Second opinion on monitor calibration - Poll

Which of these images looks correctly exposed

  • Total voters
    27
ah5168

ah5168

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I have just replaced my monitor, the new one comes pre-calibrated to various calibrations like sRGB, Rec 709 etc. I have have also run my Spyder Express on it which gave the same result as the sRGB profile so I am happy with the colours.

I thought it would be good to get a second opinion on the exposure though. Below are 6 images processed with an sRGB workflow and then adjusted in Adobe Camera raw to give exposures 0.25 apart. I would be interested in what you think is the best exposure.

It doesn't matter if you have a calibrated monitor, tablet etc. as most of my clients don't have calibrated monitors either.

Image A
AH8_3050 A A.jpg

Image B
AH8_3050 A B.jpg

Image C
AH8_3050 A C.jpg

Image D
AH8_3050 A D.jpg

Image E
AH8_3050 A E.jpg

Image F
AH8_3050 A F.jpg
 
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I know very little about monitor calibration but this seems a pointless exercise to me, my monitor/screen is not likely to be the same as yours or anyone else's for that matter. For what is worth, image c for me.
 
jakeblu said:
I know very little about monitor calibration but this seems a pointless exercise to me, my monitor/screen is not likely to be the same as yours or anyone else's for that matter. For what is worth, image c for me.
Click to expand...

That's the whole point about monitor calibration. It means that EVERYONEs calibrated monitor is the same, and looks the same.

An image can be passed around a team, photographer, image editor, design, client, marketing, magazine, printer and assuming we are all calibrated then we all see the same.

If at any point in a chain like that someone may ask 'Do you think this dress looks a little red?' Then we can all check and if we all say 'no' then its either that persons eyes / opinion or their monitor calibration that is out.
 
riddell said:
That's the whole point about monitor calibration. It means that EVERYONEs calibrated monitor is the same, and looks the same.
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Really? Everyones calibrate monitor is the same!
 
Thanks for the votes so far, please don't turn this into a debate about monitor calibration.
 
to calibrate a monitor depends on the ambient light your calibration in, also the type of monitor your doing it with. So for me a pointless exercise as editing can correct a photo anyway
 
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jakeblu said:
Really? Everyones calibrate monitor is the same!
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Yes, in theory, though there will always be people who try and calibrate poor quality monitors or people who calibrate incorrectly for one reason or another.

Why are you even debating this? Whats the point of calibration otherwise?

To the OP - Sorry. I know you don't want this to be a debate about monitor calibration, but its a very difficult subject to approach like this, as you have no idea what people will be viewing on.

Last year I had a client yelling at me because he thought his images were too dark. Turns out he was looking on his iphone and had the brightness right down to save battery. After a long conversation I left him scratching his head because on virtually every device he had in the office, about 6 different phones, 4 computers, 2 tablets and a smart TV the images looked different. Even viewing on the same device, same screen, but using different browsers or photo viewers resulted in different looking images.

As the photographer you need to be calibrated, so at least you have a starting point that you know is correct, and just to be aware that clients arn't calibrated.
 
jakeblu said:
I know very little about monitor calibration but this seems a pointless exercise to me, my monitor/screen is not likely to be the same as yours or anyone else's for that matter. For what is worth, image c for me.
Click to expand...
jakeblu said:
Really? Everyones calibrate monitor is the same!
Click to expand...
riddell said:
That's the whole point about monitor calibration. It means that EVERYONEs calibrated monitor is the same, and looks the same.

An image can be passed around a team, photographer, image editor, design, client, marketing, magazine, printer and assuming we are all calibrated then we all see the same.

If at any point in a chain like that someone may ask 'Do you think this dress looks a little red?' Then we can all check and if we all say 'no' then its either that persons eyes / opinion or their monitor calibration that is out.
Click to expand...

Sorry, that is not even close to being true, monitors vary massively just because a profile on one is the same as another certainly will not result in the user seeing the same image. Or why would they not calibrate at the factory and have done with it ?
 
riddell said:
Yes, in theory, though there will always be people who try and calibrate poor quality monitors or people who calibrate incorrectly for one reason or another.

Why are you even debating this? Whats the point of calibration otherwise?

To the OP - Sorry. I know you don't want this to be a debate about monitor calibration, but its a very difficult subject to approach like this, as you have no idea what people will be viewing on.

Last year I had a client yelling at me because he thought his images were too dark. Turns out he was looking on his iphone and had the brightness right down to save battery. After a long conversation I left him scratching his head because on virtually every device he had in the office, about 6 different phones, 4 computers, 2 tablets and a smart TV the images looked different. Even viewing on the same device, same screen, but using different browsers or photo viewers resulted in different looking images.

As the photographer you need to be calibrated, so at least you have a starting point that you know is correct, and just to be aware that clients arn't calibrated.
Click to expand...


Again simply not true, and that is backed up by a studio with coming up to TWO MILLION colour critical published images.
 
Studio488commercial said:
Sorry, that is not even close to being true, monitors vary massively just because a profile on one is the same as another certainly will not result in the user seeing the same image. Or why would they not calibrate at the factory and have done with it ?
Click to expand...

OK, so its not perfect. We all know that, but in general your average quality monitors will be close. Certainly a hell of a lot closer than if they are not calibrated.
 
I chose C over B as it gives a little more contrast/saturation to the interior and a little more colour/detail in the trees on my calibrated monitor.
I'd be interested in an iMac result though.
 
To the OP, you can see from the results of the poll that its just not possible to get an accurate average, its clear which ones are never gong to be right though, on my screen currently it was C on the cintiq next to it was D :)
 
riddell said:
Yes, in theory, though there will always be people who try and calibrate poor quality monitors or people who calibrate incorrectly for one reason or another.

Last year I had a client yelling at me because he thought his images were too dark. Turns out he was looking on his iphone and had the brightness right down to save battery. After a long conversation I left him scratching his head because on virtually every device he had in the office, about 6 different phones, 4 computers, 2 tablets and a smart TV the images looked different. Even viewing on the same device, same screen, but using different browsers or photo viewers resulted in different looking images.
Click to expand...


If the majority of viewers using different monitors, browsers and devices concur that one image has an ideal exposure then I think that gives a good indication that the real world exposure of that image is probably right.
 
ah5168 said:
If the majority of viewers using different monitors, browsers and devices concur that one image has an ideal exposure then I think that gives a good indication that the real world exposure of that image is probably right.
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The results so far are not looking good for your theory :)
 
ah5168 said:
If the majority of viewers using different monitors, browsers and devices concur that one image has an ideal exposure then I think that gives a good indication that the real world exposure of that image is probably right.
Click to expand...

I get your point, but you would need a massive data set to make a valid judgement that way.
Its also not useful asking your non target audience. There maybe lots of people here as photographers using macs, whereas your average estate agent may be using cheap HP and Dell monitors.

Also lets assume you go down this path and you find a settling / level / curve that it so happens your agent agents are all happy that it looks good on their screens even if it looks crap on your own calibrated screen, and then they send the images to print for a brochure. Well whats going to happen then?
 
I think this was a worthwhile exercise, all the checks I had done in advance told me that B was probably the best exposure, which has been shown by the Poll.

One of the ways you can get a good idea what the real exposure level is is to use the waveform tool in some video editing software where you actually get values for the brightness of the various parts of the image.

Ideally for view on a monitor you want whites to be in the 85-90 range if you look at B and C below you can see that the large white section of wall in the centre right probably looks a better value in B.

Image B
Waveform B.jpg

Image C
Waveform C.jpg
 
what about using the histogram when taking the photo?
 
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realspeed said:
what about using the histogram when taking the photo?
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I always use the histogram to set the exposure, but often I have to underexpose to avoid clipping something and then pull it back in post.
 
It also has to account for where the viewers are, in a bright or dark room, and I wear glasses with a slight brown tint, others it will be gray or blue tints.
 
D for me,

On my never been calibrated iMac screen.

But I've sent images to be printed and they've all come back looking fine.
 
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