Monitors again

jthomasjthomas Registered Users Posts: 454 Major grins
edited August 11, 2005 in Accessories
I guess my question is similar to the one posted by Gus recently, but from a slightly different angle.

My current monitor is a 1994 vintage IBM G70 17 inch CRT (please don't laugh). I know it's not good, because I have to adjust the position of the image to fit the screen several times a day. But to me the colors still look pretty good.

How can I tell if my postprocessing is being affected by a faulty monitor?

I'm not going to go out and buy a calibrator, so don't suggest it. I'm just an amateur, not a pro. However, any other suggestions or ideas will be appreciated.

Comments

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited August 10, 2005
    jthomas wrote:
    I guess my question is similar to the one posted by Gus recently, but from a slightly different angle.

    My current monitor is a 1994 vintage IBM G70 17 inch CRT (please don't laugh). I know it's not good, because I have to adjust the position of the image to fit the screen several times a day. But to me the colors still look pretty good.

    How can I tell if my postprocessing is being affected by a faulty monitor?

    I'm not going to go out and buy a calibrator, so don't suggest it. I'm just an amateur, not a pro. However, any other suggestions or ideas will be appreciated.

    Do your prints match what you see on the screen? A CRT that old does not sound promising. And if the image won't stay in position it sounds like the CRT's remaining time is very limited.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • jthomasjthomas Registered Users Posts: 454 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    Do your prints match what you see on the screen? A CRT that old does not sound promising. And if the image won't stay in position it sounds like the CRT's remaining time is very limited.
    Funny thing is it has been this way for a couple of years and doesn't get worse. I guess the prints are a good test, but I almost never print anything anymore. My pictures that I think are worth viewing are posted to my Smugmug site so friends and family can view them.

    I guess I need to look at them on a better monitor somewhere. They do look more vivid on the monitor I use at the office.
  • colourboxcolourbox Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2005
    You could download one of those test chart images that has a step wedge and color patches on it, print it out, and compare it to your monitor. This assumes your printer is printing correctly...

    Here's another idea. Have you viewed your smugmug photos on other computers? If you go to your friend's house and then to the computer store and look at your smugmug gallery from those locations and the images look fine, then you're probably fine with your monitor. If they all seem "off" in the same way, you've got a problem.

    I'm a serious amateur and I've noticed the price of calibrators has gone down over the years, so I got one. I use it because I simply don't want to go back and fix years of photos done wrong. I want to get them right the first time and not deal with it again and have my archive be color-balanced. Therefore I decided a calibrator was worth it.

    In professional circles, a CRT used daily for color correction is often thought to be too old after 3 or 4 years due to normal fading of the phosphors. Your 11 year old monitor isn't worth using a calibrator on because by now it probably can't achieve the luminance level that most calibrator devices want in order to do the job right. So you're correct, hardware calibration of that particular monitor is not a priority. But if you were to buy a new monitor, calibrating that would be a good idea.
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