Need help calibrating PC monitor for Mac use!

[Littleodie914]

Hey guys, I've got our PC monitor connected to our iMac so we can use the screen spanning, but I'm having some troubles correctly calibrating the color. The colorsync utility says to set the contrast to the highest setting and then go through the steps, but the screen is very dark in places and very light in other places. If I leave the contrast in the middle, and just go through the steps that way, there is a fluid gradiance of shades, but the colors sometimes look washed out, or sometimes look too dark.

I was wondering how all you guys out there will dual-monitor setups calibrated your monitors. Any tips or suggestions to make it look all spiffy? Thanks!

 

[PlaceofDis]

i wonder the same, because i have an old 17inch CRT monitor that i would like to use, but it annoyed the heck out of me because of the difference between that screen and my 12inch powerbook's

i tried a couple different things, but perhaps there's something im not thinking of, any tips from the pros?

 

[titaniumducky]

Hey guys, I've got our PC monitor connected to our iMac so we can use the screen spanning, but I'm having some troubles correctly calibrating the color. The colorsync utility says to set the contrast to the highest setting and then go through the steps, but the screen is very dark in places and very light in other places. If I leave the contrast in the middle, and just go through the steps that way, there is a fluid gradiance of shades, but the colors sometimes look washed out, or sometimes look too dark.

I was wondering how all you guys out there will dual-monitor setups calibrated your monitors. Any tips or suggestions to make it look all spiffy? Thanks!

It sounds somewhat suspicious that it has different brightness in different areas. Does it appear normal when connected to a PC? How about when you turn the contrast all the way up (on the PC)?

If it does, you might want to adjust the contrast to the highest level where it looks OK in terms of being the same brightness across. Then lower the overall brightness, play with gamma settings and white balance (and saturation if available). Hopefully that will fix it.

 

[Littleodie914]

It sounds somewhat suspicious that it has different brightness in different areas. Does it appear normal when connected to a PC? How about when you turn the contrast all the way up (on the PC)?

If it does, you might want to adjust the contrast to the highest level where it looks OK in terms of being the same brightness across. Then lower the overall brightness, play with gamma settings and white balance (and saturation if available). Hopefully that will fix it.

Ah! So much stuff to do! The suspicious sounding brightness is due to the high level of contrast. It was the only way that I could stop the screen from looking dull or washed out. I'll try what you suggested, in that order. Thanks for the help so far!

One more thing... I remember reading in a magazine about a program that reads your monitor and applies the correct color settings. I'm aware of programs that come with those camera things that you hang in the middle of your screen, but this was hardware-free. Anybody got any info on this little bugger? Thanks again!

 

[neilrobinson]

One more thing... I remember reading in a magazine about a program that reads your monitor and applies the correct color settings. I'm aware of programs that come with those camera things that you hang in the middle of your screen, but this was hardware-free. Anybody got any info on this little bugger? Thanks again!

i have only ever heard of the ones you stick on your screen like the eye one - quite often pro photography place will have one they hire out for about AU$30 a day if your interested.

 

[Littleodie914]

i have only ever heard of the ones you stick on your screen like the eye one - quite often pro photography place will have one they hire out for about AU$30 a day if your interested.

Oooh thanks. I know of a local photography place in town, I might have to look into that.