Jan 21 2009
Does your monitor displays color accurately?
If you are a Graphic designer or a photographer then i think you will be well aware what a color combination is. What could happen if you are correcting a picture or making a design and the colors you were changing or correcting will look different on another computer or the printouts you have got is not the same as you saw on the computer. This happens because your monitor is not well calibrated. As every monitor has its own combination of brightness - contrast setting or the color level it means each and every photo you have will look different on different monitors. Still if you are confused let me clarify it suppose you got a brand new tv and you always adjust its brightness or contrast that you find is the most appropriate to you like when you saw faces are looking more red or green color is not as it should be you adjust is as much as possible. But keep in mind that TV’s are for viewing purpose while on pc’s pictures are corrected and then send for output ( I assume it is professionals only for a common user it is just a entertainment device). And in final output a slight change in color may create a terrible results. That is when a color calibration required.
There are two ways currently through which we can adjust the colors for a PC monitor, One is through manual process while the other using calibration gadgets. There are a lot of sites which provide a full step by step knowledge about how to do a manual color calibration. One of such site is http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php where you can calibrate your monitor easily. And if you are using Adobe Photoshop or the elements then i think you may be familiar with adobe gama a small tool which can be used to calibrate your monitor for use with adobe photoshop (You can get a detailed info about Adobe Gama here at the Adobe Site)
Through Manual calibration a good can result can be acquired but for better and absolute result it will be a very good option for you to use an electronics gadget - A colorimeter. Which can automatically calibrate the brightness and color depth of your monitor to set referenced standard. With a calibrated monitor you are not only able to get the desired result but it also increase your confidence level.
There are a lot colorimeter tools available through a range of between $70 to $250. The most popular among the colorimeter is Spyders from Datacolor but they are quite expensive up to $250, but you still can get superb results from less expensive gadgets like Pantone Huey which is about $70.
If you are really planning to buy any gadget you can visit datacolor where they have a lot of calorimeter in various range or visit for pantone Huey. Both of them are very perfect.
