Aloha!

I am so frustrated!

I've been looking at getting a new LCD monitor for my work computer. I've seen some beauties! I even bought a 23" Acer LCD monitor and upgraded to a DVI video card, hooked it up and it was BEAUTIFUL! Problem was that I couldn't get it to calibrate to my Epson Stylus Pro 4000 printer! Damn! And no one at the store could help me...so I returned it.

I've looked at Dell and Gateway, Circuit City and Comp USA. Talking with the service staff, they don't want to promise that their monitors CAN be calibrated to my printer. The problem with the Acer was way too much contrast. At least that's what I think.

I don't use a calibrating software. I make an image look the way I want on screen, then print it, take the print back to the monitor, and adjust everything so the monitor shows the image just like the print. That way when I adjust it to make it look the way I want it again, the print comes out right.

When I did that with the Acer, the blacks had zero detail, and a lot more dark areas went black instead of where they should've been. And the whites got blown out.

I took an image to Circuit CIty last night to check out the new Samsung 22" LCD, and got the same result.

A friend has a 19" HP LCD, and prints on an Epson Stylus Pro 9600, and his monitor looks exactly like the prints! Problem is, he doesn'loha!

I am so frustrated!

I've been looking at getting a new LCD monitor for my work computer. I've seen some beauties! I even bought a 23" Acer LCD monitor and upgraded to a DVI video card, hooked it up and it was BEAUTIFUL! Problem was that I couldn't get it to calibrate to my Epson Stylus Pro 4000 printer! Damn! And no one at the store could help me...so I returned it.

I've looked at Dell and Gateway, Circuit City and Comp USA. Talking with the service staff, they don't want to promise that their monitors CAN be calibrated to my printer. The problem with the Acer was way too much contrast. At least that's what I think.

I don't use a calibrating software. I make an image look the way I want on screen, then print it, take the print back to the monitor, and adjust everything so the monitor shows the image just like the print. That way when I adjust it to make it look the way I want it again, the print comes out right.

When I did that with the Acer, the blacks had zero detail, and a lot more dark areas went black instead of where they should've been. And the whites got blown out.

I took an image to Circuit CIty last night to check out the new Samsung 22" LCD, and got the same result.

A friend has a 19" HP LCD, and prints on an Epson Stylus Pro 9600, and his monitor looks exactly like the prints! Problem is, he doesn'[t remember how he got it that way. He just remembers it took a lot of work and playing around with the adjustments.

Does anybody have any knowledge about this, or suggestions?

Aloha,
SPC II

Aloha Stan,

I refer you to Will Crockett's excellent articles at shootsmarter.

http://www.shootsmarter.com/infocenter/wc041.html

I have 3 Dell laptops and none of the LCD screens are up to snuff, even with the ultrasharp 1920x1200. Nice resolution, yes. Color, no. My old trusty 17" Trinitron from Gateway is the most color accurate I've got, and I use it with my laptop as a second monitor.

Stan,
What are you using to calibrate your monitors?
I use a Monaco Optix XR on my very inexpensive LCD's and I'm very pleased with the results that I get out of my 4000 and 7600.

Once i get my hands on ImagePrint, i'm sure the color match will be even better.

Cris...

Aloha & Mahalo Larry & Cris!

I appreciate your input. I don't know what the difference is between laptop LCDs and the table top versions, but I know that the color and contrast and viewability of the brand new LCD monitors is terrific. I loved the look of the Acer I had for a day.

ANd as I said in my 1st post, I have a friend with a 19" HP LCD, and it is very close as far as previewing prints.

Cris, as I said in my plea for help, I don't use any calibration software..I use my eyes! And that has worked very well with my CRTs...but it's time to replace my main working monitor, and I don't want to go to a smaller size.

I've heard of the Monaco calibration software. Is what you're using also work to calibrate your printers? How costly is it?

Is it possible to calibrate the printers? I was under the impression that it is not possible. Epson says they print what you send to to 'em....
Aloha & Mahalo,
SPC II

Stan, here's my 2 cents on monitor/printer calibration and profiling...

Yes one can always eye ball it, but it depends on so many factors and can be inconsistent from person to person. The room lighting, the glare on screen, even the clothing/jewelry you wear, or a painting on the wall opposite the monitor could affect it. Granted, in most applications if we can get to ballpark it's probably good enough. However, it's still subjective. Further, some monitor/video cards do not provide you enough direct control(knobs or sliders) to adjust the colors, such as my laptop LCDs. On my CRT I can set the color temp of the white point, etc. but it's still not as accurate and objective as a hardware device. Once you have the monitor profiled, applications such as PS can take advantage of it and display something real close.

The lab I use recommends EyeOne or Monaco OPTIX for profiling monitors.

I'm not sure if one can calibrate the inkjet, but you can certainly have it profiled. Most higher end printers you can get canned profiles from manufacturers if you want to. You can even have it custom profiled for a fee. You apply the printer profile and can do soft proofing in PS.

At work we have color engineers who are constantly printing and measuring color patches to profile printers (we make color copiers that has a print engine inside). Some of them attended the ICC meetings last week to discuss, among other things, ICC profiles. Uncle Bill (Gates) is trying to do something different in the next version of Windows. We'll see what happens.

Stan,
Well I know if I relied on my eye's to calibrate my monitor i'd be in serious trouble

The Monaco system works great, it's not terribly expensive and I think the results you'll get between your monitor and your printer straight out of the box with the standard epson drivers will be probably better than what your use to getting now. That's just a hunch.

Then you can always have custom profiles made for the particular paper that you use in your 4000. There are systems for doing this but they are rather costly you are better off sending them to one of the custom profiling outfits on the internet. I've heard good things about Cathys Profiles http://www.cathysprofiles.com/ There are others out there as well.

Then if you want to step up even further you can get yourself into the ImagePrint system which is a RIP software program by our friends at ColorByte. This program is just awesome. I don't have it personally, but i've seen it used many times and have been impressed everytime i do. Depeding on the amount of printing you do, this might be the next logical step for you.

I've got a 4000 and a 7600 and have been using the standard epson print driver and profiles and my results have been just fine for me so far. Could they be better absolutely. It's just a tradeoff in quality and cost for me.

Cris...