Can anyone recommend the best way to profile a Dell 2408WFP LCD? I'm using the i1 Display 2 from Gretag Macbeth and following the step by step instructions outlined in the calibration procedure. However, I cannot get my monitor's brightness down to a level of 120 cd/m2. The lowest I can get it is 137, and this is after setting the brightness value of the monitor all they way to 0! I've heard of some people being able to get their monitors to 120 by reducing the RGB levels but was also told there was some discussion on this forum as to why that's not a preferred method of doing things. Haven't found anything on that though.

Also, I'm wondering if I should skip individually setting my RGB values. I've heard that leaving them at their default states and letting the calibrator adjust them is best.

And lastly, I've heard that the i1 Display 2 is compatible with DDC monitors. Is there any particular setting I need to activate to get the software to recognize that my monitor is a DDC monitor?

Thanks,
Brad

For LCD monitors it's best to leave RGB, contrast, and white point where it is, except for a few high end monitors.

I had the same problem with my 24" white iMac, so I calibrated it at 140 cd2, which is, by the way, recommended by Martin Evening in his Photoshop book.

Since then I had my LCD panel replaced, and now my iMac dims down to even under 120cd2 - got a better panel, obviously.

There is "Shades" to dim your monitor, but I'd go to the X-Rite site, as some versions of this software have a bug, which - isn't that great - ruins your calibration.

So, in your case, I'd rather go with 140 cd2 than with messing with RGB settings or installing dimming software that, so I gathered, has problems of its own.

Thanks for your quick reply. I did shoot for a target luminance of 140 cd/m2 during calibration and wound up with a value of 137 after calibration. Is this enough of a deviation to cause concern?

You can actually use the i1d2's calibration software (Match3) to adjust your monitor. There's a step for monitor brightness, which you should not bypass.

I'm on a Mac, so things are different. I can use keys on my keyboard to adjust screen brightness during the calibration process.

Just use the brightness calibration in advanced mode, and find out how to influence your monitor's brightness, so the black bars come to the center. (In the Mac version of the match3 software that comes with the i1d2 a window opens when you come to the step that adjusts screen brightness. A black bar on top of a green scale represents the brightness of your screen, and it will move, when you adjust your monitor's brightness. There is also a readout in numbers below it, that will change when you adjust the brightness).

I'm using the same monitor and calibration system, and ended up going the route of setting the RGB channels individually (mid 70's) to get the desired whitepoint and to get the 120 cd/m2 brightness.

I calibrated a Dell 2007wfp a few years ago and found a way searching the web for instructions to get into the ROM menu where all the internal settings set by the factory could be changed. I did it to check the supplier for the panel which at the time was either Samsung or LG to see if the panel was an PVA or S-IPS panel.

When I got to this menu I found quite a few columns of presets like RGB, brightness, etc more detailed than the regular controls accessed by the user menu. I can't remember all of the adjusts but I'm sure there could be one to fix your brightness issue on your model.

In addition to gain access to this special ROM menu on the 2007wfp, I had to shut down the display, restart while holding down the menu button and at some point switch over to holding down either + or - button, not sure now. You can do a search on accessing this special menu to get the exact procedure. It may be different for your model.

Can't hurt to try.

Adjusting the individual RGB channels in combination with the brightness control will get you in the right range. I have a 2405FPW, and the RGB values are at around 16-18, with the brightness set at 5. Assuming yours is the same, you can do a manual white point setting with the individual RGB adjustments, and increase or decrease them all by the same amount to adjust the brightness. It may require a bit of tweaking back and forth...

Isn't adjusting the RGB channels down on an LCD going to cost you colors? I thought only the really high end monitors had 10 bit luts?

I also wonder if such an adjustment isn't just influencing the video card rather instead of the monitor. That would be something that's not really recommended.

How can adjusting menu buttons on the front of a display influence the video card?

Well, I have the older version

this is what I do, I lower the RGB values and I get 100cd/m

Now, some of the color guru's might disagree but so far, I have not been able to test or measure any damage to the quality of the output.

However, if someone can prove me wrong, i'll reconsider, but I have impressed one of the Australia's finst with this screen....sure it is no EIZO CG221, which I sure do lust for, but it is very uniform.

good luck

Henrik

tived,

You don't have to prove a thing. LCD's in general have come up quite a bit in quality over the years just like CRT's did in the past. As long as you have it hardware calibrated and the readouts are within target specs, you have a very high quality display you can trust enough for editing within a color management workflow.

Heck, I've been using this 2004 G5 iMac that has one of the early S-IPS panels with the blue violet black viewed at an angle and it calibrates within specs just fine, so any newer LCD of reasonable quality should do just fine for reliable photo editing.

Those are getting hard to find. When I last went looking for a new LCD it was extremely difficult to find anything that wasn't a TN panel. In fact other than the Cinema displays from apple I couldn't locate a single non TN based display in town.

DarkPenguin,

I totally agree with you. I have the same problem, but I'm in a small town which is even worse for buying any item of quality.

There's always the web, thank god.