Why Should We Calibrate Our Computer Monitor?

Why Accurate Colours Matter for Photographers

How well do you see colour? The average person can perceive 10-million colours. But, many factors can affect how our eyes distinguish certain colours, such as age, gender, and health. As an established imaging solution provider, we know that trusting your eyes alone will introduce colour challenges while editing photographs.

Have you ever wondered why the colours you see on your monitor don't match the scene you photographed or, for that matter, the images once they are printed? That’s because what you see on-screen is only as accurate as your monitor.

Understanding Monitor Calibration

Computer monitors vary greatly, even straight out of the box. Over time, monitor performance changes as components age. Phosphors and LCD filters begin to fade, and your monitor starts to drift into unknown colours.

What Photographers Need to Know

Photographers who need accurate colours may benefit from various types of printer or camera calibrations, but as a minimum, a colour-accurate monitor is a "must." Whether viewing or outputting, seeing accurate colour eliminates trial-and-error, saving you time and improving results.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to fix this. Calibrating and profiling optimises your monitor's settings for contrast, brightness, and colour temperature, allowing you to see your "true colours."

How Does Monitor Calibration Work?

It’s simple! A colour measurement device connects to the computer whose monitor you want to calibrate. This device reads the colour values of your monitor. Then, the supplied software calibrates your monitor, ensuring accurate colour performance. It saves the information to your computer, and you’re done!

If precise colour matching is critical to your work, consider advanced features like:

• An ambient light head to measure surrounding light.
• The ability to set monitor luminance for uniform brightness.
• White-point calibration to match your monitor to the paper you print on.
• Networked calibration to ensure consistency across multiple monitors.