Monitor Calibration

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What?

Monitor Calibration is the process of measuring and adjusting the colours on your computer monitor to match a common standard.

Images from https://www.rubbermonkey.co.nz/X-Rite-i1Display-Pro

Why?

Every screen displays colours slightly differently. The image you see on your computer monitor screen will look slightly (or hugely!) different on your phone screen, and different again on anyone else’s computer monitor screen. This is partly due to the inner workings of the screens, and partly due to tweaks and settings on each screen.

Calibrating monitors to a standard set of colours, lessens the differences between the different monitors and improves the consistency of colour rendition. Consistency becomes particularly important when you want to print, as the professional printers are also calibrated to the same standard.

How?

DPS has the X-rite i1 Display Pro screen calibrator available to borrow to calibrate your screen/s.

Basically you download some software to your computer (and restart your computer), plug in the calibrator, then, following the instructions, you hang the calibrator in front of your screen and let it do it’s magic!

The calibration process will measure a range of colour variables (colour, gamma, brightness, contrast etc), and optimise your screen settings. These settings are stored on your computer or monitor and used each time you use your computer screen.

Depending on your screen a calibration will take about 10 minutes to complete.

How do I borrow the calibrator?

Please note: the DPS calibrator is only for the use of financial DPS members – sorry, but we can’t lend it to non-members!

REQUEST: by emailing Nicola (secretary.dpsnz@gmail.com) and ask to borrow the calibrator. Judith will then get in touch with you about when and how you’ll get the calibrator and when it needs to be returned by.

USE: following the instructions.

RETURN: the calibrator, or pass on to the next member, by the date agreed when you requested the calibrator.

I want to read more about monitor calibration.

Excellent! Here are some useful sites (which are also the references for this blog post):

These next two sites provide further reading about calibration and discuss using a different calibrator the DPS one.

  • Judith