Digital BW, The Print

> From: frankg_photo [mailto:fh.gross@...]
>
> When calibrating a crt monitor (I guess a lcd is different?) on a PC
> running windows what settings should be used. According to computer-
> darkroom/Ian Lyons, using OptiCal the Luminance white & black points
> are set to .3 and 90. The col temp to 6500K and the Gamma for a PC 2.2

Some people swear by 6500K, even though their viewing lamps are closer to
5000K. Personally, I like having them match. I use Solux halogens, and have
tweaked the line voltage with a variac to get 5000K at the viewing surface,
measured with an Eye-One, and the match between that and my CRT is
excellent.

> For PC 's is the gamma standard 2.2 ? And for Macs 1.8 ?
> What if I need to work with someone (provide files) who is printing
> from a mac, should my pc be set to 1.8 too or will the
> platforms 'talk to each other' if I'm on 2.2 and he is on 1.8 ?

The whole point of profiles is that it doesn't matter how you calibrate your
monitor. The monitor settings only affects non-color-managed stuff in
Windows, like Internet Explorer, your wallpaper, and the window borders. The
Mac, as I understand it, is completely color-managed, so the profile will
provide the correct appearance even in web browsers.

> And the white and black luminance points  .3 and 90 that are
> recommended..are these standards or ....???

I like getting the monitor as bright as I can, but my monitor's power
supplies are a bit weak. If I crank the brightness (actually the Contrast
knob) all the way, the power supply sags depending upon how much white is on
the screen, which makes it totally impossible to calibrate the monitor. So
what I do is put up a black background, then put a small white square on the
corner of it (you can use Photoshop or Paint). Then, I opened up a Notepad
window to fill most of the screen with white, but leaving the white square
uncovered. Then, I watched the small white square while I alternately
minimized and restored the Notepad window, to see if the white square
changed in brightness, meaning the power supply was sagging. I adjusted the
monitor's Contrast knob as bright as I could before this effect became
visible. Then, I used my cal software to measure the brightness, and used
that as my white luminance for calibration purposes. Of course, you may have
a monitor that you can crank all the way up with no problems. I've never
heard of anyone complaining about a monitor that's too bright, but I suppose
such a thing is possible, in a dark room.

As to black luminance, I like setting it about as low as the monitor will
go, but 0.3 sounds pretty reasonable.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...