PC Laptop that calibrates well?
Allen42
Registered Users Posts: 39 Big grins
I currently use a Dell Studio that performs just fine, but the screen is lacking.
It varies colors too much depending on viewing angle, and the brightness is not adjustable enough to calibrate properly.
Does anyone have suggestions on a mid-range laptop that they use that calibrates well?
Thanks.
-Allen
It varies colors too much depending on viewing angle, and the brightness is not adjustable enough to calibrate properly.
Does anyone have suggestions on a mid-range laptop that they use that calibrates well?
Thanks.
-Allen
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Comments
All laptops typically use TN panels, and these are poor because the colors you perceive change with your viewing angle, so calibration is nearly impossible.
The only laptop I am aware of that might be appropriate is the Lenovo W700. It still uses a TN panel, but does offer built in calibration, which may help slightly.
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3737&review=lenovo+thinkpad+w700
I agree. Laptops are great for quick edits, but any "real" work should be done on an external, calibrated monitor.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Of course, you can (and probably should) always add a good external monitor to your laptop for critical editing sessions...that probably is a better spend of your photo editing dollar.
I concur!
This would be your lowest cost most bang for the buck image editing monitor. Has an e-IPS panel, 100% sRGB colour space, and is a true 8bit.
Dell 2209WA
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=04&sku=320-7825
$289 USD but you may find a coupon for it online and it seems to have an instant discount every couple of weeks or so.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2009/review-dell-2209wa.html
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The "ds" suffix stands for "dual screen" and it also has a built-in Pantone X-Rite color calibration. Fortunately, the price has tumbled and it's now on the high end of "affordable" (for a working professional who can justify the cost.)
If you cannot justify the cost of that unit, and if you want to get "closer" to good color, download as many "monitor target" images as you can find and adjust your display so that they all look pretty good. Then use those images as required, super-imposed over the top of your working image, or side-by-side. The idea is that the human eye and brain do a lousy job of judging absolute color values, but a much better job judging "comparative" color values when the samples are next to each other.
Also learn how to adjust images "by the numbers. Acceptable flesh tones generally fall between fairly limited tonal values. Establish sample values from known images and then use an eyedropper tool to read the values on the working image until you get them in range. This is the absolute best way to color manage.
Use your own palm to develop tonal samples and then you will also have a color reference with you wherever you go.
Understanding white balance and taking WB samples will get you generally pretty close if you have single color temperature lighting.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I just bought that same monitor from the Dell Outlet for $199 w/free shipping - hasn't arrived yet, but I'll report when it does!
FWIW, I've been using a Dell Studio 15+Huey calibrator for a while now; I'm sure it's not as good as a GREAT monitor, but I haven't found it bad. Huey's given me pretty accurate colours as long as I've kept it up to date, and in general I don't look at my laptop screen at funny angles, so it's been fine, if not "high end".
I'm really excited to get a GOOD monitor at last though - arrives next Tuesday!
I have a Spyder 2 pro that I use to calibrate this latop as well another PC with external samsung lcd monitor that does not seem to suffer the same viewing angle color shift penalty that my Dell studio does. In fact, my old HP laptop was better than the Dell in this regard.
My typical workflow is to do all my "pre-work" on the laptop and then fine tune on the PC, but the new laptop is actually faster than the PC, so I'd like to solve the screen problem so I could use it for the whole process. I'm not excited about using an external monitor with it... I like to process pics on the couch or in bed. I'm ok with getting another laptop, as my wife wants this one.
Divamum, I'm wondering if we have the same laptop? I can cause a rather large shift in brightness and color cast simply by opening or closing the screen 10 degrees one way or another... you? (My screen is not glossy, fwiw.)
-Allen
I was just trying it out with my laptop and there may be some small variations in brightness if I tilte the screen, but when it's within the range of my normal viewing angle, the differences are minor and I don't notice any particular colour shift.
They all use a variation of a TN TFT LCD panel that is particularly poor for viewing angles and they are all 6bit panels. Some TN panels seem to be a bit (little tiny bit) better than others and the laptop units are the lowest of the low.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm
Here is a comparison between the Dell 2209WA with a better quality e-IPS panel and a Dell monitor with a TN panel.
When you see the pop-up for alternate sites, select "Continue" as the UK and USA sites do not have the test data I'd like you to view.
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=477&p1=4862&ma2=88&mo2=541&p2=5964&ph=8
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