Vista or other Color management Monitor Profiling... uggh

[tcadwall]

I thought I had my problems sorted out without spending money, but again... I am seeing inconsistencies with my laptop monitor and other monitors, as well as a green shift in print.

I was really starting to reconsider bringing back to life my old laptop for PP work, but now I am reading some more encouraging reports on the Spyder 2 / Spyder 3 products, and new versions of their software working with Vista.

This thread is open to ANY thoughts / questions on color management, monitor / printer profiling, etc. But I am really hoping to find someone out there that can give a Spyder2 or Spyder3 product a try on Vista and let me know how it works out. I had started a thread a while back on this topic, and didn't resolve my issue, though I thought I had.

It does seem that Colorvision has been bought out... By I think DataColor? And also that the newest version of their software/drivers are fully Vista compatible in case someone could give this a shot.

There are several things that are causing LUT rewrites, that are not going back to settings for me. The windows warning messages... I know they can be disabled, but I kinda get some comfort knowing that certain events require user input. Also sleep / hibernate modes seem to sometimes affect the LUT on recovery. So those would be the things that I would want to have checked.
http://www.inventorypeople.com/img/preview_DSC_2801.jpg
For instance, this image, on my laptop is a very neutral color. When I view this page on another machine, the photo will have a greenish cast to it.

Thanks,
Tracey

PS Even if you aren't using Vista, maybe you could find a machine to experiment with for me?!?!?

[Rooz]

i got the same problem tracey. my laptop and desktop monitors have gross colour deviations. its unresolved aswell.

[tcadwall]

How does that image look to ya'll? Does it have a greenish cast? or does it look well balanced?

[Geoff Chandler]

I am seeing this image as pretty much neutral on my work PC (which I have
had a go at calibrating).
There may be just the idea of a hint of green around the neck shadows - but I wouldn't have noticed it at all if it hadn't been the topic of question..
So - I would say it's pretty much OK - colours look pretty much as I would
expect. Nice shot too.

[wilson44512]

i see a little green around her eyes. and were the light is shining on the side of her head looks a little green. I'm using a LCD monitor if that means any thing? and the theme mode settings is on "Picture"

[T06]

What Geoff & Wilson said, never really noticed it on my desktop lcd(benq) until you pointed it out, same places as Wilson for the shade of green but very very minimal.

[BionicSniper]

it looks fine to me. I have a LG lcd. although I havent calibrated it with a sensor i've done it with some software

[AllanC]

looks pretty well balanced, with neutral colours and tones on mine. notebook using colour match rgb profile.

update, just did a little experiment where i changed the display colour profile, while watching the photograph. there was one profile where there was a slight greenish cast around the eyes, slight yes but def there. the profile was "color LCD", of course this was on my macbook. don't know if this helps, hope so.

[LR Max]

It looks a little greenish to me. I am looking at it on an 10 year old iMac (you know, the light green ones that are aerodynamic for better chucking out the window :D).

I'll be back at my shop this evening. I'll look at it on my vista machine.

[tcadwall]

I am confused as heck. I have looked at quite a few monitors, and now it looks fine.

So - maybe I was ranting without cause again?!?!?

As you all see, there was some green in the room, but not the green tint that I was seeing before. I had someone confirm it over my shoulder too....

Thanks for your input everyone. I am still really considering a Spyder since it appears to work well with Vista, so if anyone has one of those, and Vista, I would love to hear your experience.

[3In2Out]

I went down and looked at the picture before reading your whole post so I could see if I noticed anything about it before you mentioning it...first thing I thought when I saw it on my work LCD monitor was that it had a hint of light green...then was confirmed in your post after finishing reading it. Though, of course, there has been no calibration on this monitor.

[erichlund]

The picture looks fine to me. I'm using Vista Ultimate on a PC, nVidia 8800 GTS 320 video card, with a Sony LCD 20" monitor calibrated with a Spyder 3 colorimeter.

[tcadwall]

Ok Erich, that is exactly what I was looking for... Does the monitor profile get automatically loaded in Vista for you? How often do you have to refresh the LUT? IOW do any actions in windows cause an LUT war? I am using Vista Ultimate 64-bit (laptop as mentioned) with nVidia 8600M GS

I do have Vista auto loading a profile that (believe it or not) I created using the Paint Shop Pro XI calibration wizard... by eye.

So if it looks good on calibrated monitors I am really pleased.

[erichlund]

Ok Erich, that is exactly what I was looking for... Does the monitor profile get automatically loaded in Vista for you? How often do you have to refresh the LUT? IOW do any actions in windows cause an LUT war? I am using Vista Ultimate 64-bit (laptop as mentioned) with nVidia 8600M GS

I do have Vista auto loading a profile that (believe it or not) I created using the Paint Shop Pro XI calibration wizard... by eye.

So if it looks good on calibrated monitors I am really pleased.

Here are the basic steps -
1. Install the software
2. Attach colorimeter to a powered USB port.
3. Run software and attach colorimeter to screen when prompted. (Suction cup. You can also use the counterweight for soft laptop screens.)
4. Save profile under a name you will remember.
5. Tell software how often you will update your profile.
5. Place Colorimeter in cradle, so it can monitor room light conditions.
6. When advised, update calibration, by running update and attaching colorimeter to screen. The original calibration takes about 7 minutes. The updates take less than 5.

Each time you turn on the computer, the utility will automatically load and set the current calibration settings. If you watch as the computer comes up, you will notice a change in the screen.

If you get the suite, then there's a second colorimeter for the printer. The process is a little different. You print a series of color patches (and B&W patches), with no printer profile loaded. You then measure each patch. This takes a significant period (about 30 minutes). A profile is created for the printer. Turn all profiling off in the printer driver. In color controlled software, you enter the screen profile you are using and the printer profile. This tells the software both the starting point of view and adjustements to the printer output. BTW: You have to do this process for each paper type you use, but you don't periodically update it, as the output device (printer) does not change significantly over time like a monitor will.

I have no idea what you mean by LUT wars. However, I have mine set to do an update once a month.