Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | Post-processing & Printing | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2017 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?

  
 
IrishDino
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?


I've been using a 24" Dell UltraSharp (uncalibrated) for 4 years now. It's time to upgrade to something 30"+

There seems to been tons of 30"+ IPS 4k monitors out there, ranging in price significantly.

If I use something like a X-Rite i1Display Pro, how well can I cleanup a cheaper (~$500) monitor?

I don't need something perfect for the work I do (weddings). I just need something "good enough".




Jan 08, 2017 at 08:08 AM
Ho1972
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?


How do you typically output your files (prints, books, digitally)? If you just hand off digital files for device viewing, calibration doesn't much matter because you have no control over anyone else's devices and viewing environments (i.e., what you see won't necessarily be what they see).

If you print, then your monitor needs to give you a reasonably accurate representation of what will appear on paper -- and limiting your service providers to one or two trusted entities (as opposed to going with whoever has the cheapest price this week) will help you fine tune your hardware and expectations. You may be able to accomplish this without calibration equipment, assuming your monitor has decent uniformity in brightness and color.

In the end, it comes down to how critical you and your clients are. Good enough means different things to different people. For the consuming public, it generally denotes acceptance of the lowest common denominator.



Jan 08, 2017 at 09:04 AM
dgdg
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?


I had a Dell US 24" and found calibrating produced much better print results.
The image brightness and colors on monitor matched prints from places such as AdoramaPix.



Jan 08, 2017 at 08:09 PM
CanadaMark
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?


If you just want the basics, and noticeably better results than uncalibrated, any decent matte IPS panel (Dell is good for value) calibrated every week or two will do the job. If you want to take it a step further, you're looking at much higher quality panels from companies like NEC with hardware calibration and 14bit LUTs for 2-3 times the price.

If you go 4K make sure the rest of your PC is up to the task, especially if you play games.



Jan 09, 2017 at 01:59 PM
mhayes5254
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · How well does calibrating help a "cheap" monitor?


I also would expect a calibrated inexpensive monitor to meet your needs. I don't think you need to calibrate every few weeks but I suppose it depends on the monitor. I have good monitors, but never really saw a difference after the first calibration. Because of that, I have gotten lazy and only do it once or twice a year .


Jan 12, 2017 at 02:41 PM





FM Forums | Post-processing & Printing | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.