Colour Calibration

[dcw@pr]

I've just got a new screen, to go with my old one. They are both 19" LaCies, one is the Electron Blue CRT, and the other the Photon Blue LCD. I've been fiddling for hours to try and get the colours consistent, with no luck, and I was wondering if anyone had used one of the LaCie calibrators,

here

It says that there is hardware calibration for the CRT, but only software for the LCD. Is the software calibration different to what OSX does natively?

[simpo two]

No expert but I doubt that CRT and TFT can be calibrated to match each other.

Adobe PS has a colour correction thingy that you can use, but that's all I've ever done.

[ehasler]

In theory, you should be able to get both monitors displaying the same colours.

You will need to use something like the Lacie Blue Eye Vision to do this though, although there are other options (e.g., Colorvision Spyder with Optical software, or GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display system).

These do two things.

Firstly they will enable you to calibrate your monitor, which will set the white point/contrast/brightness etc... for the best results. As LCDs don't have many of the settings that CRTs do, this will obviously be much more useful for your CRT monitor.

Secondly, they will build a custom profile for your monitor, which they do with a device which sits on the screen and measures a number of colours that the software flashes onto the screen.

Once both these processes are complete, you should have a very accurate colour reproduction on both monitors.

I use the Colorvision Spyder, and have been very pleased with it so far. It's easy to use, and seems to do a very good job.

Using these hardware/software solutions will give a much, much better and consistent result than setting it by eye or using the utility supplied with Photoshop - Adobe Gamma.

I hope this makes sense, but if not, feel free to ask for more info.

[dcw@pr]

Thanks for that. I'm bidding on an Eye-One at the moment, from what I have read they are the best.

At the moment I've got both monitors putting out pretty similar colours, but the main problem is the fundamental differences between the two - mainly the brightness/contrast relationships.

The difference between the two had highlighted for me the potntial colour innacuracies that might, so I am thinking it's probably best to get them calibrated properly.

[venom7]

You will never get the 2 to reproduce colour the same. The CRT has a larger colour space. I would suggest you get the Lacie Blue Eye to use as a hardware calibrator with the CRT and use the LCD for your tools palette. Thats what I do. I have the same set up; using the CRT to judge my colour. You will need an enable cable though, so the CRT can talk to the computer.
If you do go for the Gretag, get the EyeOne photo. It will allow you to do paper profiles down the road.