# monitor calibration and lightroom



## m (Apr 8, 2014)

hello there,

I just got started today with the whole calibration thing and tried to calibrate my displays.
One is a laptop screen and the other is an external one (LP2475W).

I created a profile for each one and changed the display settings to use each profile.

Now I'm in doubt about the results.
Just looking at the windows desktop:
The external display is still a lot more saturated and vibrant.
Aren't the two monitors supposed to look the same?

Then I opened LR and looked at some photographs on the laptop screen.
I zoomed into some portion of sky in one image.
On the laptop display, it has a slight purple tint. 

When I drag LR to the external display (without dropping it) the whole thing (including LR itself) becomes more saturated. The sky is very purple.
As soon as it's dropped, it desaturates to a relatively normal degree and the purple tint in the sky is gone.

It's less purple than it was on the laptop screen at the beginning.

I wonder now:
What causes the difference?
Is it the laptop screen that simply can't keep up with the external display?
Did I screw up the measurement?

The calibration seems to be applied to the entire application.
LR is color corrected for the display it's mostly on. 
Even if the window spans multiple displays.
How can I prevent that?
Did I screw up the settings of the profiles?

thanks for your help


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## Jim Saunders (Apr 8, 2014)

What kind of calibrator?

Jim


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## m (Apr 8, 2014)

it's an x rite color munki photo

sorry, totally forgot to mention that. :-[


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## Jim Saunders (Apr 8, 2014)

If the software is the same as the i1 display pro there should be an option in the menus before the cal starts for ICC v2 or ICC v4. If you have that set it to v2 and try it again.

Jim


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## m (Apr 8, 2014)

I checked the settings and it was set to version 2.

Any other idea what the problem is?


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## Jim Saunders (Apr 8, 2014)

What cable do you use to connect? I haven't tried DisplayPort, but I've noticed that connecting my desktop display with DVI yields better contrast than HDMI; I have no idea why.

Anyway that shouldn't mangle the colours. Try resetting the monitor to its factory settings, and if you haven't already then set your software to use Automatic Display Control.

You might see a little bit of difference in what I'd call the texture of the image compared to your external display, but the colours should be right on once you get the wrinkles out.

Jim


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## David_in_Seattle (Apr 8, 2014)

I also have the ColorMunki for calibrating my MBP to a Dell ultrasharp 24" display.

A few notes:

The displays will never be 100% identical because the specs of each display are different. One will have greater contrast or saturation. Maybe one has a better preproduction of the sRGB color gamut. Check your display specs.
Despite the differences, you can still get fairly close with calibration. When you launch the program, there's a checkbox for display matching. First, calibrate your primary monitor, then calibrate the second using the display match. The results will never be perfect, but it's as close as you can get.
As for display connections, display port is suppose to be the most accurate, followed by DVI or HDMI. Please don't use VGA unless you have to.


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