p.1 #1 · Difference in saturation and contrast between Glossy and Matte?
I have been editing pics on my imac 27 inch glossy display. Once I have edited an image on the iMAC and view it on another display say a work laptop with antiglare screen or home laptop. the image has less saturation and contrast. The colour's are washed out and the image looks flat and the blacks are grey.
Is this due to the saturation and contrast of my colour profile on my iMAC? and what can I do to ensure my images on antiglare screens looks punchier with good contrast and saturation ?
p.1 #3 · Difference in saturation and contrast between Glossy and Matte?
Many photographers that have a preference about monitor surfaces choose a "anti-glare", non-shiny screen because it has flat contrast, since that flat, low contrast makes it match a printed image better. Yes, the shiny screen has more saturated colors and more contrast. The shiny screen matches other shiny screens, that's for sure. Personally, the mirror-like reflections in the shiny screen bug me big time.
p.1 #4 · Difference in saturation and contrast between Glossy and Matte?
Some (or is it most?) iMac displays are way brighter than they need to be and some of those have limited capability to be toned down. Whether or not you like that, if you compare it with a screen that works at a more reasonable brightness level the other one will look more than a bit dull. That impression will last until some time after you stop using the brighter screen.
On top of this effect, antiglare coatings diffuse reflections and in so doing they do lose the depth of blacks in a bright environment. Less so in a darker environment.
On the plus side, the antiglare screens practically eliminate specific reflections (i.e. recognizable images of things around you reflected off the screen). This is most obvious when there are bright would-be reflections where dark areas of a scene are being displayed.
For me it's largely a case of having to tolerate the trade-offs for what I consider to be the considerable benefits. Then again, I also like printing on matte paper and so I don't particularly miss the jet blacks when I can see the rest of the print without reflections.
A screen can be very punchy and saturated but not be showing a full tonal range. It looks impressive until you realize that some of the bright colours only seem to come in fully saturated without the subtle tonal differences at the bright end of the range. My point is that you need to know whether or not your iMac screen is doing that. More generally, is it "correct" and the other screen "wrong" or is the iMac you like actually wrong too ?
Calibration and profiling is also important when making comparisons.
p.1 #5 · Difference in saturation and contrast between Glossy and Matte?
Thanks for all your responses, sorry for the late reply.
I spoke to a person who calibrates for a living and they gave me the following advice
- Calibrate your screen
- You cannot help it if people have badly calibrated screens on their screens when viewing your pictures
- You can include a grayscale on your gallery stating if the blacks are not black and the whites are not whites then they are not viewing the images at optimum quality
Also turn the brightness down on IMAC screen to 1/3 or less off optimum brightness.
p.1 #6 · Difference in saturation and contrast between Glossy and Matte?
y2jas wrote:
Thanks for all your responses, sorry for the late reply.
I spoke to a person who calibrates for a living and they gave me the following advice...
- You can include a grayscale on your gallery stating if the blacks are not black and the whites are not whites then they are not viewing the images at optimum quality...Jas
Did give a tutorial on how to do this? I'd love to this on my site if possible.
