Set the screen back to its defaults, then select which mode you want to calibrate. I calibrate the Standard' screen mode for editing, and the sRGB mode for web-browsing.
With the selected mode run the Spyder for full calibration the first time and follow the instructions closely. You will be asked to adjust brightness after a couple of minutes. Adjust it to reach the desired luminance (probably at around a 20% setting). Let it finish.
Save the profile with a name that is meaningful to you.
Somewhere in your Spyder folder there is a 'profile chooser'. I have a short-cut permanently on my task bar. Open the 'profile chooser' and select the profile you just made. This will set it as the default for your system.
Do the same for any other modes you use on the screen.
When switching screen mode you should also switch profile (hence having a handy short-cut to the profile chooser get to it quickly).
Recalibrate every now and then when reminded to by the Spyder.
You can also delete profiles you don't want from the profile chooser (which stops it getting crowded over time).
sRGB mode will not look identical to the Standard mode due to the different colour gamut, but will be sufficiently stable and accurate for working with images. I tend to work in standard mode (and edit in Adobe RGB), then convert images to sRGB for web use (and because that's what my photo agency want).
I have attempted changing the profiles and modes but haven't had much luck - they all have issues whether it be the colour temperature or gamma. I'm not sure if you are referring to Mac or PC, but I am using a Mac and have been using system preferences to change the profile.
As an example I just did a full calibration in Standard mode to show the results:
These are the targets I set:
The next screen - ambient reading. I chose to stick with 6500k and 120cd/m^2:
During the calibration the application did ask me to change the brightness/contrast. This is what I mentioned before regarding how low it needs to be set to reach the target of 120cd/m^2. The monitor defaults are B50 C50. To reach the target I had to go down to a brightness of 4 and contrast level of 45!
And the results (I don't fully understand everything here, but the important figures I can see are that the colour temperature is 7100k and has not reached the target. And the Gamma reading is 1.7, again not reaching the target.
I hope this helps to explain my issue more thoroughly. If it will help I will do the same for the sRGB and Custom Presets.
I'm using a PC. You may need to get some help from an Apple forum. The gamma of 1.7 is close(ish) to the Apple standard of 1.8 so I wonder if your OS is taking over somewhere. Might be worth looking at this (which discusses gamma and Apple/mac) www.gballard.net/.../osx_22_gamma.html
The colour match to Adobe RGB looks reasonably good (you are unlikely to get 100% match as the standard gamut is slightly different to the Adobe setting.
Thank you for the link, certainly an interesting read and has cleared up a few issues. What I decided to do after several more failed attempts at calibration was to use the OSX calibration alongside this: www.lagom.nl/.../gamma_calibration.php
The strange thing is that there are options to alter the gamma from 1.0 (very dark and saturated) to 3.5 (completely washed out). I thought I would try both extremes - the Spyder software and puck read the gamma as 1.6 for both! It makes me think there is an issue with the native gamma as you suggested, or there is an issue with the Spyder puck or software.
I have now altered the RGB values to reach 6500k using the OS calibrated profile with the Dell Custom preset. It's impossible to tell from the aforementioned site how close to 2.2 gamma I have actually got to as it still reads as 1.6 using the Spyder calibration, but I think this may be my only (closest) solution.
I have the same monitor, and I used it with my 2008 MacBook Pro and a Spyder calibrator with decent success. It certainly wasn't ready to go right out of the box, and it wouldn't calibrate correctly with factory settings as a starting point. I got a 15" MacBook Pro with a retina display for Christmas, and I connected the monitor to it for the first time last night, with really disappointing results. Dell only supports Windows operating systems - not Mac operating systems. I'm not even going to bother struggling with it. It looks incredible when it's hooked up to my partners laptop with Windows 7 - without any calibration at all.
Thanks for the reply, Robolepa. It's interesting that you had success with the same hardware, and a shame you haven't had success with the newer MBP. I've done quite a lot of editing/retouching with the monitor now and I am slowly coming round to the idea that I will only ever have an accurate colour temperature and an inaccurate gamma setting. However...I am now questioning whether the Spyder has actually given me an accurate colour temperature reading!
Overall I am happy though, it is a fantastic monitor even if it isn't fully Mac compatible!
Words
5 Posts
0
January 27th, 2013 12:00
Set the screen back to its defaults, then select which mode you want to calibrate. I calibrate the Standard' screen mode for editing, and the sRGB mode for web-browsing.
With the selected mode run the Spyder for full calibration the first time and follow the instructions closely. You will be asked to adjust brightness after a couple of minutes. Adjust it to reach the desired luminance (probably at around a 20% setting). Let it finish.
Save the profile with a name that is meaningful to you.
Somewhere in your Spyder folder there is a 'profile chooser'. I have a short-cut permanently on my task bar. Open the 'profile chooser' and select the profile you just made. This will set it as the default for your system.
Do the same for any other modes you use on the screen.
When switching screen mode you should also switch profile (hence having a handy short-cut to the profile chooser get to it quickly).
Recalibrate every now and then when reminded to by the Spyder.
You can also delete profiles you don't want from the profile chooser (which stops it getting crowded over time).
sRGB mode will not look identical to the Standard mode due to the different colour gamut, but will be sufficiently stable and accurate for working with images. I tend to work in standard mode (and edit in Adobe RGB), then convert images to sRGB for web use (and because that's what my photo agency want).
AndrewH7777
4 Posts
0
January 27th, 2013 13:00
Hi Words,
Thank you for your reply and advice.
I have attempted changing the profiles and modes but haven't had much luck - they all have issues whether it be the colour temperature or gamma. I'm not sure if you are referring to Mac or PC, but I am using a Mac and have been using system preferences to change the profile.
As an example I just did a full calibration in Standard mode to show the results:
These are the targets I set:
The next screen - ambient reading. I chose to stick with 6500k and 120cd/m^2:
During the calibration the application did ask me to change the brightness/contrast. This is what I mentioned before regarding how low it needs to be set to reach the target of 120cd/m^2. The monitor defaults are B50 C50. To reach the target I had to go down to a brightness of 4 and contrast level of 45!
And the results (I don't fully understand everything here, but the important figures I can see are that the colour temperature is 7100k and has not reached the target. And the Gamma reading is 1.7, again not reaching the target.
I hope this helps to explain my issue more thoroughly. If it will help I will do the same for the sRGB and Custom Presets.
Thank you again for your help.
Words
5 Posts
0
January 27th, 2013 14:00
I'm using a PC. You may need to get some help from an Apple forum. The gamma of 1.7 is close(ish) to the Apple standard of 1.8 so I wonder if your OS is taking over somewhere. Might be worth looking at this (which discusses gamma and Apple/mac) www.gballard.net/.../osx_22_gamma.html
The colour match to Adobe RGB looks reasonably good (you are unlikely to get 100% match as the standard gamut is slightly different to the Adobe setting.
AndrewH7777
4 Posts
0
January 27th, 2013 16:00
Thank you for the link, certainly an interesting read and has cleared up a few issues. What I decided to do after several more failed attempts at calibration was to use the OSX calibration alongside this: www.lagom.nl/.../gamma_calibration.php
The strange thing is that there are options to alter the gamma from 1.0 (very dark and saturated) to 3.5 (completely washed out). I thought I would try both extremes - the Spyder software and puck read the gamma as 1.6 for both! It makes me think there is an issue with the native gamma as you suggested, or there is an issue with the Spyder puck or software.
I have now altered the RGB values to reach 6500k using the OS calibrated profile with the Dell Custom preset. It's impossible to tell from the aforementioned site how close to 2.2 gamma I have actually got to as it still reads as 1.6 using the Spyder calibration, but I think this may be my only (closest) solution.
robolepa
1 Message
0
January 29th, 2013 21:00
I have the same monitor, and I used it with my 2008 MacBook Pro and a Spyder calibrator with decent success. It certainly wasn't ready to go right out of the box, and it wouldn't calibrate correctly with factory settings as a starting point. I got a 15" MacBook Pro with a retina display for Christmas, and I connected the monitor to it for the first time last night, with really disappointing results. Dell only supports Windows operating systems - not Mac operating systems. I'm not even going to bother struggling with it. It looks incredible when it's hooked up to my partners laptop with Windows 7 - without any calibration at all.
AndrewH7777
4 Posts
0
February 1st, 2013 03:00
Thanks for the reply, Robolepa. It's interesting that you had success with the same hardware, and a shame you haven't had success with the newer MBP. I've done quite a lot of editing/retouching with the monitor now and I am slowly coming round to the idea that I will only ever have an accurate colour temperature and an inaccurate gamma setting. However...I am now questioning whether the Spyder has actually given me an accurate colour temperature reading!
Overall I am happy though, it is a fantastic monitor even if it isn't fully Mac compatible!