Laptop Computers & Post

[HotHolly]

Hey all. I know lots of people in here have laptops - so I have to ask.

We recently purchased a new laptop. I didnt do any PP on the old one, b/c I thought the color would be way off. The new one has the new monitor - which is freaking shiny btw. I can't seem to get it calibrated correctly. The next step is to purchase calibration stuff.

I was wondering if it was worth it - or if laptops will just always be 'off.' I can see a huge difference just in the angle of the screen, so Im wondering if I'll be wasting money? Any comments? Suggestions? Im used to my desktop showing about the same as the lab prints the image - minus the screen glow. Is that asking too much of a new laptop?

[photosbysergio]

Holly, I can only speak for myself here but laptops are not the most accurate for PP. It works if it's something quick but not if I want to get the best results possible. I have a Macbook Pro and have a 30 inch cinema display to do my PP work on. I calibrate them both with they Spyder2 Pro. Hope all the workshops are going well for you btw.

[carlyerin]

yeah. i have my lappy for post too- and i just calibrate it as often as possible with the spyder.

[Arnor]

Hi Holly,

Originally Posted by HotHolly

I was wondering if it was worth it - or if laptops will just always be 'off.' I can see a huge difference just in the angle of the screen, so Im wondering if I'll be wasting money?

We have two laptops here and the one I have does not calibrate at all. The Spyder software throws an error everytime it booted saying it couldn't load the profile or something like that. I just removed it. My wife's laptop OTOH calibrated nicely with no problems. I think even though you get different results than on a desktop monitor at least you will get the colors closer than without the calibration.

I don't undertand those shiny laptop monitors! I was at OfficeDepot the other day and they had like 30 different models out and every single one of them had this shiny monitor. I've installed software for my client on two of those and I would never be able to work with them:( I think it's bad enough that the frame of my Samsung widescreen is shiny and reflects the background!<g>

Best regards,

[kenw]

the shiney LCDs are primarily geared towards watching movies and are less affected by bright outdoors light (supposedly).

A regular LCD (notebook or separate) should have no problem being calbrated. I use them exclusively, and haven't had a CRT in 15+ years.

[René]

Those shiny screens can take some getting use to. I have a shiny Dell Truelife LCD on my laptop and I love it now that I have my colors under control. HOWEVER, I was ready to take a hammer to it for a while. There is no way to calibrate it other than how bright it is. So, I have spent the last year working out color issues and learning how to best correct and control them. How I finally got around my problem was/is by plugging my desktop CRT into my laptop and calibrate it with Spyder2Pro. Now I process on my desktop monitor plugged into my laptop, and when Im on the go and looking at my laptop screen, it is pretty close to what I see when Im sitting at home at my desk working. I just leave the monitor profile set to the one I created when I calibrate the desktop monitor. I hope this makes sense. I also, proof view my images using my printer's ICC profile to make sure my colors are how I want them printed. This has helped me a lot and now my colors appear to be the same in print as when I'm working my images on screen. I'm not saying they are exactly the same, but they appear to be the same.

Good luck Holly, hope you get things figured out!

[Arnor]

Hi,

Originally Posted by 3CP

There is no way to calibrate it other than how bright it is. So, I have spent the last year working out color issues and learning how to best correct and control them. How I finally got around my problem was/is by plugging my desktop CRT into my laptop and calibrate it with Spyder2Pro.

I just let spyder create a profile. I don't even attempt any manual adjustments on any of my monitors - I can never get it anywhere close to right. Spyder creates the brightness and color profile and the monitors I have here all look pretty much the same. Spyder takes pretty good care of calibrating the whole range:)

Best regards,

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

Hey all. I know lots of people in here have laptops - so I have to ask.

We recently purchased a new laptop. I didnt do any PP on the old one, b/c I thought the color would be way off. The new one has the new monitor - which is freaking shiny btw. I can't seem to get it calibrated correctly. The next step is to purchase calibration stuff.

I was wondering if it was worth it - or if laptops will just always be 'off.' I can see a huge difference just in the angle of the screen, so Im wondering if I'll be wasting money? Any comments? Suggestions? Im used to my desktop showing about the same as the lab prints the image - minus the screen glow. Is that asking too much of a new laptop?

We used Mac laptops calibrated with the One Eye at the Leica school and they were spot on.

You have to have hardware calibration if you are going to get it calibrated correrctly anything else is waste of time and will produce poor color....

By the way calibrate in low light and have the backround an 18% gray. Mac has this lovely screen setting called Graphite designed for graphic work which remove all the color buttons for the most part and and give you an 18% background.

[HotHolly]

Thanks for the tips...

here is a link if you have any recommendations.

[wondershots]

Originally Posted by 3CP

There is no way to calibrate it other than how bright it is.

I have a "shiny" laptop monitor and use A Huey to profile it. I've been very happy with the results. The prints seem to be fairly close to what I see on the screen. I know others who are not happy with the Huey and will rag on it. I like mine. I do most of my PP on my laptop sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by wondershots

I have a "shiny" laptop monitor and use A Huey to profile it. I've been very happy with the results. The prints seem to be fairly close to what I see on the screen. I know others who are not happy with the Huey and will rag on it. I like mine. I do most of my PP on my laptop sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

What's their complaint on the huey?

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by wondershots

I have a "shiny" laptop monitor and use A Huey to profile it. I've been very happy with the results. The prints seem to be fairly close to what I see on the screen. I know others who are not happy with the Huey and will rag on it. I like mine. I do most of my PP on my laptop sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

I'll point out that a print is not dependent on your monitor profile but rather the ICC profile for the printer paper combination.

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

I'll point out that a print is not dependent on your monitor profile but rather the ICC profile for the printer paper combination.

But if you edit the image on an incorrectly calibrated (or not calibrated at all) system, your resulting print could still be off in many ways. Garbage in, garbage out. YMMV, but I NEVER use my laptop display for editing. I do use a calibrated external CRT connected to the PowerBook, but that's totally different from the attached LCD.

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by srwatters

But if you edit the image on an incorrectly calibrated (or not calibrated at all) system, your resulting print could still be off in many ways. Garbage in, garbage out. YMMV, but I NEVER use my laptop display for editing. I do use a calibrated external CRT connected to the PowerBook, but that's totally different from the attached LCD.

I guess that's what I am getting at. Is the laptop screen so screwy that calibration isnt the issue? The glare is horrible on the new screen. The tilt seems to affect it a lot too. Maybe I should get a monitor to plug it into?

I guess I was wondering if the laptop screen is a lost cause.

[zepp]

Originally Posted by srwatters

But if you edit the image on an incorrectly calibrated (or not calibrated at all) system, your resulting print could still be off in many ways. Garbage in, garbage out. YMMV, but I NEVER use my laptop display for editing. I do use a calibrated external CRT connected to the PowerBook, but that's totally different from the attached LCD.

As an added measure of checking your color accuracy while editing images in photoshop, one might take note of the individual RGB values in the info palette. This come with experience of course but it has been shown that even color blind people knowledgeable in color correction can arrive at an acceptable image from numbers alone. In other words, use all the tools available to help confirm your adjustments. If your calibration is off but it looks good on the screen, chances are the numbers will confirm the calibration error before you even go to print. I check my numbers, on critical images, to see if I am in range.

A source of good color information can be found at http://www.riecks.com/digitalinfo.html. I have printed out many of the charts and laminated them back to back, keeping them close by my computer for quick reference.