So does anyone else have this monitor? I'm curious, I just purchased one the other day to go with my new MacPro and I calibrated it with my Huey Pantone, but the reds (specifically in skin tones) are incrediblely over saturated. Is this because of the wide gamut of the monitor? Things look fine when in Photoshop or Lightroom (I shoot in Adobe RGB), but then when I output for the web or view photos and such on the web, the colors just way intense and over saturated. Anyways, just curious to hear other people's thoughts about this monitor and what solutions there might be to correct the over saturation.
When you are using a wide gamut monitor, you have to use color managed applications. To solve your web problems, download and install FireFox v3 Beta. Then use the config capability in the browser (advanced functionality, do a web search) to enable color management. This will give you a color managed web browser and everything will look correct.
Safari, Apple's browser, won't work correctly on wide gamut monitors.
If you are having problems with any other applications, you will need to replace them with color managed applications.
UCSB wrote:
Safari, Apple's browser, won't work correctly on wide gamut monitors.
Bill, that's the first time I've heard this. In fact, everything to the contrary, that Safari was the first color managed browser for Mac and Windoes (with v3.0). Do you know off hand what the problem is?
No, still haven't gotten the NEC (I'm on Macs) or I could tell for myself.
Safari only color corrects tagged content (images with embedded profiles). This works great in a sRGB environment and they can claim that it is color managed. But, on a wide gamut monitor most of the content is not tagged (colors, art work, icons, text, etc.) and most of the images (saved as sRGB) do not have embedded profiles. Safari (at least last time I checked) does not do anything with this content. So most content will not display correctly. On Firefox v3 beta (with color management enabled), they assume all untagged content is sRGB and display it appropriately.
kirstin wrote:
I've got the same problem with this monitor on a windows vista machine. nasty saturation. if anyone has a fix i'm all ears.
On wide gamut monitors you have to do two things: 1) calibrate the monitor with a calibration system; 2) use color managed applications. What applications are you using? Do you own a calibration system?
I have it and have no problems (after following the advice given by Bill (UCSB). The release of Firefox 3 is well timed!
Perhaps the only remaining difficulty is with a simple image viewer - Irfanview and Fastone (which is supposed to be color managed) over saturate.
Breezebrowser and Bridge are OK - but I cannot find a simple way to just display a single image from a folder without booting up one of the main applications.
I think the monitor itself is flawed. I think it is genuinely to vivid out of the box, even calibration doesn't seem to help it much, I compare to a pantone book and its not even close (even calibrated) . The 2408 revision 1 has flaws I think. I am convinced something is wrong with it, doing a google search I notice this is a problem all across the board. The problem is over saturation, not profile problems.
Kirstin and Pell ... are you saying that you have calibrated the 2408 and then evaluated color in a color managed application like Photoshop CS3 and still have over saturated colors? Have you tried to run a monitor calibration test (like the profile verification option in Match3 software for Eye-One products)? This would give you a deltaE for all of the color patches.
When Dell first introduced the 2407 HC wide gamut monitor I purchased one. I didn't know anything about wide gamut monitors at the time and struggled with the over saturated colors. At the time I couldn't get the monitor operating to my satisfaction and returned it. After a week of wasted effort, I was pretty frustrated. The pieces began to fall into place for me and I picked up the NEC 2690 and setup a solid work environment. But, I still wonder what went on with the 2407 HC. It had really good deltaE numbers and should have been performing well. But, the reds and oranges in particular just looked off to me. In hindsight, I chalked it up to my inexperience with wide gamut at the time. But, it still bothers me.
I just got one. I don't find it over-saturated. I do find it quite bright. In fact, it is so bright, I can't bring the brightness down to the level recommended in the calibration process (using X-Rite's Eye One). Even at it's lowest level, it is brighter than recommended. I have to say, however, that the monitor really looks good.
Thanks to you, I kept the monitor instead of returning it. The colors are not saturated in any of the color aware apps, including Firefox3. Without this thread, I would have certainly returned this monitor.
