ISF Calibrators for PC?

meansizzler · 06-08-2009, 12:16 AM

Wondering if ISF calibrators ever dangle in the PC realm, i.e getting the best picure from your pc for photo editing/gaming/video playback?, depending on the screen of course, are they required to be familiar with the Nvidia/ATi control panels/adjustments?

24 P · 06-08-2009, 4:59 AM

Don't know about that, but you can get a Spyder 3 tool which attaches to your panel, and the pc will graph and calibrate it...

andy1249 · 06-08-2009, 7:42 AM

PC's and PC screens being completely controllable by software it is possible to buy a kit like the spyder or the pantone huey to do the whole thing automatically.

Colour Confidence > Pantone huey

Spyder3Pro - Datacolor - Global Leader in Color Management Solutions

As such , there would be less of a demand to have a PC screen calibrated by an ISF professional , Plasma screens and Cinema displays require pro knowledge and expensive equipment and is not as easy to do.

meansizzler · 07-08-2009, 9:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy1249

As such , there would be less of a demand to have a PC screen calibrated by an ISF professional , Plasma screens and Cinema displays require pro knowledge and expensive equipment and is not as easy to do.

I was not talking about the monitors but about the pc's them selves, as pc can be connected to flat panel tv's/plasma, what I am saying is that the calibration can be done on the pc side instead of the display side, and are ISF technitians required to know how to do this?..

On a fair note, PC monitors/plasmas/flat panel tv's all have the common calibration controls..., whereso some lcd tv's have more advanced control over the image, for monitors the more advanced options can be done on the pc level, but if one wants to connect their pc to their projector/plasma will an ISF technitian calibrate the pc via the graphics cards control panel, or not have a clue and just calibrate the display?

dwhite · 08-08-2009, 5:13 AM

Their replies still stand, when you connect a PC to a Plasma/LCD it effectively becomes a monitor, so you can use any the software that comes with the sensors, to calibrate the PC for that particular input on the display, as long as you don't touch any of the TV settings on that input, this calibration of the PC will be valid for each time you connect it.

I have done this for my laptop, I have a eyeone which comes with its own automated software for setting PC monitors up. I connected it to my TV and ran the software to calibrate the PC (note you are not calibrating the TV). For other inputs I have (DVD, xbox etc) I used the sensor only and followed the greyscale for dummys guide, as obviously there is no way I could run the Eyeone software on a DVD player.

meansizzler · 09-08-2009, 10:31 PM

As well as desktop colour you have video overlay, so what you are saying is that ISF technitiants do not really know how to calibrate pc's so effectively so any average joe can do it

Gordon @ Convergent AV · 09-08-2009, 11:23 PM

I think that actually ISF techncians understand much more than the average Joe about what you are tring to do....the problem, if it is such, is how to achieve it.

meansizzler · 10-08-2009, 9:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon @ Convergent AV

I think that actually ISF techncians understand much more than the average Joe about what you are tring to do....the problem, if it is such, is how to achieve it.

So as an ISF technitian if a customer wanted to hire you to calibrate their HTPC to their plasma and projecter, i.e dual video output, would you know how to do it?, i.e have you familiarised yourself with dual display options for the various graphics chipset manufacturers, would you be able to figure out how to adjust the desktop colour as well as video overlay settings?

Canti1982 · 10-08-2009, 9:44 PM

I have been thinking about this recently too and it is a valid question but the problem for anyone ISF trained or otherwise is the many contributing factors that effect the colour output on a pc.

Colour can be controlled by the graphics card but it can also be controlled via software such as media players. All the different software packages have slightly different settings so it could take a very long time to try to get it right.

The other problem you face is what might work for one application might not be right for another.

The other big question then is should you calibrate on the tv first and then refine it on the pc, or as stated use a device such as a spyder and its software to give you a rough approximation.

If anyone has already tried to calibrate their HTPC I would be interested in how they got on.

Im pretty sure Gordon and other calibrators could do a better job than myself as they have a better understanding of the principles of colour accuracy.

Gordon @ Convergent AV · 11-08-2009, 7:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meansizzler

So as an ISF technitian if a customer wanted to hire you to calibrate their HTPC to their plasma and projecter, i.e dual video output, would you know how to do it?, i.e have you familiarised yourself with dual display options for the various graphics chipset manufacturers, would you be able to figure out how to adjust the desktop colour as well as video overlay settings?

I would have a go certainly...but the question is, would an average Joe? I've seen HTPC based systems set up by IT guys using the latest and greatest hardware and they have had no idea how to get their computers to behave properly...so I think average Joe has little chance.

I'm not saying I could make it all work I'm just saying I understand what the end goal is and how to check what is happening.