lcd screen color calibration factory

Step 3: Make sure you’re calibrating in a room with moderate ambient lighting. The room doesn’t need to be pitch black, but you don’t want the sharp glares and color casts resulting from direct light.

Both MacOS and Windows have built-in calibration tools to help guide you step-by-step through the process, which is particularly helpful if you are new to monitor calibration. These free tools should be the first stop if you’re merely a casual image junkie or working on a tight budget. Keep in mind that the adjustments will be limited by the display type and model, though.

In older versions of Windows, you can find the Color Calibration utility in the Display section of the Control Panel, which is listed under Appearance and Personalization.

Step 2: Now that you are in the calibration tool, follow the on-screen instructions to choose your display’s gamma, brightness, contrast, and color balance settings.

Step 3: Once the calibration wizard is complete, make sure to choose the Current calibration, or return to the previous calibration if you are unsatisfied with the results. The new calibration will be stored as an .ics file, or color calibration file, and will show up as a new International Color Consortium (ICC) Profile in the Color Management settings app.

Step 4: The easiest way to open this app is to type "color management" in the search box and choose the first result. Once it’s open, you can select your monitor from the device list and see which ICC Profiles are available.

Step 1: In MacOS, the Display Calibrator Assistant is located in the system preferences under the Displays tab, in the Color section. If you are having trouble finding it, try entering calibrate in Spotlight to scan through your computer’s various folders and files. The results should show an option to open the utility in the System Preferences panel.

Step 2: Your Mac’s step-by-step instructions will walk you through the calibration process once you have found and opened the software utility. Just follow the on-screen instructions to choose:

Color adjustments: White point is a given, but Apple will try to detect your display and offer a number of other color calibrations at this point … or it may skip the rest of the adjustment options entirely. Native Apple displays may be more likely to have fewer color calibrations at this point (because Apple already calibrated them).

Step 3: This will create a new color profile for your display. If you couldn’t make the adjustments that you wanted to, then select this new profile and choose Open Profile. This will open a new window with all the tags associated with the color profile and their descriptions.

Step 4: You can choose each tag to see more information about them. Some tags will just be basic color data, but other tags can be altered to change specific color factors for the display.

Step 5: If you have a native display, look for the Apple display native information tag as a good place to start. As you can see, this can quickly become technical, so you will need to know your color data (phosphor values, response curves, etc.) to make accurate changes with this method.

There are a handful of web-based calibration tools that help you manually adjust your monitor settings. They can provide more precise, or more customized, calibration than the built-in utilities.

W4zt Screen Color Test: This simple webpage provides you with several color gradients and grayscale color boxes you can use for quick comparisons, along with an easy gamma test you can run. It’s nice to have so many tests on one page, making this solution great for fast and dirty calibration so you can move on.

The Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages: Handy for both online and offline use, the Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages not only allow you to adjust various things such as contrast and response time, but also allow you to download the images as a 120KB zip file, so you can check any monitor in-store that you are thinking about purchasing.

Calibrize 2.0: If you want a great tool that goes a little more in-depth than native calibration options, we suggest downloading Calibrize 2.0. It’s an excellent free wizard that carefully walks you through well-explained steps to help you calibrate color, grayscale, gamma, and similar settings on your computer.

While they’re better than a more temporary solution, built-in calibration utilities still have one major flaw: You. Since they rely on your specific color perception, what looks great to you might look thoroughly off to a friend.

The best way to avoid this problem and ensure that you calibrate your monitor correctly is by purchasing a calibrating device. You’ll need to spend a decent amount of money for the best control and precision. Still, there are affordable alternatives to help you achieve consistent color across all of your monitors.

If you’re looking for a calibration tool, we recommend either the X-Rite ColorMunki Smile ($99) or the Spyder5Elite ($200). Both devices boast a full-spectrum, seven-color sensor that can accurately display a range of standard and wide-gamut displays. If you have a bigger budget, you can look for upscale calibrators that have even more advanced options.

These devices are user-friendly, involving a simple three-step process of fastening the device to your screen, plugging it into a USB port, and opening the calibration software. When the software starts running, you just have to follow the setup procedure. It’s fairly intuitive, but if you have trouble, you can find tutorials online that will walk you through it.

Starting at $180, X-Rite’s i1Display is another solid device. Just like the Spyder series, each of these three options is configured with automated calibration software. The more money you spend, the more additional features and other benefits you’ll get from the device.

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.

Disappointed by your monitor’s image quality? You might be able to improve it through monitor calibration. Learning to calibrate your monitor will make the most of its potential, and while you can purchase expensive tools for this task, you can often achieve a noticeable improvement without them.

Windows and MacOS have very basic built-in calibration utilities. They’re limited and won’t help you understand how your monitor works, but they’re a good place to start.

The calibration utilities in Windows 10 and MacOS are only a start. They will help you work out serious problems with your calibration, like an incorrect contrast setting or wildly terrible display gamma value. They’re more focused on providing a usable image than an enjoyable one, however. You can do more.

Before we get started, let’s bust a popular myth about calibration: there is no such thing as a perfect monitor or a perfect calibration. Image quality is subjective and, for most people, the goal of calibration should be improving perceived quality on the monitor you own.

You don’t need to target these standards. In fact, precisely targeting a standard is impossible without a calibration tool. Still, you’ll want to be aware of these standards as you calibrate your monitor because they’ll impact how certain monitor settings work. Also, many monitors have settings meant to target them.

Nearly all monitors sold in the last decade have a backlit LCD display. This means they have a LCD panel with a light behind it. The light shines through the LCD to produce an image (otherwise, it’d look like the Gameboy Color).

All monitors have a contrast setting, but it rarely does what you’d expect. Turning the contrast up to its maximum setting can actually reduce the contrast ratio by bumping up the monitor’s deepest black level. It also can crush color and shadow detail.

To calibrate contrast, visit the Lagom LCD contrast test image. An ideal contrast setting will let you see all color bars from 1 to 32. This can be a real challenge for an LCD monitor, especially on the dark end of the image, so you may have to settle for a lack of visible difference in that area.

On the other hand, setting the contrast too high will cause colors at the high end of the spectrum to bleed into one. This problem is avoidable on a modern LCD monitor by turning down the contrast which, in most cases, is set to a high level by default.

You need a calibration tool to precisely adjust gamma, but you can make improvements using the Lagom LCD gamma test image. As its instructions say, you’ll want to sit back from your monitor (about five or six feet away) and look at the color bars, each of which is made up of several bands. You’ll see a point on each bar where the bands start to blend together. The gamma value indicated where this occurs is your monitor’s approximate gamma value.

Your monitor may include gamma settings in its on-screen control menu. Less expensive monitors will have a selection of vaguely labeled viewing modes, like “office” or “gaming,” with their own prebaked settings. You can flip through these while viewing the Lagom LCD gamma test image to see if they improve the gamma.

What you need to know: Color temperature is controlled by the color temperature or white point setting on your monitor. Look for a value of 6500K if available. Otherwise, open a blank white image or document and flip through the available color temperature options. Pick the one that looks best to you.

Color temperature describes how the color of your monitor skews between a “warm” or “cool” character. Lower temperatures provide a warmer look, which skews towards red and orange, while higher temperatures provide a cooler look, which skews towards blue and cyan. The term white point is often used interchangeably with color temperature.

Color temperature values are described as a literal temperature in degrees Kelvin which, frankly, is pretty weird if you’re not familiar with display technology (and still a little weird if you are). But don’t worry. Changing your color temperature won’t start a house fire or even warm the room.

As with gamma, there’s no absolute “correct” color temperature. It’s even more variable because perceived color temperature can change significantly depending on viewing conditions. But, also like gamma, most image standards have settled on a generally agreed ideal value which, in this case, is a white point of 6500K.

No test image can help you target a specific white point. You need a calibration tool for that. However, most monitors will have several color temperature settings that you can flip through in the monitor’s on-screen menu.

Less expensive monitors will use vague values, such as “warm” and “cool,” while more expensive monitors will provide precise color temperature adjustments, such as “5500K” or “6500K.” MacOS includes color temperature adjustment as part of its default display calibration.

Outside of standards, color temperature is rather subjective. A truly out-of-whack gamma value can destroy detail, making dark scenes in movies unwatchable and dark levels in games unplayable. Color temperature problems are less severe. Even a very odd white point setting (like, say, 10000K) is usable, though most people perceive it as having a harsh, clinical look.

So, how do you dial in color temperature without a calibration tool? I find it’s best to view a blank white screen, such as a new image or document, and then flip through the available color temperature settings. This will help you settle on a setting that fits your preferences.

What you need to know: Look for an sRGB mode if your monitor doesn’t support a wide color gamut, or a DCI-P3 mode if your monitor does. This may lock your monitor’s brightness to a lower level than you prefer, however.

A monitor’s color gamut is the range of colors that it can display. Even the best monitors can’t display every possible color in the universe. This is not only because of limitations in monitor technology but also limitations in how computers handle color data.

A color gamut is described in reference to a specific standard like sRGB or DCI-P3. You’ll also see the term “wide gamut” used by monitors. This means the monitor supports a color gamut wider than the sRGB standard which, relative to other standards, is narrow. Most wide gamut monitors support DCI-P3 and Rec. 709.

There’s a big problem with color gamut on most monitors, however. The color gamut associated with a standard is often tied to other aspects of the standard you might not prefer, like gamma and brightness.

In the end, color gamut isn’t a very useful part of monitor calibration for most people. Try the sRGB or DCI-P3 modes, if available, but be prepared for disappointment if those modes lock your monitor’s brightness and gamma.

If you want to take calibration to the next level, however, you need a calibration tool. A calibration tool has a sensor that can judge whether your monitor’s image conforms to accepted standards like sRGB and DCI-P3. This is especially important for color accuracy. There’s no way to gauge color accuracy with the naked eye.

Datacolor’s SpyderX Pro is my preferred calibration tool. The SpyderX is extremely fast and simple to use, which is important, as calibration can become confusing and time consuming. The SpyderX Pro is great for most people and priced at a relatively affordable $170. X-Rite’s i1Display Studio is another good option, though I haven’t used the latest model. It’s also priced at $170Remove non-product link.

If you do buy a tool, you can throw most of the advice in this guide out the window. Calibration tools come with software you’ll use with the tool and, after calibration, will load a custom display profile.

A monitor calibration tool has become less important as monitor quality has improved. I’ve reviewed monitors for over a decade, so I’ve witnessed this progress first hand. Today’s monitors are more likely than ever to have acceptable contrast, gamma, and color out of the box. Most ship at a default brightness that’s too high, but that’s an easy fix.

Even content creators may not need a calibration tool. Calibration is often considered a must for professionals, but the definition of professional is not what it used to be. Tens of thousands of self-employed creators make excellent content without ever touching a calibration tool. These creators don’t have to conform to any standard aside from what they think looks great. It’s true some creators have a reputation for remarkable image quality and slick editing, but most just use whatever they have at hand.

The easiest calibration setting is one that most people have probably already used. The "Backlight" setting changes the amount of light your monitor outputs, effectively making it brighter. Changing the backlight level on your monitor doesn"t alter the accuracy of your screen significantly, so feel free to set it to whatever looks good to you. It"s sometimes called "Brightness", which can be confusing. Generally, if there"s a single setting called brightness, it refers to the backlight. If there"s both a backlight and brightness setting, the backlight is the one you should be changing (as the brightness setting alters the gamma calibration, which we"ll look at later on).

When it comes to color calibration, the best place to start adjusting the colors when calibrating your monitor is usually the picture mode. These are the setting presets the monitor comes packaged with and usually alter most of the image settings. It"s pretty important if you aren"t using a colorimeter for calibration because it"s otherwise very difficult to enhance your monitor"s color accuracy.

For the monitors that we test, we measure each of the picture modes and pick the most accurate one as part of our "Pre-Calibration" test. In general, though, the best mode is usually the "Standard" or "Custom" preset.

Some monitors also come with an "sRGB" picture mode, often referred to as an "sRGB clamp". It can be particularly beneficial in enhancing image accuracy on wide gamut monitors where the default color reproduction exceeds the sRGB color space, making some colors appear over-saturated. However, most monitors lock the rest of the calibration settings when this picture mode is enabled, which might bother some people.

The brightness and contrast settings change the way the screen displays tones at different brightness levels. These are easy options to adjust when calibrating your screen without a dedicated calibration tool, as most of the job can be done fairly accurately while simply displaying different gradient patterns.

The brightness setting affects the way the monitor handles darker colors. If it"s set too high, blacks will look gray, and the image will have less contrast. If it"s set too low, the blacks will get "crushed". Crushing means that instead of showing distinct near-black steps of grays, the monitor will instead show them as pure black. It can give the image a very high contrast look at first glance, but it loses a significant amount of detail.

Most graphics card software applications have a dynamic range setting that lets you toggle between limited and full RGB range. A full RGB range means that the image is displayed using all 255 values, with 0 being absolute black and 255 being absolute white. It"s the default range for sRGB and the recommended setting for most modern LCD monitors. The limited range (16 - 235) is mainly used for TVs as most movies and TV shows are mastered in the limited range. In short, you have to match the source and the display as forcing your full-range monitor to display a limited RGB range makes the image look washed out, and forcing a limited-range display like a TV to show a full RGB range crushes blacks. The pattern we use is for calibrating a full-range display.

Sharpness is one of the easiest settings to adjust, and generally, the default tends to be fairly accurate. Adjusting the sharpness changes the look of the edges of shapes that appear on-screen. Having it too low will give you a blurry image, while setting it too high will give the picture an odd look with strange-looking edges. It"ll also usually cause close, narrow lines to blend and produce a moiré effect.

The color temperature adjusts the temperature of the overall picture. A cooler temperature gives a blue tint, while a warmer temperature gives a yellow or orange tint. Think of it as the tone of the light outside at various times of the day. When the sun is shining bright at noon, the clouds and skies look almost pearl white without a distinct yellow. However, the light is yellow in the morning and evening as the sun rises and sets, and at night, white objects look blue when everything is lit by moonlight. We recommend a 6500k color temperature, which is the standard for most screen calibrations and is equivalent to midday light (also called Illuminant D65). It"s generally on the warmer side of most monitors" scales. Some people find it too yellow, so feel free to adjust it to your preference.

The white balance refers to the balance of colors across different shades of grey. An absolute white or grey has equal amounts of every color, with only the luminance distinguishing them.

Unfortunately, it isn"t possible to adjust these settings with any form of accuracy without the necessary equipment. In general, we recommend most people keep these settings at their defaults as they can easily make things worse. Even copying our settings made using a colorimeter isn"t recommended since these values will most likely be different across different units of the same monitor.

If you do calibrate your monitor using a tool, your calibration software will likely create a calibration profile that ends in .icm. This is an ICC profile, effectively a reference table that your computer"s programs can use to display content accurately on your screen. In general, Apple"s macOS is better at handling ICC profiles, whereas Windows and Windows applications tend to be quite inconsistent with how and when they"re used. Generally speaking, hardware calibration yields better results, but since most monitors don"t allow for full calibration using the OSD settings, ICC profiles are essential to getting the best possible image accuracy.

The overdrive setting adjusts the speed at which the monitor"s pixels switch from showing one thing to another. Usually, the default setting tends to be optimal, but you might prefer setting it higher or lower. A too strong overdrive setting will cause the pixels to overshoot, which creates a strange-looking inverted ghost following moving objects on-screen. A too low setting will create more motion blur, with longer trails following moving objects. You can learn more about overdrive in our motion blur article.

The refresh rate of your monitor refers to the frequency at which it updates what is shown on-screen every second. The standard refresh rate found on most monitors is 60Hz, but some screens, usually gaming-oriented, support upwards of 360Hz. You should almost always set it to as high as possible. You can learn more about refresh rates and our related tests in our refresh rate article.

Similar to modern mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, many monitors have a blue light filter that can help reduce eye strain. It"s often called "Low Blue Light" or "Reader Mode," and it essentially reduces the amount of blue light emitted by the screen, giving it an amber shade. It"s said to be less fatiguing on the eyes, especially at night. Most desktop operating systems have this feature built-in: "Night Mode" on Windows, "Night Shift" on macOS, and "Night Light" on Chrome OS. There are also third-party apps that can do the same. We recommend leaving this off when calibrating your monitor.

Unless you have the equipment to perform a more thorough calibration, calibrating a monitor by eye is largely a trial and error process, so it may take a few tries before you get the results that you"re looking for. Fortunately, most monitors have a reset feature to discard any changes and bring the settings back to their defaults if you end up with worse image quality. While it"s generally recommended for content creators to calibrate their displays once a month because accuracy can drift over time due to panel degradation, most people can probably get by for much longer in between each calibration.

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.

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.

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.

Every MacBook Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display undergoes a state-of-the-art factory display calibration process on the assembly line to ensure the accuracy of the P3 wide color panel and the individual backlight LEDs. In addition, the factory calibration process enables sophisticated built-in algorithms to accurately reproduce a variety of color spaces used by media workflows today, including sRGB, BT.601, BT.709,​ and even P3-ST.2084 (HDR).

The factory display calibration process lets MacBook Pro users enjoy an exceptional viewing experience right out of the box. If your workflow requires custom calibration, you can measure your display, then fine-tune the calibration.

You can use a set of QuickTime movie test patterns from Apple to evaluate the calibration of your Liquid Retina XDR display. These appropriately color-tagged SDR and HDR references allow you to use your in-house spectroradiometer to measure and verify the color primaries/secondaries and luminance, including the electro-optical transfer function (EOTF).

Open the QuickTime Test Pattern Movies folder and choose the set of patterns that you want to test. Each folder contains sequences of movie files for measuring color or luminance in HDR, BT.709, and BT.601.

Compare the color (chromaticity) and luminance values you measured to those in the Reference Values.txt file in the test pattern’s folder. Depending on the tolerance or calibration of your spectroradiometer, there may be some variation in readings relative to the reference values.

If your workflow is tuned to a specific target, you can fine-tune the calibration of your display. This lets you adjust the white point and luminance of your display to more precisely match your own in-house display calibration target. Learn more about the different values you can adjust

Apple recommends measuring and calibrating in an environment with ambient temperatures of 77 degrees fahrenheit or cooler. For the most repeatable results, ambient temperatures should be similar during calibration and in typical use.

If you fine-tune the calibration of your display, make sure that when you measure your display, the test pattern matches the reference mode you intend to fine-tune. For example, use the HDR Video (P3–ST 2084) preset when using the HDR10-based patterns.

The ColorEdge CG319X displays the DCI 4K standard (4096 x 2160) which is more than four times that of full HD (1920 x 1080). It"s ideal for creating, editing, and referencing with 2D and 3D CGI, VFX, compositing, and color grading.

Whether you are creating, editing, or checking your work, this screen offers ample space to focus on 4K content. At a dense 149 ppi, it’s suited for not only video editing but also photo retouching and printing.

The ColorEdge CG319X utilizes HLG (hybrid log-gamma) and the PQ (perceptual quantization) curve for displaying and editing HDR (high dynamic range) video content. This helps show images and videos more in consistent with how the natural eye sees reality compared to SDR (standard dynamic range). Professional creators can now reliably produce HDR contents for editing and color grading.

This wide-gamut monitor reproduces 98% of the DCI-P3 standard used in digital cinema and supports the Rec. 2020 standard used in broadcasting. CG319X also reproduces 99% of the Adobe RGB color space so it can display almost all the colors of an image in Adobe RGB mode. The wide color gamut also ensures reproduction of almost the entire ISO-coated and US web-coated CMYK color spaces used in printing.

In compliance with the DCI standard, the ColorEdge CG319X offers a high contrast ratio of 1500:1* for producing true blacks that are otherwise difficult to display on a LCD monitor. When you view a typical LCD monitor at an angle within a poorly lit room, the dark tones usually appear to be washed out. The CG Series comes with a retardation film which allows dark tones to retain their depth even when viewing from an angle.

The monitor utilizes a new EIZO-developed 3D LUT. Whereas a typical 1D LUT adjusts color on separate tables for each red, green, and blue, a 3D LUT accomplishes this on a single, mixed-color cubic table. A 3D LUT improves the monitor"s additive color mixture (combination of RGB), a key factor in its ability to display neutral gray tones.

CG319X can display 10-bit color from a 24-bit look-up table (LUT). This is more than 1 billion colors shown simultaneously which is 64 times greater than the 16.7 million colors of 8-bit display. The result is even smoother color gradations and reduced Delta-E between two adjacent colors.

This monitor contains several presets such as DCI-P3 for digital cinema and Rec. 709 or Rec. 2020 for broadcasting. It also has PQ (DCI and Rec. 2100) or HLG (Rec. 2100) for HDR contents. These presets helps you work in the appropriate color spaces and gamma values without having to manually adjust the color settings.

The ColorEdge CG319X incorporates a PQ and HLG Clipping function that shows the zones of a picture which are brighter than current brightness setting. The zones which can"t be shown at the right brightness will appear in yellow or magenta. PQ and HLG Clipping can be viewed for brightness levels of 300, 500, 1000, and 4000 cd/m2.

Ideal for captions and critical images: Thanks to the safe area marker, you will know which area of the screen is displayed on another output device. You will therefore see immediately whether subtitles, text, or other important image elements are in the visible area. So that the marker can be clearly seen in all images, you can change the marker colour.

Color calibration and white balance adjustments on any capturing or display device will ensure utmost image reproduction accuracy and the most realistically natural picture on screen for best possible viewing experience so long as the source had been captured with that goal in mind.

Search and Scroll down to LG Calibration Studio (True Color Pro) - version 6.4.1 or greater and choose appropriate version according to your computer Operating System.

Some monitors still have the True Color Calibration software integrated in the On-Screen Control software – for those, please download On-Screen Control software version 7.45 or greater for Windows or version 5.45 or greater for MA

Calibration is a subject which comes up frequently wherever there is discussion of monitors. As you will hopefully realise from our reviews, there are two important things to consider when purchasing a new screen, and when you might be concerned about it’s ability to render colours accurately: 1) How does the screen perform at default colour settings?, and 2) how can it perform with correct calibration? There are several methods to calibrating your screen which we will discuss below in this article. However, it should be understood first of all that to get truly calibrated settings, and good colour accuracy, you are likely going to need to invest in a hardware calibration solution. This is why we discuss a monitors performance at default settings in our reviews and how the screen is preset in the factory before being shipped. Most users will not have access to hardware colorimeter/spectrophotometer devices, and they are generally not cheap. It’s important therefore to understand what kind of performance you can expect from your screen with basic software configuration.

Panel technology does come into play to a degree when we discuss colour accuracy. There are some common misconceptions however which need correcting. Just because a screen is based on a particular panel technology, does not automatically make it the best for colour accuracy. It is often thought that an IPS panel will offer much better colour accuracy than a TN Film panel, but this is not necessarily a hard and fast rule. Things which do come into play though include:

Colour Gamut. This describes the range of colours which the monitor can produce compared with that which the human eye can detect. You can read more about gamut here, but typically the more expensive screens feature enhanced gamut backlighting. As such, it is normally the models featuring IPS and VA panels which feature the wider gamuts. Modern LED backlighting is being more widely used as well, read more about that in this article.

Colour Accuracy Potential. It is true that IPS panels are capable typically of very good colour accuracy, but often you will need to carry out proper calibration with a hardware calibration device to get anywhere near this. However, VA and TN Film panels are certainly capable nowadays of reaching excellent colour accuracy if calibrated correctly. If you look through our reviews, you will see some TN Film panels perform very admirably here, despite the assumption that it is an inferior technology by many people. You will also spot that default colour accuracy really does vary from one model to another, and so you may even find some screens with better default colour accuracy with a TN Film panel, than you see at default for an IPS panel (e.g Acer AL2216W vs NEC 20WGX2). All technologies can offer decent colour accuracy once calibrated, it is the other factors discussed above which normally lead people to chooce IPS if they are doing any colour critical work.

Gamma– This describes the non-linear relationship between the pixel levels in your computer and the luminance of your monitor. Gamma affects middle tones; it has no effect on black or white. If gamma is set too high, middle tones appear too dark. Conversely, if it’s set too low, middle tones appear too light. We aim for a gamma level of 2.2 which is the default for computer monitors and is the standard for the Windows operating system and the Internet-standard sRGB color space. The farther you drag the video system from this optimal level, the more calibration artefacts such as shadow banding and posterization appear. Therefore, a gamma of 2.2 allows for the maximum range of colors your system can display.

Luminance – We aim for a luminance (often referred to as brightness as well) of 120 cd/m2, which is the recommended luminance for LCD displays in normal lighting conditions.

Colour Gamut – Represented by the CIE diagram (on the left of the report), this can’t be calibrated as such, it more gives an indication of how much of the human eye’s colour space the screen can cover in its reproducible shades. The larger the monitors gamut (represented by the triangle), the better really.

Black Depth – is the monitor luminance or print reflectance for value = pixel level = 0; i.e. it is the deepest black in the monitor. The lower the value recorded, the better. We aim for 0.0 cd/m2 (truly black), but in practice it doesn’t reach this low on modern LCD screens.

These are the settings we aim for when calibrating a monitor in our tests, and is what your calibration process should work towards, regardless of whether you are using software or hardware methods.

Software calibration methods can be handy in helping to adjust some basic settings on your screen. They are most useful in helping to get the screen operating at a comfortable setting, helping to get a decent contrast / brightness level, and a good colour balance. This is a good way to help improve the ‘feel’ and look of the screen, but it should be noted that it does not necessarily result in more accurate colour rendering from a strict point of view. Settings are normally altered either manually through the OSD options (RGB levels, contrast and brightness) or through similar controls at the graphics card level.

Commonly LCD monitors come set with a default 100% brightness which means that luminance is way above the desired 120 cd/m2 we aim for. This is frequently the main issue with LCD monitors, and is something which can be corrected to a comfortable level at least using software methods. Contrast can also be improved to a degree, and colour levels can be evened and at least appear to be at a nice setting. All these methods rely on the human eye, and so the individual preferences and ambient lighting conditions come into consideration here.

The first calibration utility is a simple gray scale consisting of 17 steps between white (255) and black (0). Adjust your monitor’s brightness and contrast controls so that the full range of the scale is visible. The darkest step visible (Step 16) should be just barely visible against the black background surrounding the scale.

The second calibration utility gives a bit more control. You should be able to adjust the monitor controls and, if possible, the system gamma from your GFX card settings, to be able to detect the small squares within all of the larger squares of the array.

Adjust your monitor’s colour levels. If your monitor is properly calibrated you will see distinct steps between all 21 steps of each color strip and the steps will be uniform in appearance.

Adjust your monitor’s colour levels again. If your monitor is properly calibrated you will see distinct steps between most of the 21 steps of each color strip and the steps will be uniform in appearance. Most monitors do not display the lightest end of the scale accurately so the last 2-3 lightest steps may look the same.

There is a very useful website here (http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/) which gives you various tests and methods for calibrating your screen. Well worth a look for some free “by eye” calibration.

There are many different software tools available, and in fact many manufacturers like to package their own software with the screen to allow calibration. For instance, Samsung package some of their screens with Natural Color Pro software which allows the user to calibrate their screen quickly and easily. Further software tools are available which might be worth taking a look at as listed below. There are also various test images available which can be handy for you to test, with the human eye, the colour levels you have arrived at.

Proper calibration of a monitor really requires you to use a hardware calibration device. These come in two varieties, with the more mainstream (and affordable) devices being colorimeters. You can also buy higher end spectrophotometers (such as the X-rite i1 Pro) which read the light differently, but the cost is probably prohibitive for most normal users. There are many different devices to choose from which vary greatly in price, performance and accompanying software packages. These devices are connected to your PC typically via USB, and feature a hardware module which you place over the screen. By running the software suite which comes with the device, the tool sits over a background which displays many different colours. These are then recorded by the device and used to establish how accurate the colours shown on the screen are compared with what is being requested by the graphics card. Once this difference is established, the device can be used to correct the difference as best as possible from the screen, and results in a calibrated profile being produced.

Hardware devices will typically run through the calibration process automatically once you have defined your target settings and been guided through some basic hardware adjustments using the OSD menu (brightness, contrast, RGB values). Apart from these changes, the majority of changes are implemented at a graphics card LUT (Look Up Table) level after that through the creation of the profile. Some higher end screens offer hardware level adjustments to the monitors LUT which can offer an even better level of accuracy. This is normally reserved for high end professional grade monitors.

The accuracy of these calibration devices obviously varies somewhat, and quite often you get what you pay for. Obviously the features and options of the software package come into play as well, and so cheaper devices typically offer limited calibration options and reporting functions, whereas high end devices are far more versatile. For professional grade calibration it is recommended to spend what is a considerable amount of money on a device which is well regarded. Manufacturers like Gretag and LaCie make a series of devices which are widely used on monitor review sites, and their higher end models feature extensive software options and provide detailed analysis and reporting of colour rendering.

If you want high end results, you are probably looking at spending in excess of £150 on a colorimeter, or >£800 if you want a spectrophotometer. The cost will vary depending on the software options taken with the device and anything else which might come in the package. There are of course cheaper options available which have proved popular. These are often more than adequate for most average users, and unless you’re really concerned with top notch accuracy for photo / graphics work, you probably don’t need much more. For example, the Spyder3 or Pantone Huey do a decent enough job of levelling colours and settings for most average users, and retails for around £60 in the UK. See our various reviews for more information about colorimeters, spectrophotometers and calibration software.

Profiles are commonly produced when calibrating a screen. They are preset saved settings for your particular graphics card / monitor combination and can be used to match different devices (e.g a monitor, printer, scanner, camera etc). These help ensure the settings remain consistent across all the devices, so that you don’t see different results on each one. Profiles are simply look-up tables that describe the properties of a color space. They define the most saturated colors available in a color space; i.e. the bluest blue or deepest black your monitor can produce. If you don’t have a profile, the trio of Red, Green, and Blue values (or CMYK) that make up a color have no particular meaning – you can say something is blue, but not exactly which shade of blue. Accurate profiles are the key to a color managed workflow. With accurate monitor and printer profiles, your prints will closely match what you see on your monitor. Without profiles, you need to rely on trial and error combined with guessing.

It should be noted that an ICC profile is produced based on your individual hardware components and set up. As such, it’s not possible to share ICC profiles with other users of the same monitor to achieve the exact same results. However, ICC profiles which are shared can often at least help improve settings and colour accuracy to a certain degree, and so are an easy method of attempting calibration without the need for a colorimeter. It certainly won’t hurt to try them if you can find an ICC profile has produced with a colorimeter and then has been shared by the user for your particular screen.

Your display adaptor software should be set to 24 or 32 bit color (True Color). To see the setting, right-click on the Windows wallpaper (the background outside any open windows), then click on Properties > Settings.

We"ve all been there: skies that turn purple, apples that look orange or the photographer"s archenemy, prints that look too dark. We blindly trust our monitor colors only to later discover that our images looks off on other screens.

There"s a dark art called color management that can fix those problems, but it comes with a cost: around $150 for a monitor calibration tool (Calibrite ColorChecker Display or Datacolor SpyderX Pro are both excellent) plus some investment in knowledge to get the most out of it.

Let me admit my bias up front: Hi, my name is Fabio and I"m a color nerd. Buying a monitor calibration tool is a must for any creative professional who depends on accurate color and I"d love to convince you of that.

But not all users have strict professional requirements and buying a colorimeter doesn"t magically fix all problems, specially if your monitor is not set up right. On the contrary.

If we look up the reviews for the most popular hardware monitor calibration devices on Amazon we"ll see a lot of angry users complaining about color casts and bad results overall.

A good part of those complaints stem from expecting too much from a bad monitor in the first place, or using the wrong monitor and calibration settings.

Instead of just saying "go out and buy one of those spider thingies", let"s discuss briefly what is color management and how can we get better color from our monitors just by understanding and selecting the right settings.

Consider this guide as the first step for getting more accurate colors from your existing display. All these recommendations remain valid and will serve as a good starting point for a professional color calibration later on.

From camera to monitor to printer, any device that reproduces color can be measured and characterized by a color profile. This small bit of software can be used in a color management system to enable accurate color reproduction and match colors between other color managed devices, even if they"re vastly different.

In practice: if you have custom color profiles for your monitor and photo printer, Adobe Lightroom can understand their differences and match their output as closely as possible, or simulate the printer output on your screen.

Adopting a color managed workflow requires measuring the color reproduction of all devices in the chain, beginning with the monitor. The only way of doing this is by using a hardware monitor calibration tool, either a colorimeter or spectrophotometer.

There"s no way aro