How to calibrate using Eye One Display 2?

[Yzerguy]

This has been on my to-do list for awhile. While we're on the topic...

My Eye-one Display 2 arrived this week & I could use some help.

Normally I'd jump in and just try to figure things out. Being new to Mac, LR, PS etc, I'm a little overloaded with the directions and the vid tutorials, and therefore also being somewhat cautious and haven't installed anything. Feeling in over my head, hoping I can catch up with some advice.

The Eye-One Match 3 software (according to the vid tutorial) offers Easy or Advanced calibration options. Gotta say I'm tempted to use the Easy, but then I'm thinking I may not get luminance set properly...? Can anyone confirm that?

I hesitated when considering using Advanced mode since the tutorial talks about setting white point, gamma, luminance etc. I've got an iMac, so I only have controls for brightness on the monitor... so does that mean I won't be able to calibrate white point (via Advanced mode) given I don't have on screen display (OSD) controls for the RGB channels (nor any temp color presets, that I'm aware of)? Does this mean I should be using "Easy" mode? Also, which white point -- given most of my work is for the web I'd think I'd need a temp of 65'' K??

Gamma -- the tutorials suggest 1.8 for Mac and 2.2 for Windows machines. I've read in several places that I should be using 2.2 on the Mac to match work for the web, so why the advice of 1.8 from X-Rite? Also, the software says to disable Adobe Gamma before calibration. I knew where that was on my PC, but on the Mac? Not sure, I've got LR and PS CS3 installed. I'm currently using the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 profile on my monitor, as installed by both LR and PS CS3. Should I be starting the calibration with the out-of-the-box iMac profile?

Luminance - I should be able to calibrate that given the iMac does have brightness controls, but apparently that calibration is at least partly dependent on the white point adjustment being done properly earlier in Advanced mode.

Lots of questions, that's b/c I'm confused - and I'm praying I'm not just missing something basic. Any and all help much appreciated, as always!

Cheers, Sean

 

[SloYerRoll]

No need to make rocket science out of it. Auto will get you hella close. Just use the auto function for a little while and once things settle down in your digital world. I or someone else will be more than happy to help. JMO.

EDIT: Sorry, Somehow you ended up in my bookmarked threads, so I thought this was a continuation of a thread I was already in.

Best,

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Sean, let's keep it simple for a minute.

It's a long time since I used the Eye One software, so it's a bit fuzzy, but you'll get the idea. I'm sure Jon will post back too, since I've separated this into its own thread.

For a start, I don't believe you iMac has contrast or colour controls to worry about, so you'll just skip those steps.

There is no Adobe Gamma to uninstall on the Mac as colorsync does it as OS level, so skip that. The software will sort out that one.

Go for the Advanced option.

Set the colour temperature to 65''k or Native White Point. Native is more accurate on my ACD's.

Go for a 2.2 Gamma for simplicity.

When it asks you to adjust the brightness, aim for a brightness of 1'' - 12' cd.

That should get you pretty close, and you can always learn the intricacies later!

 

[Richard Earney]

You might find some problems with the iMac monitor as well, during the profiling process.

The reflective glare you get can be disruptive and the colour is often uneven from top to bottom.

The solution is to wrap your monitor in black velvet (or similar) when you are running the calibration process. This cuts out the reflections and ensures that the colours the application is firing out are the ones that are meant to be seen by the Eye One.

Sounds a bit odd, but it seems to help!

 

[SloYerRoll]

The main thing I've noticed that the calibration hardware/software manuals don't touch on too heavily on ambient light. You need to make sure you calibrate your monitor the same time you would normally use your computer for color sensitive work.

Although all the sensors that come along w/ calibration software measure ambient light and "compensate" for it. All the software does in change to overall brightness and contrast. It does not change the ICC profile attached to that monitor. So if you calibrate your monitor in the sunny daytime (55''K) or on a cloudy day (65''K) or during the night w/ an incandescent bulb (25''K) can make a huge difference on how your monitor will look and perform. Make sense?

That being said, you can agonize over things like this if your not careful. So just figure out what is the general time for you to edit photos and calibrate.

If you need further assistance, I'll be happy to help,

Sorry for the confusion on my OP

Best,

 

[Yzerguy]

Many thx for the replies -- long turn-around on this, have been under the weather and in bed.

No need to make rocket science out of it.

Sean, let's keep it simple for a minute.

LOL, yet true. Yeah, sometimes I'll make a mountain outta a mole-hill, my bad. I do my best on research to keep it simple, that said my cautious side grows inversely to amount of time I have to figure this stuff out... I like to think I'm pretty good on that front, but new OS plus new software has me searching a bit. I'm getting there!

-------

...Just use the auto function for a little while and once things settle down in your digital world. I or someone else will be more than happy to help. JMO.

Tried this, looks worse than than where I started... still sick, I've likely missed something, even on easy mode.

Go for the Advanced option.

Set the colour temperature to 65''k or Native White Point. Native is more accurate on my ACD's.

Go for a 2.2 Gamma for simplicity.

When it asks you to adjust the brightness, aim for a brightness of 1'' - 12' cd.

That should get you pretty close, and you can always learn the intricacies later!

This is where I was leaning when I posted, but first will try easy mode once more -- again when I'm feeling better (i.e.: not searching for my car keys when they're in my hand... :roll: )

I've got enough to work with here for time being, thanks again Victoria and Jon, I'll come back with any questions that come up from here.

-------

You might find some problems with the iMac monitor as well, during the profiling process.

The reflective glare you get can be disruptive and the colour is often uneven from top to bottom.

The solution is to wrap your monitor in black velvet (or similar) when you are running the calibration process. This cuts out the reflections and ensures that the colours the application is firing out are the ones that are meant to be seen by the Eye One.

Sounds a bit odd, but it seems to help!

The main thing I've noticed that the calibration hardware/software manuals don't touch on too heavily on ambient light. You need to make sure you calibrate your monitor the same time you would normally use your computer for color sensitive work.

Although all the sensors that come along w/ calibration software measure ambient light and "compensate" for it. All the software does in change to overall brightness and contrast. It does not change the ICC profile attached to that monitor. So if you calibrate your monitor in the sunny daytime (55''K) or on a cloudy day (65''K) or during the night w/ an incandescent bulb (25''K) can make a huge difference on how your monitor will look and perform. Make sense?

That being said, you can agonize over things like this if your not careful. So just figure out what is the general time for you to edit photos and calibrate.

Richard -- many thx! re: glossy screened iMacs, I'm not a pro, but am doing my best to calibrate in a reasonable manner... black velvet? Wouldn't be surprised if I get there one day, just not now -- that said, if I get wonky results now, that may need to happen soon.

Jon (and Richard) -- By circumstance in the last 3 years my computers have been in a room with a small window, including a black out blind. Sure, a bit of light creeps in through the door if it's open, or past the edges of the blind, but the diffs in ambient light are small between daylight and night, and I use the same incandescent lighting day or night, unless I'm trying to read a book, which normally happens in the brighter rooms. I can go looking for reflections, but for now, as advised, I'll keep it simple and get back to you guys if/when I need more help.

Jon - no worries about the confusion on the OP -- your bookmarks were right, Victoria did what I should have done in the first place and created a new thread on my behalf, so the confusion is on me.

Cheers, Sean

 

[Yzerguy]

Update: I've calibrated, twice in advanced, once in easy mode. I would go on, but since I've started this, I've noticed a dead pixel on my screen! :evil:

NOT happy!!! I can't say for sure if it wasn't there before, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't, dead pixels and other details tend to jump out at me. Doubt it was the I1D2, but can't say that for sure either.

Given the iMac is slightly over 2 months old, not sure if I have recourse (bought it via a reseller)... I'll be checking into that.

Short version of the calibration -- everything appeared to work great, but the luminance was off the chart -- dialing down brightness got me as low as 247, far cry from target of 12'.

Angry Sean.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

The latest iMac's are known for their incredibly bright screens. Some people seem to find Shades helps.

 

[Ian Farlow]

The calibration tool didn't damage the screen, if that is something you are concerned about. And with regards to the hot/dead pixel, most (if not all) manufacturers will not replace a screen as defective for something like this, unfortunately, so you are likely stuck with it. I'm willing to bet that most screens have some sort of defect like this, but often times aren't terribly obvious.

 

[Yzerguy]

I'm not sure why the dead pixel happens now... I didn't think it would be the calibration tool, but I do know it just happened at some point yesterday. I tend to notice incredibly small details, it's a curse, this wouldn't bother most people, but it sure bugs me. I'm going to ask the re-seller I dealt with about the monitor, can't hurt to ask but from research it appears you're right Ian, most manufacturers won't help out for just one dead pixel. Sigh, groan.

 

[Yzerguy]

The latest iMac's are known for their incredibly bright screens. Some people seem to find Shades helps.

Nice link Victoria... funny girl! I'll laugh about this one day, eventually. Time to work hard and earn a Mac Pro with ACD, non glossy.

Live and learn. :roll:

 

[Ian Farlow]

I'm not sure why the dead pixel happens now... I didn't think it would be the calibration tool, but I do know it just happened at some point yesterday. I tend to notice incredibly small details, it's a curse, this wouldn't bother most people, but it sure bugs me. I'm going to ask the re-seller I dealt with about the monitor, can't hurt to ask but from research it appears you're right Ian, most manufacturers won't help out for just one dead pixel. Sigh, groan.

Don't worry... I have that curse as well. The left Command button on my new MacBook Pro makes a very slightly sticky sound. Faint, but I can hear it whenever I press that key. Drives me up the wall...

...strange as that is, I don't wash my hands 4' times a day. Go figure!

 

[Yzerguy]

Don't worry... I have that curse as well. The left Command button on my new MacBook Pro makes a very slightly sticky sound. Faint, but I can hear it whenever I press that key. Drives me up the wall...

...strange as that is, I don't wash my hands 4' times a day. Go figure!

You also have company... A colleague has the same issue with the TAB key on his Macbook Air, he's got the curse a bit as well, maybe not as bad as we do. He's only had the Air a couple of weeks, I noticed the key getting better with use but now he swears it comes right back every time he closes the screen down and moves the Air, and then slowly goes away as he uses it some more. Maybe yours will do similar over time.

I'm more a visual than sound person, first time I got a tiny rock chip on my new car (about the same relative size as this one dead pixel I've got on my iMac, and had it touched up) it took me 3 months to stop looking at it. Hoping I'll slowly stop looking at this pixel in time as well. I'd rather I had a sticky sounding key. :roll:

FWIW I started keeping a bottle of hand sanitizer (alcohol based) on both my office and home desks last fall, use it about 4 times/day -- I started using it when a flu virus wiped out 3/4 of my office, I didn't get sick until recently (got lazy and didn't buy more sanitizer for a couple of weeks) -- a nice spin off of the sanitizer is that my keyboards/mice are incredibly clean all the time.

Sean

 

[Ian Farlow]

Ha! Yeah, I expect, if you are like me, the pixel issue will just fade away with time as you become tolerant of it. I understand the frustration, however.

 

[Brad Snyder]

I neaten cables.....

 

[Yzerguy]

Ha! Yeah, I expect, if you are like me, the pixel issue will just fade away with time as you become tolerant of it. I understand the frustration, however.

Here's hoping! Yes, frustration is the politically correct word to use in the forums.

I neaten cables.....

Okay, that's something I don't do. I know a few who do, I drive 'em crazy with my cables looking like a plate of pasta.

Heh, seriously, thanks guys/gals for hearing me out, it helps a bit.

Maybe it's a good time to start a new Off-Topic Discussion category: OCLRU - Obsessive Compulsive Lightroom Users. :lol: J/K. It occurs that there's likely a few readers out there rolling their eyes about all of this (thanks again Victoria for the shades link ) - while I'm still a little choked, I also can't help but laugh at myself a bit too, this isn't life altering stuff... I'll eventually get over it.

Cheers, Sean

 

[Ian Farlow]

Let me add one more bit of craziness... my bed looks like a bomb went off in it. Sheets twisted up and the pillow somewhere on the bed, though not likely where it ought to be. My desk where I work on photography/videography/music? I actually have certain items foam-taped down so they don't move.

Wow... thinking about that and now I'm depressed. :(

 

[Yzerguy]

Sounds like you're living single like me Ian, even if not, no need for depression. My bed is like yours, plus dirty clothes everywhere in my bedroom. My kitchen and bathrooms are always clean and organized (and you already know about my car, it's 2.5 years old and people still ask if it's brand new) -- you'd think with my pixel preoccupation that my desk would be like yours, usually it isn't. When I have to start shuffling things around to find a spot to write on paper is when I actually clean up my act there, about once a week.

 

[Ian Farlow]

Yep... single. Probably good, though, as I expect I would drive people crazy! 8)