First of all this question is here because of the integrity of this forum. As I said in another thread the Nikon Forum is my fliter.
I have yet to buy a color calibration tool and wonder if after buying one if I will be mad I waited so long. So far my color management has worked just fine.I go through the Adobe Gamma on my Toshiba to fine tune and lower the brightness and get great results with prints. Learning how to use histograms has also been a very big + !
I will soon bee moving to another computer with a NEC flat LCD screen and wonder if it might be time to spend the extra cash to get one. This screen blows my TOSHIBA screen away when it comes to color. I don't print from this computer because I am more confident with my system on the TOSHIBA. Well this will soon be changing and I want to go about getting things right. The NEC itself has a lot of color options as well and so far I have matched it pretty well with a few test prints. Can I get better results and more peace of mind by investing in one of these tools Color management has kinda been a drag and I hate putting money into computer stuff when it can go into camera gear, but this seems to be a a tool I should not be with out. What say you...
Agree completely. Once you've done it, don't expect the screen to look radically different. In my case, I was having trouble with dark tones. Calibrated and it doesn't look much different, but now I get very few surprises when I print. It's a big improvement.
I use the Monaco device and their software. Easy to do; just follow instructions. Since you are a photographer, that may be challenging.....
IMHO it will pay for itself in time and materials saved....
So what is the diffrence between a calibration from a calibration tool and Adobe Gamma color managment. I can only guess that it is much more finely tuned but how does it work? Im not looking for a detailed report just a basic summary I no doubt will get my answers after getting one but what did we all do before these came along?
when you use adobe gamma you are still trusting your eye, you need an objective 3rd party to really get it right , simple as that.
The device attaches to your monitor screen and then a series of swatches is displayed (lower the lights in the room while this is going on BTW.
It is akin to not having a torque wrench when assembling and engine , sure you have all the wrenches and fasteners but how Much do you tighten the bolts?
The device is the Standard , and it adjusts the RGB signals perfectly and then saves this information so that CS can present the colors to you in a consistent and trustworthy fashion. IMO , there is no way a pro can do pro level work without it.
The last part of the equation is this , I guess you could build a house with a stick you got from the yard and called it a 1 foot stick and as long as You were the only one building the house and You cut every board using that stick as the "standard" they it would be fine , and square etc. But No One could help you Unless they used your stick.
Let's say you want to ftp a file to a Pro Print Lab , they do not have your "Stick" so how can you be assured that the color will be right? I assure you , I send work to a Pro Lab all the time , what I get back from them (outside slight variations due to how each paper represents contrast ) my colors are Dead On , I can trust them to deliver to me hundreds of dollars worth of prints , and I can know before hand that they will be great !
Thanx John...I know I should of delt with this right from the get go, some how lenses and cameras got in the way, . Do you have any recomendations? Im getting on this tommorrow.
IMO anything is better than what you are using now , seriously I use the Pantone one it is 3 years old , I know there are newer and possibly even better ones , but this one is doing the job I need it to do. What is great for You is that they have come Way down in price since there is more competetion now
Go ask over in the Editing area and watch the fur begin to fly
Right now I am using colorblind prove it!. It does the job. I even have different software packages for it asides from the proveit software. I would look at the GretagMacbeth Eye-one display2 if I were looking right now. If you have money to burn you could check out the Photo suite but I believe it's modular so you can add the rest if you ever saw a need. All you really "need" is to calibrate the display though so the eye-one will do that famously. Check it out here
There are many that will do the job (and do it well too) I only suggest the gretagmacbeth because for me the names Gretag and Macbeth have been names I have known a long time and have come to know as top shelf.
So far my color management has worked just fine.I go through the Adobe Gamma on my Toshiba to fine tune and lower the brightness and get great results with prints. Learning how to use histograms has also been a very big + ! 
Color management has kinda been a drag and I hate putting money into computer stuff when it can go into camera gear, but this seems to be a a tool I should not be with out. What say you...
