELAB or XYZ values, and the difference between them expressed in Delta-E. The Delta-E variation can be shown in a graph and compared with previous results.

Using either the OSD menu or ColorNavigator, you can schedule the monitor to self-calibrate at a specific time and specific intervals. Even if the monitor is switched off or not even connected to a computer, it will stick to its preset schedule and self-calibrate.

With Color Navigator, the monitor can be correlated to the measurement results of an external calibration sensor. This is convenient if the monitor is used in a work environment with other ColorEdge monitors and one measurement device must be used as a standard for all calibrating.

The latest versions of ColorNavigator 6 as well as older versions like ColorNavigator 6.4.7 and ColorNavigator 5.4 that support Mac OS 9.2.2, X 10.2 – 10.6.8 and Windows XP/Vista and also older ColorEdge monitors are available for download.

Automate your calibration with the built-in SelfCalibration sensor that is housed within the monitor"s bottom bezel and swings up onto the screen only when calibrating. This sensor eliminates the need for a third-party calibration device and even operates in portrait mode.

Using either the OSD menu or the bundled ColorNavigator software, you can schedule the monitor to self-calibrate at specific times. Even if the monitor is switched off or not connected to a computer, it will stick to its preset schedule and self-calibrate.

The monitor can be correlated to the measurement results of an external calibration sensor. After correlating, the built-in sensor will automatically recalibrate to the settings. This is convenient if the monitor is used in a work environment with other monitors and one measurement device must be used as a standard for all calibration.

All ColorEdge models come with an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) developed by EIZO to meet the needs of the graphics market. The ASIC has its own algorithms used in high-precision color processing to produce smooth color tones.

Fluctuations in brightness and chromaticity on different parts of the screen are a common trait of LCD monitors. To counteract this, the monitor incorporates EIZO’ｓ patented digital uniformity equalizer (DUE) technology to ensure a Delta-E difference of 3 or less across the screen when the monitor leaves the factory. And now DUE also counterbalances the influences that a fluctuating ambient temperature may have on color temperature and brightness to ensure stable image display.

The gamma level for each ColorEdge monitor is adjusted at the factory. This is accomplished by measuring the R, G, and B gamma values from 0 – 255, then using the monitor’s 16-bit look-up table (LUT) to select the 256 most appropriate tones to achieve the desired value.

A wide color gamut reproduces 97% of the Adobe RGB color space so images shot in RAW can be converted to Adobe RGB or images shot in Adobe RGB will be displayed correctly. The colors seen in photos of vibrant blue skies and lush green forests will be reproduced faithfully in a way that cannot be on monitors with an sRGB color space. The wide color gamut also ensures that the monitor reproduces almost the entire ISO-coated and US web-coated CMYK color spaces used in printing.

Using the DisplayPort input, the monitor offers 10-bit simultaneous color display* from a 16-bit look-up table which means it can show more than one billion colors simultaneously. This is 64 times as many colors as you get with 8-bit display which results in even smoother color gradations and reduced Delta-E between two adjacent colors.

The bundled ColorNavigator software makes calibration both simple and quick. Just input target values for brightness, white point, and gamma. The built-in sensor directly utilizes the monitor"s look-up table and creates an ICC profile within minutes. You can always download the latest version of ColorNavigator for free here on eizo.com.

With content published on so many different types of printed and digital media it"s critical to know how your clients will see color. A ColorEdge monitor and the bundled ColorNavigator software let you do just that as they are designed for both softproofing and digital device emulation. So now you can "predict" how color will appear to your clients whether you produce content for printed media like books and magazines or for digital media devices like tablets, smart phones, and notebook computers.

ColorNavigator NX and ColorNavigator Network allow a single administrator to automate the quality control process of ColorEdge monitors across an entire studio or between multiple locations.

With ColorNavigator NX installed on workstations, an administrator can use ColorNavigator Network software to schedule self-calibration, set the color modes, activate key lock to prevent unintended changes to color settings (CG series), register or adjust asset management settings, and import/export monitor settings.

ColorNavigator Network is hosted by EIZO on a secure cloud server to free you from the initial investment and running costs of providing your own server.

Several photographers and digital directors from Magnum Photos use ColorEdge monitors in their color management workflow for the restoration of historical Magnum imagery and the production of contemporary photographs. Read more about the collaboration between Magnum and EIZO.

DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI-D inputs are included for connecting to various types of graphics boards, The HDMI input also offers direct connection with digital cameras. Two USB upstream ports allow two computers to be connected at once so it’s not necessary to reconnect the USB cable when using the ColorNavigator software and switching between the two computers.

Adjust the screen to the most comfortable angle for you and reposition it to show your work to a colleague or client. The monitor comes with a versatile stand that offers height, tilt, and swivel adjustments as well as portrait mode display.

For dimly lit work environments like post production studios, the monitor comes with backlit control buttons and an on-screen button guide to indicate what each button is for.

Most shading hoods can only be used in landscape mode, but this monitor comes bundled with a unique hood that is designed for portrait mode as well. Now you can keep the glare off your screen no matter which mode you work in.

When viewing the screen from an angle in a dimly lit room, dark tones typically appear washed out due to the display characteristics of LCD backlights. The monitor has a high contrast ratio which allows the dark tones to retain their depth.

A 3D LUT is included which adjusts colors individually on an RGB cubic table. With the bundled ColorNavigator software’s emulation function, the 3D LUT applies a film look to the image so creators can check how it will be seen by their audience. The 3D LUT also improves the monitor"s additive color mixture (combination of RGB), which is a key factor in its ability to display neutral gray tones.

A button on the front of the monitor provides quick access to several broadcast-standard color modes reset color modes: Rec. 709, EBU, SMPTE-C, and DCI. In addition, sRGB and Adobe RGB modes are also available.

A safe area marker designates the area of the screen that will be displayed when the monitor is connected to a particular device. This allows you to check that subtitles and other text will be visible. This color of the marker is changeable to ensure it remains with any imagery.

The ColorEdge CG246 is recognized by Fogra, the German graphic arts research association, as a Class A FograCert Softproof Monitor. The ColorEdge CG246 passed Fogra’s requirements for viewing cone characteristics, uniformity, and warm-up behavior for use in a FograCert Softproofing System.

Calibrating your monitor is essential to get an accurate representation of the colours you want to output on a printer. Calibration is only possible with CRT monitors and some of the more expensive LCD monitors, such as the Eizo GC range and LaCie"s current 300 range of models. These monitors have a 10-bit or better Video Colour LookUp Table (LUT) which also makes them behave better with regards to colour representation.

While you may not always have the means to buy a monitor that you can calibrate - or you simply don"t want to throw out your still perfect performing 4-year old LCD, you can still profile the monitor, which enables you to at least use it for more or less accurate photo proofing with Photoshop. What if I told you there is an application out there that does more with the video card"s LUT than most packages do - even the very expensive ones? It is called basICColor display 4.1.1, it"s a German product, and it works wonders. The secret sauce? Software calibration. Not as good as hardware calibration, but better than no calibration at all.

basICColor 4.1.1 is Color Solutions" monitor profiling software. It comes with the "Squid 2", an OEM"ed version of the GretagMacbeth Display 2 colorimeter. If you already have a Display 2, there"s no need to buy the basICColor display with the Squid 2. You can also buy it without. The software works with other manufacturers" colorimeters as well. It will even work with a Spyder2Pro, and at the other end of the spectrum, with the Eye-One Pro. When used with the latter, you can show a spectral diagram of your display.

basICColor display 4.x is a multi-monitor solution out-of-the-box. At startup, the software will detect when you have more than one monitor connected to your computer, and will automatically open as many windows as there are monitors. The main window is easy to use. It has a phased interface, meaning you only get to see what is relevant at each particular phase in the calibration/profiling process.

basICColor display 4.x is fast too. I was stunned by its speed, especially so as the application will go through a calibration round before profiling your display. It should therefore take at least twice as long as with other programs, but it"s actually faster than both MonacoProfiler and ProfileMaker Pro.

You can have the software calibrate or only profile your display. If software calibration causes problems with your video card, you can turn it off. I can"t report any problem with my ATI Radeon 9800 SE, but other cards might dislike display 4.x tampering with their Tone Response Curves. The software is aimed at professionals, and therefore can be set up by the operator entirely. However, beginners - or impatient people - can start calibrating using the "Express" button, which sets the application to manufacturer defaults and is the fastest way to get a profile quickly.

If you know what you"re doing, you can decide yourself what the software is supposed to calibrate / profile against. This is done by going through a column with pop-up menus at the left side of the window. For example, you can decide to calibrate to ISO 3664 and 12646 standards, or use one of the preset calibration settings such as "Office", "Photography", and "Prepress".

The profile can be a LUT-based profile or a less accurate matrix profile. When selecting to calibrate the hardware on a monitor that supports hardware calibration, you can sit back and look at what display 4.x does for you. The interaction between the software and the monitor will be totally automatic, and the calibration curves will be uploaded into the monitor"s lookup tables.

With software calibration, the values of the calibration are uploaded to the video card, and less influence can be exercised on how the monitor itself behaves. Nevertheless, the calibration round is pretty efficient. I"ll get to the results in a minute. What happens when the software calibrates, is that your black and white point are set, and your grey values are iteratively determined and the Tone Response Curve adjusted accordingly.

This iterative process is what makes basICColor display 4.x more accurate than competing products. You can see this for yourself as soon as the whole process is over. The software then allows you to validate your profile and see the deltaE values of measured colour patches - after the monitor has been calibrated and profiled. On my LaCie photon20visionII, the deltaE on the left display was all in the green (less then 2) and on the older right (replacement) display only 3 patches are in the yellow area (less than 4).

This by itself doesn"t tell me how the monitor performs. So, I used a few tricks I learned from the master himself, the now late Bruce Fraser. I created a grey gradient and visually checked the quality of the calibration/profile. The grey ramp should not have any discoloration. On the left monitor, this was the first time the ramp was indeed as neutral as Switzerland. The right monitor had slight coloration - but my feeling is that this is a bad monitor, period.

Then I tested the result visually with a black area shown full-screen and a black patch in the middle that I changed in value by using the Curves in Photoshop. This test shows how well the monitor has been calibrated. Most calibration results will start showing a difference between the black and the grey area in the middle when the Curves value has shifted upwards to +4 or even +5. With MonacoProfiler I managed to see a difference at +3. With basICColor display 4.x the difference started at +1, which is incredibly good.

basICColor display 4.x can do more than just calibrate and profile your monitor. It will show you your ambient lighting, and measure it against ISO standards. If you have a viewing booth it will check that as well. If you are lucky enough to have a Just Normlicht viewing booth, some versions of display 4.x will even calibrate and profile the viewing booth, so both your monitor and booth will be calibrated on a one-on-one basis.

Finally, you can edit your calibration curves in display 4.x, but as this feature rapidly results in your calibration messed up, I did not play with it.

If you"re serious about monitor calibration and profiling, basICColor display 4.x is an absolute must-have. I am thinking about photographers, prepress people and even graphic designers. This software is vastly superior to even the more expensive competitors, and it works with almost every colorimeter or spectrophotometer. It therefore deserves an Editor"s Choice.

Many computer monitors come from the factory preset for an office working environment which may not be ideal for viewing and editing photographic images. For color accuracy and consistency work in a darkened environment.

To calibrate your monitor you could try QuickGamma, free software based on Norman Koren"s gamma and black level chart. But the best solution is to calibrate with a hardware calibration device.

Display calibration and profiling are used in combination to achieve consistent colour on your display. They can ensure that the colours you see on the screen accurately represent the colours within an image, and can communicate the colours you see or create in a way that they can be matched in subsequent processes such as viewing on a different display, a print or a projector. This page summarises methods of calibrating displays for different purposes.

Calibration and profiling are used in combination to achieve colour consistency. First the display is calibrated to the desired behaviour, then a profile is used to communicate colour between the display and other devices. Depending on the intended use of the display, there are a number of different approaches that can be used:

For most purposes, calibrating a display to a colorimetric working space such as the widely-used sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998) is the preferred approach. (Other colour encodings such as DCI P3 or ITU Rec2020 primaries are also available.) Images are then displayed and edited in this colour space, and a profile for the working space can be embedded in the image.

It is preferable to select a working space (or colour encoding) that is close to the native display colour gamut. This makes it possible for the calibration and working space to match. Any small difference between the target calibration and the actual display is then handled by the display profile. A listing of standard colour encodings is available in the ICC three component encoding registry.

Soft proof calibration is used in graphic arts, where the display is used to provide a reasonably accurate simulation of the appearance of an image when printed. The display should be capable of being calibrated to a D50 white point to match the photography and graphic arts viewing standards (ISO 3664), with a luminance of 160 candelas/m2. In practice, it often helps to adjust the calibrated white point of the display so that it matches the colour of the unprinted substrate.

In some cases it is desirable to profile a color display without changing its calibration state. One such example is the proposed dRGB/mRGB display calibration where the neutral response of the display is set to match the DICOM GSDF. This document provides one suggestion as to how calibration and profiling may be achieved independently, using open-source software to create a display profile.

Displays have different levels of controls which can be utilized in calibration. More or less all displays have some form of control over brightness, contrast and (often) colour balance, accessed through buttons on the display faceplate (known as the on-screen display or OSD control) or a software utility provided by the display vendor. Windows and Mac OS also provide control panels that enable some degree of control over brightness, contrast and colour balance prior to the data being sent to the display driver.

The display should be positioned in its operating environment. Glare on the screen should be minimised by locating the display so that room lights or sunlight do not fall directly on the screen. A monitor hood can be used to minimise incident light on the display.

The screen should be clean and allowed to warm up (around 15 minutes). The brightness should be set to a little over the target luminance, using the OSD or vendor control panel. Contrast should be set to give acceptable results - the factory default is often the best starting point. If the controls are available, also set the white point, black point and tone reproduction curve (or "gamma") to the target values.

All calibration methods require a measurement instrument and (in most cases) calibration software. Instruments and software available from ICC members can be seen in the profiling tools page.

The actual calibration procedure to follow will depend on the display calibration software and the capabilities of the display. The main steps are:Connect the measurement instrument and launch the calibration program.

Set the white point luminance and chromaticity to the desired values. E.g. for a Adobe RGB (1998) reference calibration, the luminance is 160 cd/m2 and the chromaticity is D65.

Once the above items have been set, the calibration program measures a series of colours on screen and calculates the transforms required to achieve the desired values. Depending on the capabilities of the display, a look-up table may be written to the display firmware and/or graphics card and operating system.

The format of ICC display profiles is described in the ICC Specification. Like all ICC profiles, the data in the profile is chromatically adapted to D50 PCS colorimetry, and because it is assumed that observers adapt to the display white point, the media white point tag should be set to D50. More information about display profiles can be found in ICC White Paper 6 Differences between v2 and v4 display profiles, and a summary of the reasons for the D50 white point is here.

During the calibration process, the calibration software will have collected the measurements needed to make an ICC profile for the device. This profile (or a standard profile) is then saved in the profiles folder for the system and set as the System profile. The calibration software will normally perform these steps, but they can also be done manually, copying the profile into the appropriate location (c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color on a PC, /Users//Library/ColorSync/Profiles on a Mac (Mac users may need to set the folder to visible in a terminal window before being able to copy profiles into it) and using the colour management control panel (ColorSync panel on Mac OS) to set the profile as the current System profile or profile associated with the display device.

Since displays tend to drift over time, periodic calibration is needed to maintain colour performance. The frequency of recalibration depends on factors like the display technology and the driving luminance as well as the accuracy requirements, but approximately 6-month intervals are often sufficient.

If a standard working space has been selected as the calibration target, images with an embedded profile are converted to the working space and will display accurately on the screen (within the limits of the display gamut). Subsequently the working space profile is embedded into the image and this will ensure that the image can be correctly converted for display or viewing on other devices.

It should be noted that on some types displays, particularly tablets and other mobile devices, there is no operating system support for colour management and minimal user control over the display calibration other than the brightness setting. In this case calibration and colour management can only be performed at the level of the application.

The display viewing environment can affect both the physical image seen by the viewer and the colour appearance of that image. A specification of a working space, and a display calibration, are specific to a viewing environment. In some cases viewing conditions vary with time of day (e.g.

if the room has windows or variable lighting), which can lead to a loss of accuracy in the display calibration. Mobile displays are particularly affected by viewing conditions since they are used in a much larger range of conditions than other displays.

Ever wonder why the pictures you took at the beach, graduation or your kid’s game don’t look the same on your monitor as you remember them? Well, monitors aren’t perfect. Color can vary from monitor to monitor or change over time. (Sometimes a whole lot.) Even the conditions where you view the monitor can have an effect on what the color looks like on the screen. If only there were a cure? Smile – there is.

ColorMunki Smile delivers super simple monitor calibration for your laptop or desktop monitor, and with X-Rite ColorTRUE mobile app you can even calibrate your Apple iOS devices. Calibration is just a fancy way of saying adjust your computer screen to show the colors correctly. Sound complicated? Smile – it isn"t. Actually, it’s really easy. Simply plug the device into your USB port and follow the on-screen instructions. ColorMunki Smile does all the work with a few clicks of the mouse. When the process is done you’ll see before and after results and your new color settings automatically start working. So whether you are viewing, editing or sharing your images, you’ll know your colors are right. Even if you’re gaming or web browsing you’ll get truer colors. It couldn’t be simpler.

Quickly and easily calibrate your LCD and LED displays on laptops or desktops to show colors correctly with this convenient, affordable solution. No color science knowledge required with its  super-easy click-through interface.

Take advantage of our easy-to-follow online help videos—no extra manuals required. And use the free X-Rite ColorTRUE mobile app for iOS and Android to calibrate your mobile devices.

Why calibrate with ColorMunki Smile? There are many factors that affect color vision and monitors display color differently and can drift over time. Calibrating your display on a regular basis fine-tunes it to known color reference standards and ensures consistency as it ages over time. And now you can also calibrate those mobile devices so everything in your color workflow is aligned. What could be better than that?

Are you looking for the highest level of on-screen color accuracy for all of your screens, including projectors? Then the i1Display Pro is the solution for you! It’s two user modes, Basic and Advanced, provide serious Color Perfectionists with the perfect combination of unrivaled color precision, speed, options and controls to fit any workflow. You’ll no longer risk spending hours at your monitor perfecting images or video only to find that the display was not accurately representing the digital files. Properly profiling and calibrating your displays ensures reduced editing time and a more realistic no-surprises representation of final output.

The i1Display Pro incorporates technologically advanced filter and optical systems, amazingly fast measurement speed, and unrivaled color accuracy on all modern display technologies including LED, Plasma, RG Phosphor, OLED & Wide Gamut. It’s also spectrally calibrated, which makes it field upgradeable to support future display technologies, extending the life of your investment. The ultra-modern ergonomic design incorporates three functions – ambient light measurement, monitor profiling, and projector profiling – into a sleek, compact and fully integrated device with no parts to misplace.

Top-of-the-line i1Profiler color management software offers the ultimate in flexibility and control. Basic mode offers a wizard driven interface with predefined options for the quickest path to professional on-screen color. Advanced mode offers user-defined options for more sophisticated profiling workflows to deliver the highest quality color results on monitors and projectors, as well as display testing and quality assurance tools.

Compensates for the ambient light surrounding your workspace with Ambient Light Smart Control. Since the intensity or amount of ambient light in your workspace affects the way you perceive color on your display, take advantage of i1Display Pro to automatically adjust your profile or simply notify you as ambient light conditions change. With the integrated Ambient Light Measurement, i1Display Pro automatically determines the optimum display luminance for comparing prints to your display.

Intelligent Iterative Profiling,an adaptive technology,produces optimized results for maximum color accuracy on each unique display every time you profile.

Newly included video color standardsensure that what you see is what you will get throughout your digital video workflow. This is increasingly important while color grading or editing video footage.

Next generation i1Profiler software for calibrating and profiling all modern display and projector technologies including LED & Wide Gamut LCDs. Advanced user-defined controls support more sophisticated workflows.

Create custom patch sets to optimize your profiles by choosing a combination of patch set size, extracted colors from specific images and/or PANTONE spot colors selected from the included PANTONE Color Manager software.

The included i1Profiler color management software offers the ultimate in flexibility and control. Its Basic mode offers a wizard driven interface with predefined options for the quickest path to professional on-screen color. The Advanced mode offers user-defined options for more sophisticated profiling workflows to deliver the highest quality color results on monitors and projectors, as well as display testing and quality assurance tools.  i1Display Pro profiling provides full support for NTSC, ITU-R-Rec.BT.709 and PAL SECAM broadcast video standards.

Note: Ensure to set your LCD panel to factory settings at this point. Otherwise, you will not get the best results. To reset your LCD panel to factory conditions, use the buttons that are located on the front, side, or back. However, if your LCD panel lets you set the gamma, you should set it to 2.2 or as close as possible.

Next, use the slider to adjust the gamma. To do this, move the slider until the dots in the middle of the image appear less visible. This changes both the brightness and color of your screen.

Note: Do not worry if you cannot make the circles in the center completely disappear. If you want a better way of testing, you can also use this gamma correction test image. Try to make as many numbers appear on the top and bottom bars as possible. With better LCD panel s, you can see 6 numbers in each bar, while lower-grade LCD panel s will only be able to show 4 numbers.

Note: If you cannot adjust the slider, you might have to change the gamma settings by using your LCD panel ’s controls. You should still keep the display settings window and gamma correction image test open while you do this.

Next, adjust the brightness. To do this, use the control buttons on your LCD panel until you can see the shirt and suit in the image, but not so much that the X stands out from the background. You should still be able to see the "X," but the wall behind it should not be washed out.

Note: Your screen looks different depending on what angle you are looking at it. For the best results, you should step back and look at your LCD panel from far away.

Next, adjust the contrast. To do this, use the buttons on your LCD panel. You want to set your contrast so you can just see the wrinkles and buttons on the shirt of the man in the figure. The background of the image should not be bright white.

Then adjust your colors. To do this, use the sliders at the bottom of the window until all the bars are a neutral gray. If you find this difficult, you can also download an image of color bars and use that image to see when your colors are off.

Next, click Previous calibration and Current calibration to see if you like the changes you made. Doing this will not change your calibration. You can go back and change any settings by clicking the arrow in the top-left corner of the window.

If you are satisfied with the new calibration, click Finish. If not, click Cancel, and you can start all over. To get the best results, you can do the steps over again. For best results, you might want to go through the steps again, but backward this time. This is because each step affects the next one, so changing the order helps you fine-tune your calibration even more.

Note: You can check the "Start ClearType Tuner…" box to adjust the clarity of text on your screen. You will then be asked to do a quick test to calibrate the text on your screen.

Spyder X asks you to choose the backlight type used in your display, in order to produce a more precise calibration. Display Manufacturers are not always clear about display technology. The process below will assist in finding the right backlight type to select in your Spyder X software.

First check to see if the display is described as “Wide Gamut”, “AdobeRGB Gamut”, “AdobeRGB Color Space” or “% AdobeRGB” with a percentage number greater than 80%. If so, your display is Wide LED. With Apple Displays, being called “Display P3” or “P3 Color” describes a wide gamut display. For non-Apple displays, please check the section on Blue Green LEDs below, as there are a few Wide Gamut Displays built using BG LED technology, which may calibrate a bit better with that setting selected.

If your display is not described with any of the Wide Gamut, AdobeRGB or P3 descriptions above, but is described with the term LED, then it’s a Standard LED display. If it is not described as LED, but was manufactured in the last several years, its Standard LED anyways, as that is the current method used to manufacture screens.

Green Blue LEDs were first manufactured in 2013 and are fairly rare. LG developed the technology and used it in its AH-ISP screens, under its own name, and also in Dell displays such as the U3014 and UP2716D. Samsung PLS panels also used BG LED technology. If your wide gamut display info does not mention “BG-LED” “AH-ISP” or “PLS”, or is from another manufacturer, then it’s unlikely it’s BG LED, and can be best characterized as Wide LED.

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This section describes the structure and layout of the graphical user interface (GUI) for the built-in camera touchscreen LCD. Advanced GUI menu controls enable convenient access to menus, camera features, and critical camera information.

NOTE:NOTE: After 10 minutes of inactivity, the touchscreen will go to sleep. Tap the touchscreen or touch any button to wake the touchscreen. The touchscreen will not sleep while the camera is recording.

The Status Bar contains the button for displaying the Home screen and Menu screen. It also contains status icons for various camera settings and inputs.

The Media section of the LCD home page displays the Timecode or Edgecode, clip ID, clip duration, resolution/format, and frame rate for the camera. Tap the Media section to toggle between this display and the Histogram display.

The Histogram section of the LCD home page displays the image color histogram. Tap this area to toggle between this display and the Media display. For more information, refer to Histogram.

The Audio section of the LCD home page displays the audio levels for the camera. Tap the Audio section to toggle between this display and the Audio Tools display.

The Camera Designation and Record button on the LCD touchscreen home page displays the camera letter assigned to the camera (refer to Slate and Camera ID). You can tap this area to start pre-recording, and to start and stop recording.

The Quick Settings section of the LCD home page displays the Quick Settings buttons for changing the most often used camera settings. These settings include Recording Frame Rate, ISO, IRIS (refer to Lens), Shutter, and White Balance.

Pressing the Menu button next to the LCD touchscreen opens the main menu page. You can select the desired menu items by using the Up, Down, and Select (SEL) buttons. Pressing the Menu button also navigates backwards (BACK) from submenus in the menu tree.

Pressing the Up arrow and the Down arrow simultaneously locks/unlocks the touchscreen and the menu buttons. The Lock icon in the Status bar displays the lock status. The REC button is not locked and it functions normally.

In this article, we"ll focus on color temperature, a fundamental parameter in picture quality adjustments. While color temperature dramatically affects the picture quality of an LCD monitor, more often than not, people simply use the default settings. A good understanding of the meaning of color temperature will enable better adjustments of LCD monitor picture quality.

Note: Below is the translation from the Japanese of the ITmedia article "Altering a color dramatically with a single setting: Examining color temperature on an LCD monitor" published March 30, 2009. Copyright ITmedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Most of today"s LCD monitors feature color-temperature adjustment options in their OSD menus. Since color temperature settings affect color reproduction significantly on an LCD monitor, if a user wants to display an image with the appropriate color cast, he or she must choose the correct color temperature.

We"ll start with a brief explanation of the meaning of color temperature. Color temperature refers to the color of light, serving as the standard index for color balance for a range of products, including monitors, cameras, and lighting equipment. Color temperature is specified in units of Kelvin (K) of absolute temperature, not the degrees Celsius (C) used to express the temperature of air and other materials. While Kelvin is less familiar that Celsius, it should present no problems if we keep the following two basic points in mind: the lower the Kelvin value for color temperature, the redder a white object appears; the higher the color temperature, the bluer it appears.

The tables below indicate rough color temperatures for various lighting sources, including sunlight. As you can probably guess, lower color temperatures mean redder light, while higher temperatures mean bluer light. Most photographers shooting pictures with digital SLR cameras might set their white balance to 5000-5500 K. Since daylight has a color temperature of 5000-5500 K, setting the white balance to this figure makes it possible to capture photos with color reproduction close to that perceived by the eye.

A diagram of color temperature. As color temperature decreases, white becomes yellow, then red. As color temperature increases, white gradually turns to blue. Note that this diagram is merely a rough representation of how to think about color temperatures, not a precise indication of color temperatures under specific conditions.

Color is expressed as a temperature due to the relationship between the color of light and temperatures when objects are heated to high temperatures. Here we"ll touch briefly on the technical definition of color temperature. First, assume a subject that can completely absorb heat and light, then radiate this energy back out. This object (an idealized object, not one encountered in reality) is a black body, or perfect radiator. Second, assume that this black body radiates light when heated and that the wavelength and spectrum of this light varies with the temperature of the black body. Third, assume that the temperature of the black body when it radiates a certain color of light is also understood to describe that color. This is how color temperature is defined.

While any object will radiate various light frequencies when heated to high temperature, the temperature at which the light becomes a certain color differs from object to object. For this reason, a black body is an idealized object, used to generate standard values by matching specific colors of radiated light to specific temperatures. While this is a complex topic with detailed explanations grounded in physics and mathematics, we do not need to understand this in depth to adjust the color temperature of an LCD monitor. Anyone with a deeper interest is encouraged to consult reference works.

As mentioned in passing at the start of this session, most current LCD monitors allow users to adjust color temperatures using the OSD menu. As we would expect, reducing the color temperature on an LCD monitor gives the entire screen an increasingly reddish cast, while increasing the color temperature makes the color cast increasingly blue. The menu items for adjusting color temperature vary from product to product. Some ask users to choose from terms like "blue" and "red" or "cool" and "warm"; others ask users to set numerical values like 6500 K or 9300 K.

If the options for selecting color temperature are "blue" and "red" or "cool" and "warm," choose "red" or "warm" to lower the color temperature and "blue" or "cool" to raise the color temperature. While these options make it easier to understand how the eye will sense the color white, since the user is not given specific Kelvin values, they can be inconvenient when trying to adjust the monitor to a specific color temperature.

It helps to be able to specify precise Kelvin values when we adjust the picture quality of an LCD monitor. For example, on most EIZO LCD monitors, users can choose from about 14 levels (in 500-K intervals from 4000 to 10,000 K, plus 9300 K). This is industry-leading precision. Some other LCD monitors allow users to designate color temperature by Kelvin value. Most offer significantly fewer options in the OSD menu: 5000, 6500, and 9300 K, for example.

On most EIZO LCD monitors, users can adjust color temperature precisely from the OSD menu in 500-K intervals (photo at left). Using the bundled ScreenManager Pro software for LCD monitors to configure various display settings from the PC, users can easily adjust color temperatures simply by moving the position of a slider at the top of the screen (photo at right).

Ideally, due to the need to choose the optimal color temperature corresponding to individual applications and circumstances, we should be able to adjust color temperature using Kelvin values. Some major real-world examples are given below.

A color temperature of 6500 K is standard for ordinary PC use and for the sRGB standard. Most LCD monitors offer a setting of 6500 K among their color temperature options. If a monitor offers an sRGB mode, setting it to this mode should present no problems. In most cases, even products whose color-temperature settings use terms like "blue" and "red" will be adjusted to close to 6500 K for standard mode, although accuracy may be lacking. The LCD monitors on some laptop PCs are set to higher color temperatures.

In the field of video imaging—television, for example—the current standard under Japanese broadcasting standards (NTSC-J) is 9300 K. This is significantly above the 6500 K standard for PC environments. Television pictures actually have a pronounced blue cast. However, most people appear to be accustomed to television and often perceive PC screens as having a reddish cast. Some products offer a picture mode with a color temperature around 9300 K as a "movie" or similar mode. When viewing the picture from a television tuner in a PC environment, one can generally choose a color temperature of 9300 K for color reproduction similar to a home television display.

On the other hand, the U.S. broadcasting standard (NTSC) calls for a color temperature standard of 6500 K. The international standard for digital high-definition television (ITU-R BT.709) also specifies a color temperature of 6500 K. When watching video on a PC, users should set the LCD monitor"s color temperature between 6500 K and 9300 K, checking for differences in color reproduction.

As a rule of thumb, most Japanese film titles assume a 9300 K environment, while non-Japanese films assume a 6500 K environment. This means one is highly likely to achieve color reproduction close to that intended by filmmakers by setting the color temperature of an LCD monitor to 9300 K when viewing a Japanese film and 6500 K when viewing a non-Japanese film. (Naturally, this doesn"t apply universally.) When using a model with a wide range of choices in Kelvin values—an Eizo Nanao LCD monitor, for example—users can adjust the color temperature to whatever looks best.

A color temperature of 5000 K (D50) is standard in the field of desktop publishing (DTP) for printing or publishing. This is the color temperature recommended for lighting by the Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology when evaluating colors for print applications. While this standard might give a distinct reddish cast to whites in pictures prepared to the standards of television video or similar images, it is intended to reproduce the look printed colors have when viewed under conditions close to direct sunlight.

Sample display of white under the color temperatures 5000, 6500, and 9300 K (from left). Since the photo was shot with the color temperature of the digital camera set to 6500 K, white in the 6500 K image in the center appears pure white. It appears red in the 5000 K image and blue in the 9300 K image. Naturally, when changing the color temperature setting for the camera, the look of whites in those images will be shifted accordingly: the image with a color temperature lower than the set value will appear reddish and the one with a higher color temperature will look bluish.

Sample color bars displayed at color temperatures 5000, 6500, and 9300 K (from left). The photo was shot under the same conditions as the photo above. As color temperatures change, the apparent color of the white, or the overall color balance, is affected. Colors at lower color temperatures tend to appear warm; at higher color temperatures, they tend to appear cool.

The preceding page explained the basics needed to set the correct color temperature based on the intended application. However, for applications like retouching digital photographs or color adjustments for printing or video editing, where users are professionals or high-end amateurs for whom color reproduction significantly affects the final quality of the work, managing LCD color temperatures with greater accuracy is critical. If colors differ between the output of photo retouching and the color reproduction in printing, or colors appear unnatural when a video is viewed on another computer, it could not only impair the work itself, but also significantly reduce the efficiency of image processing.

Addressing these demands adequately requires an LCD monitor that supports color management based on hardware calibration. A hardware calibration system uses a color sensor to measure colors on screen and controls the look-up table (LUT) in the LCD monitor directly. This makes it possible to correct for differences in color temperature attributable to differences between individual LCD monitor units or to an aging display and to generate accurate colors, an important feature when handling color.

Here we"ll use an EIZO LCD monitor with a good reputation for enabling high-precision color management to briefly explain the knowledge and specialized tools required to work with color temperatures at a deeper level. We also recommend reading the articles below for more information on hardware calibration, color gamut, and look-up tables.

EIZO offers the ColorEdge series of color management-capable LCD monitors. All models in the ColorEdge series support hardware calibration, allowing users to manage in detail all aspects of color reproduction, including screen color temperature and color gamut.

Designed for advanced color management, the ColorNavigator software is bundled with all models in the ColorEdge series. ColorNavigator offers a wide range of functions, including a function for matching the color temperature of the LCD monitor with t