Hi there, a question about using the Spyder4pro on a laptop. I have a Dell XPS 15 that has a 100% SRG Full HD screen that looks very bright when at full brightness (where it usually is) and uncalibrated.

I had the idea to calibrate the screen with the brightness at about 60% of the way and the result is I"m not sure if the calibration was correct as the colors look a little dark, saturated....muddy. But of course, I could be imagining this.

Can you tell me if I did the calibration correct and my screen is correct for color now? OR was I supposed to leave the screen brightness at the maximum and then do the calibration?

Your help is appreciated.

Ronald

I thought the Spyder software had a selection for Screen Brightness within it?  With a laptop, you generally have to do it manually compared to a computer screen that might do it automatically or you have an easier means to adjust it.

I'm using the x-rite stuff and it allows me to set my brightness based on how the prints come out of my printers (Are they too dark meaning the screen was too bright?).  I set the brightness around 80cdm for the printers, and move it up to around 110 for general viewing.  So brightness depends on what you are doing and your room's ambient lighting.  I have owned the Spyder stuff in the past, but had issues with it verses the x-rite gear.

The Kelvin also requires a change to a warmer value for printing as prints are made for indoor lighting, usually I set them for 5,500K (or D55.) or even 5,000K (D50.).  Web stuff stays up around 6,000 to 6,500K (or D60 D65.).

Some of the higher-end calibration gear will tell you if the ink load percentages are incorrect for printing and you need to raise or lower them for a larger printer gamut,  but that gear and software is expensive.  Something like the x-rite i1 PhotoPro 2, BasIIColor software, and ColorThink Pro 3 which will run you close to $3K-$4K.

Lots of *great* information at http://www.digitaldog.net/
and do not miss the video "Why are my prints too dark"
http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_ … o_dark.mp4

About 8 months ago, Patrick at FStoppers did a video on calibrating monitors, cameras and computers to work together.

While it wasn’t a laptop monitor, they found that that the properly calibrated monitor was significantly darker than the same monitor was before calibration. That’s because monitors tend to be “optimized” to produce brighter colors than a calibrated monitor would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbMshsiiiFM

I believe that’s true of most monitors (and TVs).

Patrick was using the X-Rite system, rather than the Datacolor system. While I haven’t read it, there’s an article on fstoppers.com from six months ago about calibrating with the Datacolor system.