Product face-offs
More importantly, however, with these profiles you are using display parameters that we impose upon you. This means a color temperature of 6500 K and gamma of 2.2. These are normal settings and recommended for a multimedia type use. However, you may have more specific needs, for example, 5500 K to compensate for ambient brightness in your office or inversely you may need more bleu. Our profile cannot help you out here and in this case nothing can replace investing in a calibration system. In our offices, we work with the LaCie Blue Eye Pro because the sensor is made by Gretag/X-Rite which sets a standard in this domain. LaCie only adds its own software suite but this is a tool that we prefer for many reasons. The essential one is that we have given this company our input for years now which LaCie has taken into account and even added a number of options which we find useful. In the end, this is a utility that is almost tailor made for us.
This system is sold starting at 350 Euros. Originally made for their own screens, it actually works for all monitors. For private use this is expensive; however for an office especially of numerous graphic artists, this is a modest sum for its immediate benefits.
Test date: 2008-01-16
We also made other trial runs before offering you this article and tested amongst other models , a Belinea 10 20 35 W, Samsung SyncMaster 206BW, Belinea o.display 24 4.1, and ViewSonic VX922. We ran the profile previously created during tests on different configurations and miraculously good colors were indeed the result.
Why does this not always work?
The times the process hasn’t worked is when the manufacturer has several versions of the same screen (different panels under the same reference). For example, we had to create three different profiles for the very popular SyncMaster 226BW: one for the same panel model, another for the AU Optronics, and a third for the CMO. This does not even include one for the CPT version. Another time it hasn’t worked, and in rare cases, was for example with the very popular Dell 2407WFP which was sold in five ( !) successive versions. The product was rather consistent but colors did change with the various releases. In this case, it is very difficult to offer a profile that will be suited for everyone. Nevertheless, we will try to do this in the near future.
Also and please note: our list of screens will not remain static. It will grow and if all goes well, we will also give you the profiles of all monitors that will be tested on Digitalversus.com in the coming months and even years.
From our experience, we have seen that the strategy of changing panels is quite common for Samsung but also for LG, Dell and Philips. If you have a screen from one of these manufacturers, there is a risk that our profiles will not function. Nevertheless trying this costs nothing, takes a few minutes and going back to your original settings is a matter of seconds. To return to default colors just check the box for the default sRGB profile.
Otherwise, you can cheat by trying another one!
Don’t hesitate to try a profile destined for a different screen but with similar characteristics to your monitor’s. There are tens and even hundreds of screen manufacturers but the majority rely on five panel sources: Samsung, LG/Philips, AU Optronics, CMO or CPT. You therefore have a chance of finding a corresponding profile by checking around.
And now, check the list for the profile adapted to your monitor.
After, tell us about your experience on the forum.
