Eye One 2 "quirks" --please help

[David]

I recently got a new LG LCD monitor and used my Eye One 2 to calibrate it. I tried both the Automatic and Advanced options. Strangely, both gave me quite different results. I have 2 questions here:

1. For Auto mode, what are the Brightness and Contrast values that we should set before calibration? during calibration, the Eye One software says there is no need for us to adjust them as it will do the adjustment accordingly. I find this surprising. Does it mean even if we set the monitor to Brightness 100% Contrast 100% the software will eventually adjust the screen brightness/contrast to the best values?

2. For the Advanced option, I followed the on screen instructions. At the last part I had to manually adjust the luminance using the Brightness control of my LCD screen. The software indicated that my screen's luminence was too bright (about 210 cd/m2) while the target should be 120 cd/m2. I tried adjusting the brightness down to 0% but I was still not able to achieve the desired 120 cd/m2.:dunno::dunno:

In the end, I had to bring down the Contrast value to something like 35% to get the Luminance target value. I'm puzzled cos I believe I should not be fiddling with the Contrast setting since the adjustment had already been done earlier??

Has anyone experienced this?

After the calibration, I also noticed that the screen looks darker using the Advanced mode compared to the Automatic mode. So which is the more correct one?

Anyone any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[alvyalvy]

Hi,

The auto mode is more suitable for calibration of screens which does not allow you to manually set the Whitepoint and the luminance value. What ever you set in terms of whitepoint or luminance on the software, it assumes the monitor to be indeed configured that way. If possible try to profile your monitor using advance mode. There are 3 adjustment parameters for which you will need to perform manually on your monitor, but before that, you need to indicate to the software what are the desired levels per parameter you wish to achieve on your monitor. The 1st parameter is contrast. Nothing much here, straightforward. You can adjust the contrast (only the contrast and not together with brightness) setting of your monitor until the "slider" falls on the middle of the "scale" (within the software). The 2nd parameter is Luminance. For desktop LCD, try to select "140" instead of "120" as it is too dim for use. Adjust your brightness of the monitor until it luminance fall to 140 (do not adjust the contrast). If by any means that your monitor cannot be adjusted low enough to hit 140, then adjust to the brightness that your eyes are comfortable with. Then go back a few steps (within the software) to change the desired luminance value from 140 to the custom value in the eye1 software. Double check on your contrast value and luminance value via the eye1 software again. Lastly, if i did not get the order of the procedure correct, adjust manually, your RGB value of your monitor until it matches the desired white point. I used 6500k so that the screen looks slightly warmer. 7300 or 7500 seems to be bluer and whiter but not my preferenece. After matching the desired white point, page back again to double check your contrast and luminance value with the newly set whitepoint of ur monitor. If all 3 parameters are matching the desired values, proceed to let the software "calculate" the profile.

I've profiled a few monitors (different model/branding) side by side this way and the results are consistent.

 

[Visuals]

Hi

Do you know whether Eye One Display 2 works well with the new Vista for Windows and Leopard for Macintosh? Any conflicts or incompatibility so far?

Visuals

 

[ellery]

Well from what I discovered and read writeup by overseas experts-this only works in advance mode for iMac's - so with an iMac you have to adjust the contrast and brightness by eye then run software. The newer iMac have an problem the gloss screen infront of the LCD panel gives a slight magenta cast to the screen that is impposible to remove. Some have resorted to drastic screen remove steps. Go figger - according to Apple the iMac is not meant for professional DI work usage u need a PowerMac ?? or what ever they call their desktop top units. Yeah tell that to almost all the people in the industry for whom the iMac is what is what they have to work with.
So

No idea with Vista which has its own crude color calibration system.

 

[hazmee]

Well from what I discovered and read writeup by overseas experts-this only works in advance mode for iMac's - so with an iMac you have to adjust the contrast and brightness by eye then run software. The newer iMac have an problem the gloss screen infront of the LCD panel gives a slight magenta cast to the screen that is impposible to remove. Some have resorted to drastic screen remove steps. Go figger - according to Apple the iMac is not meant for professional DI work usage u need a PowerMac ?? or what ever they call their desktop top units. Yeah tell that to almost all the people in the industry for whom the iMac is what is what they have to work with.
So

No idea with Vista which has its own crude color calibration system.

I hear you brother... I hear you...

 

[David]

Hi alvyalvy,

Thanks for your input. I adapted some your ideas and my screen is looking better now. Basically I went back to change the Luminance specification when I realized my screen Brightness could not be reduced lower.

But it's strange that the recommended luminance is 120 for LCD screens. I tried 140 but it was still somewhat dark. In the end, I did a Custom luminance calibration on a white screen as instructed by EyeOne Software. I got about 164.

But my final parameters for Brightness is 5% and Contrast is 75%. Is this "weird"? The Brightness value seems too low.

The last time I used SpyderPro with my CRT monitor, the Contrast was always set to 100% and I only need to adjust the Brightness to something like 77%.

In any case, having used both calibration devices, I prefer EyeOne. I think it's more detailed in its calibration and the colours seem more accurate.

 

[alvyalvy]

Hi David,

my dell 2408wfp brightness level is 0%, contrast also ard 75%...nowadays in order to push for higher contrast ratio for LCD, they are putting in really bright backlights. turning on to 100% is blinding for the eyes in a not so bright room... I managed to hit 140 for brightness...I'm usually working with this setup in my room, at nite, with no ambient lighting except a small desktop lamp..so 140 is already considered VERY bright for me...

I only have Eye1D2 so cannot compare, but I'm receiving a SPyderPro2 next week..shall test and compare..so far very pleased with Eye1D2..

btw, both OS, OSX and XP can be used with Eye1D2..not a problem..never tried vista, but i think should work as long as software can install.

 

[hazmee]

Yeap, for Dell 2408WFP, it is recommended to set the brightness to 0 and contrast around 70~75%. Works like a charm.