Digital BW, The Print

I have a Sony 21" Multiscan E500 monitor.  When profiling with Optical 3.7
Pro, I cannot get the brightness levels low enough, nor the contrast levels
high enough.  I have tried experimenting with the bias controls in addition
to the gain controls for RGB, with no better results.  The b&w prints (Epson
2200 with OEM inks and IP6, on PR 308) look good, but it bothers me that the
monitor is not within the range that Optical wants. So I have two questions:

A. Is this common, or is my E500 just not up to the task (it is about four
to five years old)?

B. If the answer is to retire the E500, is there an LCD monitor that is as
good as a CRT for B&W, especially in the shadow areas?  I'm less concerned
with cost (within whatever reason goes with this hobby) than accuracy and
consistency.

Thanks as always for any advice.

Regards,

  --Ken Carney
    www.kencarney.com

Ken,

I don't use Optical so I don't know the 'ins and outs' of that 
software.  I use an Eye One and ProfileMaker.  But, I can offer a few 
suggestions.

In general, the useful life for most CRTs is about 3 years, at least 
for critical color work.  For B&W, it should be longer, since color 
is not the main issue.  The phosphors in a CRT get 'tired' after 
awhile, especially if the monitor is kept at a high brightness level, 
which causes it to go dimmer faster.  You can sometimes extend the 
useful life of your CRT by using a lower resolution (ie, 800x600 
instead of 1024x768) or by using a lower refresh rate.  But, when a 
decent software package won't allow you to hit the target levels, it 
usually means the phosphors are losing their umph.  This makes it 
hard to get the dynamic range you need for accurate viewing.

Good LCDs for graphics work are generally still quite pricey 
(typically above $1000 - $1500).  I still use a CRT for that reason, 
but have been doing some looking around and will eventually make the 
switch.  Eizo's and Apple Cinema displays are expensive.  You may 
want to check out the LaCie and Samsung LCD's.  They have gotten some 
good reviews and recommendations.  Low end LCD's are great for video 
games and general use, but nearly useless for graphics work.  Cheap 
ones are a nightmare to profile, and the results are NOT good.  In 
general, expect to spend AT LEAST $600 or more for a decent LCD.  

If you do mostly B&W work and are able to get a good monitor to print 
match without resorting to extraordinary measures, you may just want 
to keep on using it.  

Regards, Lou 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Ken Carney" 
<kcarney1@c...> wrote:
> I have a Sony 21" Multiscan E500 monitor.  When profiling with 
Optical 3.7
> Pro, I cannot get the brightness levels low enough, nor the 
contrast levels
> high enough.  I have tried experimenting with the bias controls in 
addition
> to the gain controls for RGB, with no better results.  The b&w 
prints (Epson
> 2200 with OEM inks and IP6, on PR 308) look good, but it bothers me 
that the
> monitor is not within the range that Optical wants. So I have two 
questions:
> 
> A. Is this common, or is my E500 just not up to the task (it is 
about four
> to five years old)?
> 
> B. If the answer is to retire the E500, is there an LCD monitor 
that is as
> good as a CRT for B&W, especially in the shadow areas?  I'm less 
concerned
> with cost (within whatever reason goes with this hobby) than 
accuracy and

> consistency.
> 
> Thanks as always for any advice.
> 
> Regards,
> 
>   --Ken Carney
>     www.kencarney.com

> From: Ken Carney [mailto:kcarney1@...]
>
> I have a Sony 21" Multiscan E500 monitor.  When profiling with Optical 3.7
> Pro, I cannot get the brightness levels low enough, nor the
> contrast levels
> high enough.  I have tried experimenting with the bias controls
> in addition
> to the gain controls for RGB, with no better results.  The b&w
> prints (Epson
> 2200 with OEM inks and IP6, on PR 308) look good, but it bothers
> me that the
> monitor is not within the range that Optical wants.

The pre-calibration merely optimizes the monitor settings, so that the rest
of the calibration (the video lookup tables) don't have as much "work" to
do. More precisely, pre-calibration allows most of the range of the video
DACs to be used, for the largest number of steps from black to white. But if
you can't match the standards, you're still okay, as long as the monitor can
go all the way from black to whatever brightness you require for white.
You'll just have a somewhat smaller number of steps between black and white.

--

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

This is a copy from another list:

>>Effective immediately, due to low sales volumes, KODAK PROFESSIONAL 
>>POLYMAX Fine Art Paper, N Surface, in both Single Weights (SW) and 
>>Double Weights (DW) formats has been discontinued and will be removed 
>>from Page 43 of the KODAK Professional Stockhouse Equipment and 
>>Supplies Price Catalog.  Please refer to the attached document for 
>>details.
>>
>>This information will appear tomorrow on the Dealer Partner Site 
>>(http://www.kodak.com/go/partner).
>>If you have Partner Site questions, please call 1-800-822-9442 x33.
>>_________________________________________________

Seth

Kodak's into making sensor chips for other companies.

I think that's where they're going to concentrate their energy.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/kodak-iss.shtml


Scott


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Seth" 
<seth@m...> wrote:
> This is a copy from another list:
> 
> >>Effective immediately, due to low sales volumes, KODAK 
PROFESSIONAL 
> >>POLYMAX Fine Art Paper, N Surface, in both Single Weights (SW) 
and 
> >>Double Weights (DW) formats has been discontinued and will be 
removed 
> >>from Page 43 of the KODAK Professional Stockhouse Equipment and 
> >>Supplies Price Catalog.  Please refer to the attached document 
for 
> >>details.
> >>
> >>This information will appear tomorrow on the Dealer Partner Site 
> >>(http://www.kodak.com/go/partner).
> >>If you have Partner Site questions, please call 1-800-822-9442 
x33.

> >>_________________________________________________
> 
> Seth

Kodak first introduced (through acquisition) practical sensor chips
about 25 years ago. The chip replaced video camera tubes, fed the data
into high speed tape (no compact solid state recording back then). 

I saw this equipment in action at a trade show in Las Vegas: high
speed recording cameras designed to document mechanical movements in
machines, explosions, mechanical failures and the like. It was
intended to replace the cameras that burned millions of feet of Kodak
High Speed Recording Film in engineering applications...Kodak may have
been shooting itself in the foot.

That first Kodak-branded chip-type video camera cost only about $10K.  

Deep down, Kodak knew a long time ago that film would die...but they
didn't buy in to that certainty.  Mark Twain said "Faith is believing
something you know isn't true."

The best Kodak news may be the Olympus 4/3 chip. 


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com,
"scott_now_coming" <scott_now_coming@y...> wrote:

> 
> Kodak's into making sensor chips for other companies.
> 
> I think that's where they're going to concentrate their energy.
> 
> http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/kodak-iss.shtml
> 
> 
> Scott