Monitor calibration for home users

Unless you work as a graphic designer or professional photographer you probably don't fret too much over your computer monitor. But if you're a digital photography buff who's not satisfied with the difference between how a picture looks on the computer screen and what the printer turns out, your monitor may be partly to blame.

With the rise in popularity of digital photography, companies that make pricey, professional monitor-calibration products are dropping prices and pursuing home users.

Earlier this month, Pantone and ColorVision released ColorPlus, a cheap package that includes a sensor that you stick onto the front of your screen to take measurements and software that steps you through adjusting your monitors settings.

''Pros correct their monitors at least once a month -- now you can too in your home. Produce stunning photos just like the Pros," according to copy on the side of the box. Well, maybe. Obviously, getting ''stunning" photos out of your printer depends on lots of factors including the type of paper you're using and the printer's settings.

It's certainly not a bad idea to start with calibrating your monitor, but if you're really persnickety, calibrate your printer as well. How you do that varies by manufacturer, but printers come with drivers, or software that allows you to tweak things like color saturation. Some people go a step further and calibrate their digital camera and scanner as well.

As for monitor calibration, I recently tested ColorPlus and two other affordable packages easy enough for home users. I tried the products on two CRT monitors (Dell and Sony) that are a couple of years old, not unlike what many folks would have in a home office or den.

ColorPlus

ColorPlus, a $119 kit (currently on sale at pantone.com for $99), is a hardware/software package that includes a sensor, calibration software, and a copy of Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition, a great program for organizing and tweaking digital photos.

The sensor looks a bit like one of those round Apple mice stuck onto a three-legged clip. The feet have suction cups on the ends that hold the sensor onto the monitor. Users of flat-panel LCD screens are warned not to use the suction cups because it could cause damage; instead you hang the sensor in front and attach an included counterweight that dangles from the back of the monitor.

Before you proceed to calibrate, save yourself a possible headache by printing out the User Guide. It's only seven pages. Your biggest problem will be finding it. The file is buried several folders down on the CD.

Once you get it going, ColorPlus gets high marks for ease of use. The program very easily steps you through the process; one screen even presents you with a graphic you can use to align the sensor on your screen.

After making adjustments to brightness and contrast controls, you attach the sensor, which takes some readings, then the program creates a color profile for your monitor that you save to your hard drive.

To test whether calibration had any effect on my printouts, I output photos before and after running ColorPlus. There was virtually no difference between the two images; they both looked good. Does that mean that the calibration didn't work? Not necessarily.

ColorPlus did make significant changes to my monitor display, bringing it more in line with the printouts. Colors popped a bit more and the screen wasn't as bright.

According to a company representative, since both prints looked good, my printer driver was probably doing a good job despite what my monitor looked like. The issue is when you sit down to edit an image on-screen and there's a major disconnect between what you're creating and what's printing.

If you're looking for that kind of accuracy, calibration may help. But if you're getting decent printouts anyway and don't care about the disconnect, you may want to leave monitor calibration to the pros and the picky.

ColorPlus is available at retail outlets and at ColorVision.com and Pantone.com. It requires Windows 98 or higher and a USB port.

Eye-One Display

Made by a Swiss company GretagMacbeth, Eye-One Display ($249) is at the low-end of the company's line of pricier calibration products meant for professional use.

It comes with a sensor (and counterweight for LCDs) and calibration software, as well as a freebie called Eye-One Share that allows you to create custom color palettes for use in design programs.

Installation of the calibration software was a little confusing. (Partly my fault for skipping the well-done animated tutorial under the ''Training Modules" button on the CD start-up screen.)

When the CD starts up, a screen appears with several icons, but none of them say anything like ''install calibration software." I correctly guessed that I should start with the one on the left marked ''Match," which installed the calibration program.

After installation, you run Match and select the type of monitor you're calibrating (CRT or LCD) and an automated ''easy" or ''advanced" mode that gives you more control and settings to customize. I found the results of the advanced mode excellent, producing great color.

My main quibble with Eye-One Display is its interface, which was recently redesigned to make it easier to use. The installation CD and calibration program cover more than one product. A novice or someone who skips the online tutorial may be baffled by buttons and instructions that don't apply to Eye-One Display. For instance, the installation CD includes a diagnostic program thats meant to be used with another product.

You'll have to keep a close eye on the ''Help" portion of the screen to make sure you're following the correct instructions and clicking the right buttons. In addition to arrows for the help file (upper right), there's an arrow to advance to the next step (lower right) and at certain points a ''start" button appears on the main screen (center) that runs various measurement tests. I was tripped up more than once by hitting the wrong button.

Eye-One Display is Mac and Windows compatible. It requires Windows 98 or higher, a Pentium II or higher, 128MB of RAM, 48MB of hard disk space, a monitor resolution of 1024 x 768, and USB. The requirements are the same for the Mac, with the exception of the operating system, OS 9.1 or higher. The program is available at various online and offline retailers and at gretagmacbethshop.com.

DisplayMate

Grab a cup of coffee and be prepared to settle in awhile before you run DisplayMate. This software-only calibration product is beyond detailed. It's been updated with a ''novice" mode that cuts down on the number of screens you step through. However, that still means navigating 16 tests that display various grids, color scales, and test patterns along the way. Each is proceeded by a detailed explanation that includes problems to look for and how to fix them. Just reading the help files is an education.

The program also comes with a detailed print manual, a novelty these days. This is clearly not a program for anyone in a hurry. However, if you're patient and the type who loves attention to detail and maximum customization, DisplayMate will deliver.

After you've completed the initial calibration, you can use the programs Tune-up section to keep things humming. And you can also use DisplayMate to help calibrate your printer. Details are on the company's website, displaymate.com.

DisplayMate for Windows costs $79; the downloadable version is $69. It runs under Windows 95 and higher. The company encourages Mac users to run the program using a Windows emulator.

Michelle Johnson is a freelance writer. She can be reached at mijohn@mail-me.com.