Software Only Monitor Profiling?

Are there any useful software applications that allow one to check one's monitor without added hardware? Seems a silly question, I admit, but I'm thinking of being able to do a check and correction to a rented monitor when traveling or for folk who cannot afford a hardware instrument. In the early Mac software, there was capability of adjusting color by comparing various patterns. What is the current state of such software. I was reminded of this when someone wrote that they couldn't afford a proper modern profiling instrument!

I am happy with my XRite i One Spectrophotometer. However it's bulky to carry and for some it's expensive. So I wonder if there's any software only solution that even comes close to being useful for emergencies on the road?

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Are there any useful software applications that allow one to check one's monitor without added hardware?

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Nope, you need an instrument to do this correctly. Further, many of the products that conduct the calibration and profile allow you to do this. Its mostly a feel good process. First, you’re not using a known, higher grade instrument as a reference, you’re using the same instrument so errors in the first process can’t be observed in the 2nd measuring process. Next, the software can send any number of patches to the display for this check and often, it sends color patches that will produce a good report. Very dark colors are more difficult to measure. Colors at the gamut boundary are as well. When you create a product to calibrate and profile a display, then provide a user with a check, this check is often built to look for egregious errors (puck falls off during calibration etc) and otherwise, its designed to give you a good report (low deltaE). There are some processes one can try to evaluate the quality of the calibration: http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200412_rodneycm.pdf

Andy,

Thanks for your answer with your two excellent tutorials. I recommend these two tutorials to everyone, first for the simple way to get some idea of what on earth one s using to look at a picture. If one cannot discriminate between close shades of black or gradients cannot be evaluated or there are color shifts as one changes the relationships on a curve then critical editing should be deferred.

There's another reason for us to read these tutorials and it's the keyboard shortcuts that are introduced and in context, a great bonus!

My own monitor for critical editing is the Eizo 210, (a 2006 aged but excellent monitor), with 14 BIT processing and an internal lookup table in 10 BIT as well as factory calibration to 2.2 which can be changed from 1.0 to 2.6. OTOH, when I'm using any lesser display, I try to limit my editing to cropping and a minimum of white and black point adjustment or curves. That way I can get a file out, but not likely introduce obvious errors.

Asher