Questions for those with RGBLED or wide gamut displays

I'm considering getting a RGBLED screen with my next laptop, but I'm rather hesitant because I've heard SRGB color accuracy pre-calibration is extremely poor, even (or perhaps, especially) for casual usage.

Unfortunately, Monaco Optix XR doesn't work with Windows 7 and getting a new puck or compatible software would turn a $150 upgrade into a $400 upgrade, so:

1. What laptop (or monitor) do you have?
2. Do you feel colors are oversaturated?
3. Do you calibrate your display?
4. If yes to #3, how do you perform the calibration?

 

It only makes sense to get spend the $$$ for a wide gamut screen if you're prepared to go through the calibration routines. Kind of like buying a high hp sports car and putting US spec highway tires on it. Waste of time and $$.

Many people try to use Adobe Gamma (a photoshop component) but you are still depending on your eyes to match screen performance to a series of pre-made test images. I use it from time to time but only to check the calibration of screens when I'm away from the home office and things don't look quite right to me.

On top of my hardware, I probably own around $750 of precision printed color and grey-scale targets from DataColor/ColorVision, Lasersoft, and Kodak. Makes it very easy to monitor the performance of my dlsrs and scanners over time.

A new Spyder3 Pro costs around $130 at bhphoto.com. BH sells the precision-printed targets as well.

Note that you can run calibration routines on most even the cruddiest LCD panels using the stock color ICC management in Windows or MacOS (and most modern Linuxii as well) and get 'pretty good' results. It's just that a wide gamut screen will let you push the color response of the video adapter to a wider set of limits.

The better question is going to be what are you going to do with the display? Will your work require the kind of color accuracy that a good screen and calibration brings or is it for bragging rights?

 

1. Dell Precision M4400
2. they're a bit more saturated than other displays I've seen, but I wouldn't say they're over-saturated
3. nope, don't necessarily need to, because the only reason I got the RGBLED display is because the only other WUXGA that came with the Dell Precision M4400 was a 2xCCFL-backlit display and I don't want to risk having a backlight that turns yellow or fades during the 4 years I plan to use this computer (some CCFLs are known to decline in quality a lot faster than LEDs, and LEDs don't have a warmup time). I'll calibrate it if I ever find someone who owns a Spyder3 Pro/Elite and gives me a chance to borrow it, but I don't do enough graphical work to make calibration a necessity. I'm a programmer/CS student.

 

I have a Dell M6500 with the RGB LED screen and found it OK out of the box but much better when calibrated with my Spyder3. I use it exclusively for photoediting and think it's a great screen.

 

Thank you all for the responses. The reason I'm hesitant about getting a new colorimeter is because I'm not too excited about paying to downgrade - neither the Spyder3 nor the i1D2 are as good as the old DTP-94.

I'm interested in RGBLED displays because those are the highest quality laptop LCD's available. If the stock screens weren't utter crap compared to the average desktop monitor, I'd be perfectly happy with an SRGB display.

 

Peon,

While I can agree that your DTP-94 (hardware) is better quality (arguably) than a Spyder3, the 5 yrs worth (guess) of software updates will more than make up for it. I don't think it will be a 'downgrade' at all.

FYI; I am using a Spyder3Elite with the v4.0.2 software and am still satisfied with the results (even though better products are out, I know). The 'Iterative Gray Balance Option' was something I took a chance on with the new v4 software and I have not regretted it at all.

See:
Spyder3Elite? 4.0 Upgrade | Datacolor


Good luck.

 

1. I have an HP 8740w workstation with the DreamColor 2 IPS 30-bit panel. Extremely wide gamut.
2. No. And the reason is, the 8740w comes with the HP Mobile Display assistant which allows you to switch between different gamut profiles. I use the sRGB profile 95% of the time; colors look perfect without any hint of oversaturation. For Photoshop CS5 I use the Adobe sRGB color space, which is far more saturated but better suited to photo editing.
3. Personally, no. However the display does come calibrated from the factory.

 

I was thinking of getting a Dell U2711 to run with a HDMI to DVI-D addapter as the monitor in HDMI only supports 1920x1080. it is 16x9 but 2560x1440. I would also have to get a calibrator as I am sure the two screens would not just magically be good to go. I would be limited to 24 bit color space but that is fine for hobby stuff............

 

Though I can't speak from personal experience, I have used my friend's Precision M6400 with the RGBLED WUXGA screen for awhile, and Spyder3 made it a whole lot better. But after using that and going back to a normal screen, it's very disappointing lol.