Monitors

[jambouk]

I captured and processed some planetary AVIs last night on my laptop; all well and good.

Look at them on my desktop and i-phone today and they are really dark and very red-heavy.

Why is there such a discrepency between my laptop and the desktop monitors? Can i standardise them somehow?

Thanks.

James

[Digz]

Each monitor / screen will be different. They will run at different temps, resolutions and specs etc.

Have a look at spyder - this is a calibration tool used to calibrate monitor displays. I've often thought about getting one for my photography.

[jambouk]

There's one on fleabay for £45. Tempting.

I'll see if anyone i know has one.

Thanks, i didn't know this existed.

James

[Digz]

They are good devices and I'm sure there are other makes / brands available but the spyder is the one I always see advertised.

They should be, by all accounts, pretty intuitive and easy to use.

[jambouk]

I'm on my phone so i'll investigate when i'm at a computer. I've also asked on facebook if anyone has access to one to try and see if it works across various computers and how easy it is to use.

James

[blinky]

I have a similar problem, I usually process images on my laptop but when I then look at them on the Obsy PC screens they look terrible, like I have pushed the processing too far but then on my Tablet they look OK, so I put it down to the cheap monitor in the obsy......

[jambouk]

The wonders of face book! I posted a messaged on there asking if any of my geeky friends have a spyder, and two of them do, so i'm going to borrow one and see if i can get all these monitors singing from the same colour hymn sheet. If i do, i'll report back.

James

[keithatrochdale]

I have the Spyder4pro and it is dead easy to use and can be set to remind you to re-calibrate after a 1 month, 2 months etc; a worthwhile investment IMHO.

[Digz]

Let us know how it goes, might sway me into finally getting one...

[RikM]

How often to you need to recalibrate your monitor? I thought about getting one but if it's a one off and then your monitor is set it seems quite expensive.

[Digz]

Interesting question. A quick search suggests recallibration on is necessary as monitor settings can drift. The frequency is down to personal choice I.e. weekly, monthly, before important PS work etc.

[keithatrochdale]

I used to do it each month, but have found every two months is ok.

[jambouk]

I suspect the initial calibration will introduce the most change, then subsequent ones will be more minor tweeks; but i'm guessing.

I've not found three friends who have one i can borrow. None of them are into astronomy or photography so i'l be interested to see what made them get it initially.

James

[broadsword]

I've seen exactly the same discrepancy in image quality going across screen types. For me the worst have been a laptop screen and my Blackberry, however in both cases they are much more strongly directional, presumably because of the way they work. Looking at an angle from above reveals horrific gradients in the black background. So I'm not sure if calibrating these screens would make a difference.

Makes me wonder what is the correct or 'reference' screen to use. More expensive or high res? Must admit a couple of times when I've posted images on SGL people have commented on things completely invisible to me!

[Digz]

I would trust a laptop or monitor over a blackberry or iPhone or any other small screen like that, because it can be calibrated.

It would be interesting to see how different a 'test card' looks on a well calibrated monitor vs smartphone screen.

[broadsword]

Lee,

The point I was trying to make is that the type of screen technology (LCD vs LED vs good old cathode ray) must affect how colours and gradients are displayed? I don't know what's considered the best at present...

[Digz]

Lee,

The point I was trying to make is that the type of screen technology (LCD vs LED vs good old cathode ray) must affect how colours and gradients are displayed? I don't know what's considered the best at present...

Ah ok I get you. You are right and I wouldn't have a scooby which is better, the technology moves too fast for me.