[GUIDE] M17x R2 RGB LED Display Calibration How-To

Attatched is an ICC profile created specifically for the RGB LED display on the m17x R2. This was created using a colorimeter.

In order for the ICC profile to be loaded into windows a loader program must be installed. I am including the link to the calibration software that will install the a calibration loader program into the startup and thus will load the ICC profile associated with the display.

Windows 7 Steps:

1. Download/Install Calibration Loader
2. Download the attatched AlienwareRGBLed.zip
3. Unzip AlienwareRGBLed.zip and right-click the .icc file and "install" it
4. Launch "Color Managment" from windows 7
5. Select the dropdown for your display
6. Select "use my settings for this device"
7. Click Add and select the AlienwareRGBLed ICC profile from the list
8. Reboot so the calibration loader will now load the ICC profile
9. Profit

SOFTWARE LINK UPDATED - 5/9/2010

 

Good job, thanks. Once other owners run it and if most like it, I'll put your entry into the M17x-R2 Wiki.

 

I cannot get the software. The link takes me to a registration page and when I click submit nothing happens. What is the name of the software so I can download it directly or can you host the file on Rapidshare or something along those lines so we can get it?

 

OK, I dove through all their downloads and this appears to be the program, am I correct? i1Match Software Version: v3.6.2 (PC) If this is the software, I had to go to their downloads section and manually search for it to download. I haven't run the program yet to see if there is any registration that needs to happen (as I don't have my R2 yet, finally hit the boxing stage). As soon as it arrives I will test it out.

One question though, I use Photoshop on a regular basis and will I need to set it to match the same profile so the colors reproduce the same or is this profile a global one (as in all aspects of the computer) and I can set PS to the default profile and the colors will look properly on the web from any file I create on the laptop? (I hope that makes sense, I am not sure how to explain it better)

 

i also am wondering what software to download

 

I have hosted the download myself and updated the link, please try again.

 

Nice profile cheers.Have a look @ link to compare results through the options on site

Contrast - Lagom LCD test

 

I noticed that W7 has an "Advanced color management" option and if you select your monitor the "Add" button becomes available. Can we not just load the ICC profile this way rather than download the other software? My M17x arrives tomorrow, I am very excited.

 

by adding the profile under color managment you are simply associating the profile to the monitor... this DOES NOT activate it by any way. You need a 3rd party loader to load the icc profile into the color lookup table of the video card. while windows 7 / vista do have a loader that you can activate it does not use the associated profile but rather walks you through a wizard of "does this look better or this?" questions, and does not produce accurate results. The method I am providing you has been established using a calibrated colorimeter to generate an accurate icc profile. A colorimeter is a meter that measures the exact colors of light being emitted from the monitor when generating certain colors. The icc profile then applies adjustments to alter the signal generated so that red is true red rather than some resemeblance of red, etc...

so in short... no, you still need to use a 3rd party loader to load the icc profile.

 

Bummer, I was hoping the W7 loader would do the same without a 3rd party app. I have used colorimeters before and I know the time it takes to do it. I have never liked doing it. I appreciate you doing it and posting it up for us to use. For accurate reproduction on the web, I cannot remember for sure, but if I remember correctly you also need to set Photoshop (and any other program that can use a profile like that) to the same profile? Am I remembering this correctly? It has been about 5 years since I have done this on one of my own machines, and I a getting old. LOL!

 

Got it loaded up. It is a very nice profile! Seems the white is a little dim still, but its most likely the tint on my glasses. Good work! Thanks!

 

When Alienware sends out a new laptop isnt the screen already calibrated?

 

If I understand correctly, their factory profiles are usually standard for all screens but since every screen is slightly different the profile won't look equally good on all of them. Also, their profiles are far from perfect, IMHO.

 

There is no calibration at all at the factory. They simply put the hardware together. There is not a single profile loaded in your computer at all for the lcd display. If you do not care about accurate colors then it's not such a big deal. But if you work with any sort of graphics or photography and can be crucial to have a properly calibrated display.

 

to be honest, this is showing up as pretty reddish to me.

 

Being a graphic professional myself, i dont think an ICC calibrated for Screen A will work for Screen B. We calibrate each screen individually in the office every 6 months or so.

I would advise on getting your own colorimeter if you are a graphic pro. Otherwise just create your own profile in Catalyst Command Center which seems to look best to your eyes.

 

Every light source has a color temperature measured in Kelvin. Unless you use the laptop in the same room with the same lights you are wasting your time. If one room has a frosted lamp while, another fluorescent and another daylight and another a regular bulb than the appearance of colors will shift based on the reflected light in the room.

If you are doing color printing I can understand the need to calibrate but the average user should be happy with the color right out of the box.

Color temperature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I use this post to calibrate my screen, i just have to thank you, good work; but also wanna make a little question, i can notice this calibration only work over my desktop (didnt notice this on my games), is esasy to know it cause when the system start this show me the wallpaper desktop and some seconds after that the color get more power, also, the pictures on software like windows visualization graphics looks kinda normal . . no vibrant colours; on firefox is the same, while i was looking for anew wallpaper which looks great beucase of the colors, i can notice than the color are more "sad" on firefox, but, once set as wallpapers i got the vibrant colors, for that exist firefox extension color management, but, what can i do with the rest of the microsoft software ? Apply to them one by one this configuration ¨?

 

screenshots ??

 

Nice post good thread

 

Kingfetty,
Thanks for sharing this info and necessary things to get it done, I loaded the profile fine.
I got one question, I can't get it to load automatically after a reboot , to get it to load again I have to go to Control Panel--->Color Management and "remove" the profile, then add it again and make it default, finally reboot and there it is again, but if I dont do this it wont be there at reboot... Is this the way it supposed to be? or am I missing a step here?
Thanks for any help on this.
I am on Win 7 64.

Jose.

 

can anyone post in this thread or point to another thread that would give instructions and tips for calibrating on their own? Do we still need to set the gamma to 1.8 for this panel? Does anyone use the ATI color corrections for getting accurate colors in games (or if there is anything that can color-correct games)?

 

I just got my M17X 2 days ago. i need to calibrate my screen.

 

I am going to post a solution to my own problem a couple of posts above just in case somebody else runs into it as well.
I have a Vizio LED TV hooked up constantly to my M17XR2, it seems this causes the profile to no load at start up, to solve this when the profile not loads I made a shortcut to desktop of the "Calibration Loader", this app is located (Win7) at "C:\Program Files (x86)\GretagMacbeth\i1\Eye-One Match 3\CalibrationLoader\CalibrationLoader.exe", once in your desktop, if you notice the profile not loaded ( I do immediately) just double click the shortcut you made and your Alienware RGB profile will load, hope it helps someone.

Jose.

 

Is it just me or is this Reddish and the blacks are more brownish gray?

 

Can anyone tell me which model number RGB this was generated with?

My research shows Dell used two different RGB panels in the R2's lifespan, the K1NF---- and J2CY----. Most of the older R2's have the K1NF and most of the newer ones have the J2CY. The newer panel is definitely different than the older one (seems less bright and less saturated by default.)

Thanks.

EDIT: I've had R2's with both panels.