Lighting for LCD calibration?

Van IsleVan Isle Registered Users Posts: 384 Major grins
edited June 26, 2007 in Digital Darkroom
Hi folks,
I'm trying to do a decent job of calibrating my Macbook 13" LCD (using the built in mac calibration utility) and I was wondering what ambient lighting, if any, I should do this in for best results.

Many thanks,
VI
dgrin.com - making my best shots even better since 2006.

Comments

  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited June 25, 2007
    The less ambient light you have faling on your display the better.
    Best ambient lighting would be a single soft light directly behind the display.

    If it isn't realistic to do this w/ your existing setup. Just find a monitor hood to help keep the light off your screen. You can make one pretty easy on the cheap if your on a budget too.

    -Jon
  • colourboxcolourbox Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited June 25, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    Best ambient lighting would be a single soft light directly behind the display.

    Although, in the case of any Apple laptop like the one being calibrated here, the one kind of lighting to avoid during calibration is...lighting behind the display.

    The glowing Apple logo on the back of every Mac laptop's lid is achieved by a cutout with translucent white plastic over it; the laptop's backlight shows through the cutout. If you ever use a Mac laptop in front of a sunny window, you can actually see the apple shape on the front of the screen, because of the sun shining through the cutout on the back of the lid!

    Which means, if you have a lamp "directly behind the display" when you calibrate it, and the sensor is also over the cutout, there is a risk of contaminating the readings of the laptop's backlight and coming up with the wrong white balance. I would go with dim room lighting that's not near the LCD.
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    "single soft light" not a light source that uses photon-photon nuculear fusion for a power supply.

    It's not realistic to use a dim room to calibrate unless your going to be able to always work in the same environment. Pretty tough to see those keys if your in the dark unless your a professional designer and have all your shortcuts down cold.

    I consult printing companies on color management as a paying hobby. I'm sure your right about the laptop thing though. None of the professional printers I deal w/ use laptops.
  • colourboxcolourbox Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    I think we basically agree. What I mean by "dim lighting" is functionally equivalent to your recommendation "the less ambient light falling on your display the better." If the sun's streaming in through the window it's best to close the shades during calibration.

    If a light source was behind the MacBook I don't think it would have to be super bright to influence a calibrator. I am more concerned about it being a tungsten bulb that is so yellow that its very presence behind the translucent lid could influence the reading.

    Also, I'm not going to claim that a laptop LCD can be calibrated well enough for color-critical work. Simply that a calibrated laptop screen is a whole lot better than an uncalibrated one.
  • Van IsleVan Isle Registered Users Posts: 384 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    Thanks for the replies, and it's not high level "colour critical" work that I am doing. I just want to nail down my colours (and brightness/saturation) better so that when I send an image to a printer, I can get a reasonable facsimile of what I sent away, just in print. And I'm only using the built in Mac OS X LCD calibration utility. I just don't think it's worthwhile, given the variability of the screen, ambient lighting, see-thru apple, to spend $$$ for a pro level calibration. Thanks for the tips! thumb.gif

    VI
    dgrin.com - making my best shots even better since 2006.
  • Manfr3dManfr3d Registered Users Posts: 2,008 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    Van Isle wrote:
    Thanks for the replies, and it's not high level "colour critical" work that I am doing. I just want to nail down my colours (and brightness/saturation) better so that when I send an image to a printer, I can get a reasonable facsimile of what I sent away, just in print. And I'm only using the built in Mac OS X LCD calibration utility. I just don't think it's worthwhile, given the variability of the screen, ambient lighting, see-thru apple, to spend $$$ for a pro level calibration. Thanks for the tips! thumb.gif

    VI
    If you want to have accurate colors in your prints the equation becomes
    even more difficult. You would need to calibrate your Printer as well. If you
    don't calibrate screen and printer getting the colors right will always remain
    a trial and error method with each picture u print meaning you'll always be
    dissapointed by the results. The cheapest way to get some sort of
    matching colors is to buy a pantone huey or a spyder2 express for 100€
    to calibate your display and to download a printer icc profile for your printer.
    “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.”
    ― Edward Weston
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