Monitor calibration for brightness??

[AndrewWG]

All,

I have noticed a few things with my photos lately. I was thinking that my camera (Canon 30D) was producing a slightly overexposed photo everytime I took a photo. I would almost always change the exposure to anywhere from - 1.2 to -1 full stop in post processing. Now I am starting to wonder if it is my monitor somehow. The reason for this is when I had some prints made of my recent Florida trip, they all came out quite a bit underexposed. I used CVS for processing, but in looking back at other pics I had printed at mpix, they too are a bit underexposed. What would cause this to happen?

I am wondering if it is somehow related to my monitor? I played around with brightness on it and it didn't seem to make a huge difference, but I still think it could be the display somehow. I have a Samsung SyncMaster914v LCD monitor. Although it isn't the best, it isn't exactly the worst. Is there a way to calibrate brightness for photo viewing? I think the colors are pretty much spot on, so I don't think I need to calibrate for that. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[matthew_hull]

If you carry one of those USB flash drives on your keychain, or otherwise conveniently, then load some representative photos onto it, and then when you visit a friends computer, or at work, or at the library, etcetera, see how they look from that machine. You may detect a pattern.

I would expect a computer monitor to display seemingly "brighter" images than a piece of paper, in general. After all, consider the source

 

[AndrewWG]

I haven't really noticed a big difference on my work computer, but then again, I have the same monitor at work, so I guess that wouldn't work too well... I'll have to try it elsewhere.

I'd like to get to the bottom of this as I need my photos to look good someday!

Thanks for your advice. I'll try it at my sisters this weekend and see if there is any noticable difference.

 

[seashoreCM]

You need a gray scale step chart. You would adjust the monitor brightness and contrast so all the steps are distinguishable.

DP Review dot com has a small gray scale step chart in many of the camera reviews they do; one is at the bottom of this page:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd850is/

One purpose of this chart is to make sure the monitor is not responsible for blowing out the highlights or burying the shadows of your pictures.

Not to say that sample pictures you know are not important. They are. You would make a note of highlight details and shadow details you expect to see when you try out different monitors.

If you have problems with blown highlights or buried shadows, use the exposure compensation on the camera at the time of shooting.

The monitor's brightness control is supposed to raise and lower the level of black (gray versus black versus buried) and all the grays up to white go up and down in unison.

The monitor's contrast control is suposed to raise and lower the level of white while leaving black unchanged, and all the grays in the middle spread out proportionately.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

I'm a firm believer in color calibration not just for black level but for color correction as well. I would suggest something like a Pantone Huey Pro or X-Rite Eye-One Display. These devices will help you adjust your monitor to make sure that what you see is accurate color. If you want to take on full color management I would recommend the X-Rite Eye-One Photo set-up. You can get a color card with this system that will allow accurate color management from camera to computer to monitor to printer. I know it has made my life a lot easier and I have the peace of mind in knowing that the colors are all correct through my work flow.

Jeff

 

[fitzperry]

I'm surprised your colors are "spot on." I have the same monitor, and it is extremely cool when uncalibrated.

 

[Anewman]