Pantone Spyder Pro

[dhphy]

Hi all
Santa brought a Pantone Spider Pro.
This has Optical Software.
I’ve been through the set up and seem to have got good results.
However during the calibration procedure it states that the Luminance should be between 85 – 95.
The best I can get is around 50. The screen looks OK and I have a test print from the lab I use to mach the print to the file open in photoshop on the screen and that looks a good match.
Can any body explain what this luminance value is supposed to be?
Thanks
Dave

[Tom V]

Dave,

I can't say that I am an expert, but I will make an educated guess. I currently have 2 monitors that I calibrate with an on-screen attachement (LaCie Blue Eye), and I get good results with it.

The Luminance is the overall brightness of the monitor. You may be able to make the monitor brighter, but the color would be skewed toward red, green, or blue, or a combination thereof. Your calibrator probably tries to find the brightest combination of the 3 colors that is neutral, and in you monitor's case, it sounds like that setting has a Luminance of 50. Some monitors will be better able to achieve a higher luminance value than others.

My guess is that a monitor calibrated and achieving luminance of 50, would appear dark. Using a low-luminance monitor may affect the way highlights and shadows appear to you. I think your eye will mentally compensate for not-bright-as-hoped-for highlights, but I don't think you will be able to differentiate shadow details as well (just a guess).

Ambient light may really effect how the screen looks to you. I would do my best to maintain a consistent level of low ambient room light. I use a couple of 20watt desk lamps so I can see things on the desk, and a hood around my monitor to keep direct light off the screen.

Don't calibrate a screen that has just been turned on. Wait for the thing to warm up for 30 minutes.

CRT monitors do wear out. The phosphors in the screen eventually loose their ability to glow as brightly, or evenly. The brighter your monitor settings, the faster it wears out. That is why you should calibrate at least once a month. Screen savers, energy savers, or just turning the thing off when you are not using it will help the monitor last longer. The older your monitor, the less luminance it can maintain, and the dimmer it will appear when it is calibrated.

I had a LaCie Electron 22" Blue III that wore out (or became defective) in just 2 years. It was replaced under warranty (3 year warranty). Previous to the LaCie, I had a 21" RasterOps, which lasted about 4 years - but I never had anything to calibrate it with except the Adobe Gamma software.

:beerchug:

What kind, and how old is your monitor?

[Rockyw]

Hey dhphy
I use the Pantone system myself. My monitor will not get those setting right also. I think it's a weird thing in the software or just a few monitors will work like that. I set mine to my labs and set photshop to sRGB like the labs as well. I Get good results and recalibrate every 7 days. I save the target and use the same target each time to get the same colors. Heres a screen shot of my PS settings. Any questions feel free to e mail me or re post and I'll be glade to help in any way I can.

[Rockyw]

Make sure you deleat Adobe gamma out of the start menu. The pantone spyder will not work right with adobe gamma still active.

[dhphy]

Tom and Rockyw
Thanks for your replies.

Tom,
the monitor is a proview, not a particularly good one I think and it's a few years old now, I am starting to do a bit of research into a replacement, so any advice regarding monitors (available in the UK) would be useful.
This luminance thing does seem a bit odd though. I have brightness controls on the monitor and through the graphics card and turned them up full, almost ended up snow blinded in a darkend room, but still couldn't get it much past 50. Interesting thing was that with a small amount of ambient light (dimmed rooom light) the luminence level would rise, but not to the stated 85-95 recomended.
As I said though, displaying my photo labs fuji test file on screen now matches very well with the photographic test print they printed for me.

Rockyw
It's reassuring to know that there is no fault with the spider if you are experience the same thing.
' Make sure you deleat Adobe gamma out of the start menu.'
I think that's done, I'm just not sure what you mean. Where would it be in winXP?
Dave

[bjnicholls]

The luminance setting gets the color gun levels into the optimal range for calibration (Precal). If you can't get the luminance into the right range, you may have the brightness set too low or the monitor may simply be tired.

CRTs do age, so do LCDs by the way. That's why regular calibration is a good idea if the monitor gets regular use.

[Rockyw]

I have had trouble getting the luminance to match the called for setting from day one. I have a new sony that can't do it, and a 2 year old samsung that will not get close. Thats with the brightness turned all the way up, and the contrast turned all the way up.My monitor matches my labs so I just re calibrate every week to the same target. I did call the company and they said not to worry about it? hehe. What a answer huh.

[HulaMike]

I'm using Colorvision's Photocal on a pretty high end pro monitor, the Cornerstone p1650. There are several ways Colorvision lets you work, at least Photocal does. Optical has an even more extensive feature set. Anyway, the best way I've found to use the software is to use the method that causes you to set the RGB guns separately IE: all into a little box graphically on screen. It took me a while to get the luminance value where Colorvision wanted it but I now have a monitor I can trust with exact output from an Epson 1280.

[NRA]

After weeks of fighting Adobe Gamma ive finally given in and ordered today a Pantone Spyder.

It seems there is quite a lot of knowledge already on here, so with a 17" tft that has what seems plenty of adjustment ( contrast, brightnes, blackpoint, user defined RGB settings) is there anything anyone would say are the easy bits or the hard bits of getting this monitor profile right.

Having got the monitor setup, do i still use the same colour management (Adobe RGB) throughout PS, with my Epson ICC profiles for the 2100.

Then, having got that right,( allow a few weeks, ) how does the Grey Ballancer fit into all of this.

Ime probably doing a FAQ here, so sorry if its all been done before.

Nigel :confused:

[-fruity-]

Good idea ... since you'll have soon forgotten the $ spent but will always remember the fuss with Gamma. ;)

I'm using the Spyder with OptiCal on CRT and TFT.
I did not touch any other settings than Brightness and Contrast since the Spyder did a fine job anyway.

Your grey balancer will build a printer profile for B/W prints (ICC).
I found the default profile to be very neutral and stable but maybe i'm just not the one seeking 101% perfect and reproducable results.
However, it will not influence your screen visuals unless you are soft-proofing (Photoshop,..).

IMHO, you can stick with AdobeRGB and any given profiles for your printer. Let Spyder calibrate and profile your screen and lean back. It even sets the default profiles for you. Smooth.

cheers!
:)

[NRA]

I am well plesed now. I can actually see a proper gray at last. No pink casts.

Adobe should bundle this with PS.

Nigel:):D :D