Laptop screen vs Good Monitor I can plug in to?

[Fordos Moon]

Morning all.

I use a laptop to capture and process my images. However when I send them to my work computer and look at them on a decent screen they can look quite a bit different. For example I can produce a nebula image on my laptop full of subtle colour and then when I see it on a "proper computer" the colours look far too saturated?

How do you guys ensure your images look as good as they can?

Is there any recommended monitor to plug a laptop in to for this purpose? I'm tempted to buy one for just this purpose but dont have the funds to by a whole computer set up.

[oldpink]

its very difficult to get the same picture to appear the same on different screens
you can calibrate your monitors and screens using test patterns so that you see images very similar

there are monitors used for proofing images etc that have true colour but these are expensive

[daz]

You need a good monitor that you can tweak the gamma and colour profiles and a reliable way of calibrating it.

I have use a Spyder in the past to do this and it works well.

Also, people will use a graduated grey scale - see http://www.nightskyimages.co.uk/ - and adjust the monitor until you see all of the divisions in the scale

[Fordos Moon]

Thanks chaps!

[JamesF]

I've found laptop displays quite awkward to get displaying colours the way I think they should.  Now I much prefer to plug in an external monitor and use that when processing.  It's much easier now laptops tend to have HDMI outputs and monitors often have multiple HDMI inputs.

James

[Fordos Moon]

I've found laptop displays quite awkward to get displaying colours the way I think they should.  Now I much prefer to plug in an external monitor and use that when processing.  It's much easier now laptops tend to have HDMI outputs and monitors often have multiple HDMI inputs.

James

That's my plan I think James - just got to find a good value for money monitor!

[swag72]

How do you connect a lappy to an external monitor? Just run an HDMI cable between the two and hey presto? Is it that easy?

[oldpink]

yes HDMI out on the laptop to HDMI in on the TV / Monitor

or if its a PC monitor some laptops have a monitor VGA output

[Fordos Moon]

How do you connect a lappy to an external monitor? Just run an HDMI cable between the two and hey presto? Is it that easy?

That's how I connect my work laptop to a monitor, and use the input selector on the monitor to pick the right input feed.

[swag72]

Cheers - That sounds very easy - Perhaps I'll look at that!!!

[oldpink]

on some laptops you can switch screens using the Fn key and the F5 key (Normally F5)
it will have two small blue squares like this

[Thewitty]

If you plug into a TV, the only other thing you may need to do is change the source on the TV. eg HDMI1 / 2 or if you are using VGA there is normally a PC option.

[Fordos Moon]

If you plug into a TV, the only other thing you may need to do is change the source on the TV. eg HDMI1 / 2 or if you are using VGA there is normally a PC option.

Are LCD TVs any good for image processing?

[Thewitty]

I would think as long as the TV is 1080P  it would be fine. However, just because it looks good on your screen it doesn't mean it will look the same on another.

If you go into a TV shop and they have all of them together showing the same thing, look at how different each of the TVs are. Different colours / brightness even in HD.

This is not from experience of image processing just general observations.

I guess the best thing to do is optimize your image for the screen that you will be viewing it on.

[SnakeyJ]

I've just got hold of an ex x-ray mono imaging screen - Barco MDNG-2121 and custom display card.   It's a  21" 1600x1200 16 bit display, but hoping this will work nicely as a second display on a processing workstation and prove easier on my eyes.   My laptop panel is decent quality, but even with the windows screen calibration routine I find it difficult to produce consistent results.

[laser_jock99]

I wouldn't entertain image processing on a laptop (let alone using a laptop screen!). Processing stacks of 70Mb RAW or TIFF files would make my (supposedly fast) i7 laptops fall down. And the screens- just too small to see how noisy your images are.

Powerful desktop + 27" decent monitor is the way forward. 

[Fordos Moon]

It is a whole laptop I'm using and doesn't slow down too much but I agree - a powerful desktop with a big screen is on the wish list just a little way off at mo!