Jonathan Briggs Online

Nuclear Medicine Service Engineer plus Computing and Photography Enthusiast

LCD Monitor Setup

If you're not sure how best to adjust the settings on your LCD monitor then this is how I currently go about it.

Make a note of your monitor and any graphics card settings as you go, you don't want to have to repeat the whole procedure if someone subsequently adjusts your monitor without your permission.

1. Switch the computer and monitor on and after the computer's finished booting allow at least 15 minutes for the monitor to warm up.
2. Set the room light as it will be for image editing/viewing (I use Daylight simulating lighting for critical work).
3. Reset the monitor and graphics card to their factory default settings. Check there are no colour profiles active and if you have Adobe Photoshop (full version or Elements) installed, that Adobe Gamma is not set to run when your system boots up.
4. If possible set the monitor's colour temperature to 6500degK.
5. Set the monitor's Contrast to maximum.
6. Display the SMPTE test pattern (below) ideally full screen and adjust the monitor's Brightness so that the 5% square can be just distinguished from the surrounding black (0%).
7. Adjust the monitor's Contrast so that the 95% square can be just distinguished from the surrounding white (100%).
8. If the 5% square is still visible move onto the next step otherwise fine tune the Brightness and Contrast settings so that if possible the 5% and 95% squares are equally visible.
9. If available, now use a hardware monitor calibration tool eg. Huey or EyeOne etc to fine tune the monitor's response.
10. If a hardware monitor calibration tool is not available, Windows users can  download and run the Calibrize software monitor 'calibration' tool. This will generate a colour profile for your monitor and will subsequently prompt you to redo the calibration at regular intervals. Monthly is sufficient for most amateur users.

CRT monitors can be setup in a similar way and fine tuned using the Nokia Ntest monitor test program for Windows. Do a Google search for Nokia Ntest to find a download source. I'm sorry, I don't know if there is a similar program for Linux or Mac OS X.

The SMPTE Test Card