These two methods will be further explained in the up-coming sections. Depending on the calibration solution and your monitor, this first part can be done either pure manually or automatic. Calibrating a MonitorĪs the first step of profiling a monitor, you need to set it up as close as possible to the target values. A very good compromise is then 120 candela/m2. Most viewing booths can easily be dimmed to match that brightness level and it is fairly bright for critical color judging.
There is an ISO standard that specifies a brightness of 160 candela/m2 for critical inspections of color prints. So, ideally you could set your monitor for a brightness of 160 candela/m2 and having a viewing booth matching that brightness level but running a monitor at this brightness may reduce its live time.
The Brightness of the monitor is the last parameter to setup. Earlier monitors were very bluish by default, and when you tried to set it up for 5000K it would often be too dark, which forced you to make a compromise and use D6500 instead.
For critical viewing of prints it is recommended to use a 5000K light source. A number of print viewing booths with 5000K light sources are available, as well as general lighting solutions for room illumination at 5000K.Ī modern quality monitor has no problem using a White Point of 5000K while still being able to be bright enough. The White Point basically describes the balance of Red, Green and Blue light when a white color is displayed in the monitor.Ī White Point of 5000K, which is practically the same as D50, gives a neutral daylight white. However, as the most often used workspaces for images (The Adobe RGB (1998) and the sRGB workspace) use gamma 2.2, it has become the default standard to use gamma 2.2 for the monitor setup.Īny color displayed on a monitor is created by a mix of the monitor’s pure primary colors: The pure Red, pure Green and pure Blue.
With today’s ICC Color Management workflow you will get equally good results whether you use gamma 1.8 or 2.2. Mac chose the gamma 1.8 as it was easier for them to match images on a monitor and a printer when using gamma 1.8. In those days, the ICC color manage system was not invented. Historically, Mac computers were using Gamma 1.8 and Window computers 2.2. The gamma number refers to the mathematical gamma function and it is used to describe the un-linear response of the monitor, which originates from the days with CRT tube monitors. To profile a monitor, you will need a specialized monitor calibration solution which includes an application and a color measuring device, typical connected via USB. There are at least a couple of solutions available on the market.įirst part of the Profiling process is about bringing the monitor as close as possible to a standardized setup. To describe such a setup we typically specify 3 parameters: Profiling a monitor basically consist of 3 steps: As long as you have a supporting monitor tab, sit back and watch the magic happen.įor those who like to be hands-on or are interested in getting to know the work that lies behind profiling a monitor, we have provided you with an explanation. If you would like to try out this solution, you need to open Preferences, open Color Tab and push the One-click calibrate button. This feature is a great solution for all of those who do not want to be an expert in monitoring profiling and just want a proven, trustworthy solution setting up for a target of gamma 2.2, 5000K White Point and a brightness of 120 candele/m2.
With the release of Capture One Pro 9.3, we have completed a long on-going collaboration with EIZO. This has resulted in a one-click solution for calibrating the high-end EIZO monitors with integrated calibration sensors. Today, ICC Color Management is an integrated part of the operating systems on both Mac and PC’s, and all serious image applications are using ICC Color Management when displaying images on a monitor. On a Mac system, where color management have always been an important part of the Mac experience, it may even look acceptable. However, as soon as you really need to rely on what you see on the monitor, you will need to create a monitor ICC profile for it and make sure that your operating system is using it correctly. Many of the new ones provide nearly 100% of the Adobe RGB (1998) workspace and have a pretty reasonable default calibration. Today’s monitors have improved a lot during the last few years. To learn more about our latest version, click here. NOTE: This article discusses an outdated version of Capture One.