[David Abrams]

Hi Ron,

The Spyder is a low cost solution designed for specific applications. It is certainly better than nothing and is relative to itself– meaning if you are matching two computer monitors next to each other it should be a great help.

Lower cost solutions do have limitations though. For example, different display technologies have different spectral power distributions. A color analyzer, like the Spyder, has filters designed to filter the red, green, and blue colors and compare them to a reference. If the meter is calibrated with one SPD curve and you use it to measure another, an error is introduced. This is where a spectroradiomter comes in handy.

I hope that helps!

Best,

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com

[David Abrams]

Hi Ron,

Ideally, you would want to use a monitor that is meeting the standard that you are trying to achieve. If you’re trying to achieve a Rec.709 with Gamma 1886, then you would want to use a monitor that is adjusted to that. Beyond that, there are pros and cons to each technology and various ways of using each technology. As an example, HD SDI is 10Bit or higher; whereas, HDMI can be 8Bit or higher. The higher the bit depth the better quality the signal (generally speaking). Consumer displays do not often have HD SDI as an input and many converters or outputs on the market are actually inaccurate which can yield poor results within themselves.

Bottom line is that each display technology will perform differently and most often a professional display calibrated and designed to meet the specification of what you are trying to achieve will provide more stability, reliability, and consistency than a consumer display, but yes, consumer displays could be used.

All the best,

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com

[David Abrams]

Hi Ron,

Thank you for that. Common practice is to color correct content on a monitor calibrated to the standard that you are color correcting to, such as Rec.709. If you are color correcting content with a monitor that is not capable of hitting the standard, or is not calibrated, there are ways you can still achieve your desired results. EFilm, Technicolor and Company 3 are all companies that have build complex transforms to convert your content from one target to another. As an example, there is one major motion picture studio that uses their own proprietary color gamut for archiving– this allows them to work in a wider than normal gamut and then transform it down for Digital Cinema, Rec.709, sRGB, ect.

Depending on the amount of work and costs that are involved, you could either live with your content the way that it is, calibrate your system and then see how it looks on a reference display, or measure your system and have a company capable of making the conversion run it through their conversion process for you.

All the best,

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com

[David Abrams]

Hi Stephen,

Thank you for your reply. I’m certainly not trying to turn this into a “war” or a big argument. We have calibrated over 10,000 displays over the years from consumer displays to hollywood studios and digital cinemas. We work with some of Hollywood’s top post-production facilities and have extensive experience with both professional and consumer grade displays. Our primary meter is the Photo Research PR-655 Spectroradiometer and we use various test pattern generators and reporting engines to quantify and document all displays.

Regarding your comments on LCD. Yes, a CCFL backlight can hit D6500K. Yes, the color primaries can hit Rec.709. This comes down to the capability of each individual displays. For example, there are many LCDs on the market in both the consumer and professional world that will not hit Rec.709 and there are a lot that do. Some have Color Management Systems, such as CMS, that allow you to manipulate the color processing to optimize the color gamut.

You are correct in stating that LCDs will not “turn off” and produce a true black. It is important to note that is simply a capability thing. Film projectors do not turn off either, digital cinema projectors do not turn off. Can a Digital CInema Projector not be calibrated? It can. Just because it’s ambient black will be higher than something that can turn off does not mean that it can’t be calibrated, it simply means it has different performance capabilities.

Every CRT that was made for the professional world is incapable of hitting the Rec.709 color gamut targets. This includes every Sony BVM that has been made to date. The phosphors used were SMPTE-C (Rec.601) and not Rec.709. In the Rec.709 specification there was an amendment that allowed displays that could properly handle the Rec.709 Matrix, even with SMPTE-C color primaries, to be considered compatible Rec.709 displays. The reason they had that amendment to the specification is because in the 90’s, when it was written, we didn’t have displays out that could do Rec.709. Today, most studios are shifting to displays that can full encompass the Rec.709 color gamut; in fact, many displays such as the Flanders Scientific are LCD based with various 3D LUTs to map a wide gamut LCD to the specification that the user is trying to use, such as Rec.709, P3, or EBU, or SMPTE-C.

I’m attaching two pages of a calibration report from a consumer Samsung LCD that we recently calibrated. Please note that it does come within the tolerance of Rec.709 on both Color Gamut, Grayscale, and Gamma tracking. Illustrating that a consumer LCD can be calibrated to the Rec.709 specification.

6237_samsungun65es8000report.pdf.zip

All the best,

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com

[David Abrams]

Greetings,

I would like to clarify that all monitors can be calibrated. How accurate they are, and to what specification, will depend on the capability and the adjustments of the monitor. For example, the monitor that you described has a “Custom” color temperature which will allow you to calibrate the grayscale with proper instrumentation- it should allow you to dial in the standard D6500K color temperature specified in SMPTE C and Rec.709 standards.

Just because there are adjustments for grayscale does not mean it will track one perfectly. Additionally, the display may not have other critical adjustments for things such as hitting the BT.1886 gamma target specified for HDTV; in fact, most professional displays on the market today are incapable of actually hitting the BT.1886 specification while more consumer monitors actually have settings to do so.

The goal with calibration is to hit a specific standard for consistency and repeatability throughout the system. Consumers who do not have their displays calibrated will more than likely not have an accurate image per the specification; however, the production and post-production community will still follow it so that there is integrity within the community.

Good Pictures!

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com

[David Abrams]

Hi Abraham,

Thank you very much for the prompt and fast reply/resolution! I look forward to being a part of the community!

Best,

David Abrams

Avical – Video System Specialists
Mobile – 877.428.4225, ext. 102
Email – dave@avical.com
Website – http://www.avical.com