Calibration Help

[wenrob]

Long story short I am inheriting DH's brand new Samsung fancy smancy lap top. I'm moving from a LCD to an LED. When we pulled up some pics, WOAH it was way, way off so we bought a Spyder3 Pro. Looks much better but to me still off. Too bright (as in no skin tone) and way more yellow then it should be. Also they seem over saturated and contrasty. Now my pics could be way off but they come out in print just fine. So I'd like you tell me what you see. In this pic I still see the texture of her skin and if anything she looks a little pink, maybe a little yellow cast by her hair line.

Also, reading elsewhere back light and brightness are two different things? The Spyder wants a back light adjustment. I'm having a hard time trying to find an answer to that. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[VVFF]

To me the white balance looks ok on this one. Looks like it might have been a bit mixed lighting wise. The top part of her hair line is a bit yellow, but if you try to correct that the bottom half of her face is going to go too far. I personally think its close enough but I wouldn't want to edit pictures on a laptop screen.

 

[rdunative]

I can understand your concerns. I bought 4 monitors just this week looking for the right one for photo editing. Laptop screens have come a long way and I wouldn't rule out using one for photo editing.

Check to see if the video card on your laptop came with settings to adjust your screen. The nVidia 9600GT that I'm using came with it and turned out to work better than my Huey calibration tool.

Google IPS and Twisted Nematic monitors if you're not familiar with the terms.

1. TN (Twisted Nematic) – These are the lowest quality monitors for photo editing.These are not the best for photographers.
2. IPS (In-plane Viewing) – IPS monitors offer the widest color gamut and viewing angles, but lower contrast.
3. VA (Vertical Alignment) – VA monitors have the best contrast, but the response time and viewing angle are not as good as the IPS monitors. VA monitors can be MVA (Multidomain Vertical Alignment) or PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment).

I ended up buying another Dell 2005FPW and an HP ZR22w. They are gorgeous screens for photo editing for the price. Maybe you can use an external monitor for photo editing with your laptop?

 

[wenrob]

To me the white balance looks ok on this one. Looks like it might have been a bit mixed lighting wise. The top part of her hair line is a bit yellow, but if you try to correct that the bottom half of her face is going to go too far. I personally think its close enough but I wouldn't want to edit pictures on a laptop screen.

Honestly I don't remember if the overhead light was on or not. The ceiling and walls are a "sand" color that may have caused it. But, what you're saying is you're pretty much seeing what I'm seeing color wise.
A lap top is all I have at the moment and so far this one has served me quite well, my prints are usually spot on. Someday I'll have a separate monitor but right now it's just not in the cards. Thank you for your help.

I can understand your concerns. I bought 4 monitors just this week looking for the right one for photo editing. Laptop screens have some a long way and I wouldn't rule out using one for photo editing.

Check to see if the video card on your laptop came with settings to adjust your screen. The nVidia 9600GT that I'm using came with it and turned out to work better than my Huey calibration tool.

Google IPS and Twisted Nematic monitors if you're not familiar with the terms.

1. TN (Twisted Nematic) – These are the lowest quality monitors for photo editing.These are not the best for photographers.
2. IPS (In-plane Viewing) – IPS monitors offer the widest color gamut and viewing angles, but lower contrast.
3. VA (Vertical Alignment) – VA monitors have the best contrast, but the response time and viewing angle are not as good as the IPS monitors. VA monitors can be MVA (Multidomain Vertical Alignment) or PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment).

I ended up buying another Dell 2005FPW and an HP ZR22w. They are gorgeous screens for photo editing for the price. Maybe you can use an external monitor for photo editing with your laptop?

I'm going to have the hubby look at this because honestly I have no idea what it all means- I'm actually considering asking him if this one is still within the return time frame. Problem is mine is slowly dying and I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one day to find it's met it's death. (no worries about pics, etc, all backed up.) If it can be exchanged, hopefully the specs you provided will be a help in choosing what I need. As mentioned above I don't have the space to safely use a separate monitor. That red head has a twin brother and the two of them together? Let's just say it's not a good idea right now. Thanks for your help!