Calibration
The procedure is standard. The colorimeter asks to be placed on a black patch on the monitor. We validate the calibration command and off we go. Colors are successfully displayed in the square under the colorimeter. At some point the colorimeter ask the user to adjust contrast, brightness and RGB channels (if these commands are available on the monitor) according to the test patterns displayed. It is quite succinct, and as usual it’s best to limit ourselves to the least amount of adjustments in the monitor menu to avoid image degradation and reduce calibration results. Here are the different steps to follow:
What will happen
Welcome, we are now going to adjust the gamma, color temperature, blacks and whites. It’s very important to all cut out all direct light sources and leave the monitor switched on for one hour before calibration.
Indication of possible adjustments for the monitor
First adjustments
Initially, the procedure indicated that it is preferable to go back to the monitor’s standard parameters and stick to them. So don’t try to reduce the brightness or afterglow. This is quite surprising, but is indeed preferable with this colorimeter.
Two patters are nevertheless available to make a couple of corrections for those who don’t want to follow these instructions:
Here we go
After a couple of patches for primary colors, the colorimeter tells the user to make the white whiter. The intention is to remove any color predominance by changing RGB parameters when possible. This is very often the case, except for some monitors connected in DVI. For some unknown reason some manufacturers cut off access to this data, which is essential for color reproduction when working in numeric. This parameter, however, is present in analog mode.
The different color patches are displayed and we can see numerous nuances. It is long and you just need to be patient, this last step lasting 15 minutes.
Validation of resultsFinally, a window pops up and indicates calibration is finished. If you want to visualize the corrections, you need to look in the menu and choose to start the “contrast graph.
Amongst the four graphs, the ideal is the lowest. In a perfect world, all graphs would be superimposed, and this is obviously not the case here. This proves that calibration is imperfect or that the test monitor is far from being perfect. We tend to believe the first possibility. The LaCie colorimeter also confirmed very significant gaps with some colors. It corrected them with much more accuracy, however, as we will see below.
