Datacolor User to User Support Group.

Hi,

I just bought a new Dell 2709W monitor and am trying to calibrate it using a Spyder3 Elite unit (part of the Spyder3 studio package I have).... However I am finding that after calibration at 2.2/6500k the colours still look a little 'warm' rather than the neutral I was expecting. My room is lit by daylight balanced light bulbs so the ambient light should not affect the settings ?

I have just calibrated again at a setting of 2.2/5800k and the colours are now looking a little more neutral although the whites are still a touch warmish/yellow....

I am attempting to calibrate my setup for photographic work. Can anyone help advise ?

Rgds
Rick

On Mar 10, 2009, at 10:20 AM, rickbehl wrote:

> I just bought a new Dell 2709W monitor and am trying to calibrate it  
> using a Spyder3 Elite unit (part of the Spyder3 studio package I  
> have).... However I am finding that after calibration at 2.2/6500k  
> the colours still look a little 'warm' rather than the neutral I was  
> expecting. My room is lit by daylight balanced light bulbs so the  
> ambient light should not affect the settings ?
>
> I have just calibrated again at a setting of 2.2/5800k and the  
> colours are now looking a little more neutral although the whites  
> are still a touch warmish/yellow....
>
> I am attempting to calibrate my setup for photographic work. Can  
> anyone help advise ?


Those are both reasonable settings. 6500 has the advantage of matching  
sRGB and AdobeRGB, while 5800 has the advantage of matching the tone  
of some photo papers better. But keep in mind that 6500 is BLUER than  
5800... so if your whites look yellow, you are heading in the wrong  
direction. The color of your proofing lights is one factor, but the  
overall ambient light level where your monitor is would be another.  
Keep it low, so that the screen defines white, not something else in  
the field of view. And remember that the lower the ambient light, and  
the lower the screen brightness (they should go together) the lower  
the K value. In pitch black conditions 5000k is right, where as in  
moderate lighting, 6500k is good.

C. David Tobie
Global Product Technology Manager
Digital Imaging & Home Theater
CDTobie@...

One should probably not have to mention it; but the colors of the walls,
ceiling and objects in the room can affect the color of the ambient light as
well as the bulbs or light source since much of the light is reflected off
these things.

From: colorvision_group@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:colorvision_group@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of C D Tobie
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:31 AM
To: colorvision_group@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [colorvision_group] Recommended Calibration Settings for Dell
2709W and Spyder3 Elite

 


On Mar 10, 2009, at 10:20 AM, rickbehl wrote:

> I just bought a new Dell 2709W monitor and am trying to calibrate it 
> using a Spyder3 Elite unit (part of the Spyder3 studio package I 
> have).... However I am finding that after calibration at 2.2/6500k 
> the colours still look a little 'warm' rather than the neutral I was 
> expecting. My room is lit by daylight balanced light bulbs so the 
> ambient light should not affect the settings ?
>
> I have just calibrated again at a setting of 2.2/5800k and the 
> colours are now looking a little more neutral although the whites 
> are still a touch warmish/yellow....
>
> I am attempting to calibrate my setup for photographic work. Can 
> anyone help advise ?

Those are both reasonable settings. 6500 has the advantage of matching 
sRGB and AdobeRGB, while 5800 has the advantage of matching the tone 
of some photo papers better. But keep in mind that 6500 is BLUER than 
5800... so if your whites look yellow, you are heading in the wrong 
direction. The color of your proofing lights is one factor, but the 
overall ambient light level where your monitor is would be another. 
Keep it low, so that the screen defines white, not something else in 
the field of view. And remember that the lower the ambient light, and 
the lower the screen brightness (they should go together) the lower 
the K value. In pitch black conditions 5000k is right, where as in 
moderate lighting, 6500k is good.

C. David Tobie
Global Product Technology Manager
Digital Imaging & Home Theater
CDTobie@... <mailto:CDTobie%40datacolor.com>

Rick,
What are you meaning by "daylight balanced" lighting? I use a single lamp when needed, containing a 5,000K rated low wattage compact fluorescent bulb. What type of bulbs/lamps are you using? The overall light quality of my office when photo editing would be considered dim. I also improvised a hood for my Dell LCD because I realized that my display was being affected by light reflecting off of some warm wood cabinets close to my desk.

Under these conditions, I feel that 6500K/2.2 Gamma gives me as neutral a display quality as possible.