NEC PA241W Monitor

[hhscr]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

If you mean one of the i1 packages that contain a spectrophotometer, you can use the i1 spectro with the SV software, but it wouldn't be my first choice. Spectrophotometers tend to get noisy readings for the darkest tones when used in emissive mode (for calibrating monitors). The result can be that the darkest grays end up being not quite neutral. A colorimeter is actually better at that, which is why I plan to use the NEC sensor for display calibration even though I have an i1 spectro for printer profiling.

The i1 software won't interfere with the SV display calibration; just use it for printer profiling and not display calibration.

You may want to hold off a little bit on the i1, XRite is coming out with new packages any time now based on their new i1Profiler software, such is supposed to be a big upgrade from PMP/i1Match, combining the best tech from PMP and MonacoProfiler.

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply, I did not realize you could use a different calibration software and hardware for a monitor and printer. It makes sense now that I think more about it, there goals are to set the monitor and printer profiles to an industry standard. Which is what this is all about in the first place...I hope this is how it comes out.

I got an update from i1 that there new packages should be out in February.

Darrell

[Kalrog]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

And yes you do want the SpectraView II kit, because the SV software is the only way to calibrate using the display's advanced hardware calibration features such as the 14-bit 3D LUT, which will provide for a much smoother image without the banding you would get using a 3rd party profiler such as Spyder3 or i1match. Those other programs will ignore the NEC's LUT and use the 8-bit LUT on the video card; the difference is significant.

If you already have a good colorimeter, I believe you can purchase just the SV software from NEC for less than the SV/sensor kit. But I'd recommended getting the NEC sensor; because even though it's based on the i1Display2, the color filters have been tuned to provide an optimal match to the wider gamut of the latest NEC displays. Besides, colorimeters will drift out of spec over time and should be replaced every few years anyways.

Anyone use one of these with linux?

[d2creative]

My PA-241W just arrived via Big Brown a day early!
Looks like the SV kit should be here tomorrow.

Actually, i'm not THAT excited. Buying monitors is kinda like buying (mens) underwear... boring but needed. But it is some pretty NICE underwear. Looking forward to unboxing it tonite.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by d2creative

My PA-241W just arrived via Big Brown a day early!
Looks like the SV kit should be here tomorrow.

Actually, i'm not THAT excited. Buying monitors is kinda like buying (mens) underwear... boring but needed. But it is some pretty NICE underwear. Looking forward to unboxing it tonite.

You'll love it!

When I had the choice of upgrading my computer or my display first, I went with the latter. It's that important to me to have a display that renders colors and tones accurately and profiles nicely. A year later, I upgraded the box.

[d2creative]

Ya, I've put it off for much TOO long. Should have ditched that old burned in apple cinema display a year ago! I'm sure this will be like night and day.

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by Kalrog

Anyone use one of these with linux?

SpectraVision II is for Mac/Windows only. I suppose you could use Argyl, but I doubt it will have access to the hardware calibration features. If dual-booting is an option, you could calibrate/profile under Mac or Windows, and then use the ICC in Linux. Since the calibration adjustments are in the monitor itself rather than software, this should work just fine.

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by d2creative

My PA-241W just arrived via Big Brown a day early!
Looks like the SV kit should be here tomorrow.

Actually, i'm not THAT excited. Buying monitors is kinda like buying (mens) underwear... boring but needed. But it is some pretty NICE underwear. Looking forward to unboxing it tonite.

Got mine as well. Initial impressions are good. I do have one disappointment/frustration though, and that's with the 10-bit color output. If I enabled this in the ATI driver, Windows Aero gets disabled and the UI reverts back to basic. I might be willing to live with that, except for the fact that 10-bit output only seems to work in the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS5 for me, and not the 32-bit version. Due to various plugins not being available or fully functional in Photoshop 64-bit, I do most of my work 32-bit Photoshop. Whether these limitations are by design, issues that will be fixed, or unique to my environment/setup I have no idea (will have to do a little digging). But I wouldn't have bought video FirePro card if I'd know I wouldn't get 10-bit output from 32-bit Photoshop.

[d2creative]

I got the NEC hooked up and it looks great.
Calibration was a cinch and it went pretty quick. Easier than the Spyder2 calibration.
The height adjustment is very nice, too.

Too bad my 21" Wacom Cintiq doesn't support the SpectraView calibration. I still have to use my Spyder2 for that, and they aren't even close. So all color correction has to be checked on the NEC, but that's no different than before. I just see an even bigger difference now.

My only qualm with the NEC is I find the cables connecting UNDERNEATH the monitor to be very frustrating. I much prefer the ports to be on the back like they were on my Apple monitor.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by d2creative

My only qualm with the NEC is I find the cables connecting UNDERNEATH the monitor to be very frustrating. I much prefer the ports to be on the back like they were on my Apple monitor.

The last three monitors I've owned (two Dells, one NEC) have had the cable connections like that. I guess I'm used to it.

My SpectraView arrives today. Looking forward to getting it set up.

[JohnT]

Just got through calibrating my monitor with SpectraView. What a huge difference between it and the Spyder that I was using!

Now I need to order some test prints from Mpix Pro for comparison.