Calibrating Monitor

Without buying something to calibrate my monitor what would you all say is the best option? Using all the images from all the different photo websites and others all have different results. Which would you say is the best?


Main reason I ask is because I can't tell if the darkness in this photo is accurate. Have no idea if I even said that correctly. Basically, if my monitor is calibrated correctly, should I be able to see the difference in scale or darknessbetween my shirt and the background (to the right of the rat trap).





http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/...b248ce4f9f.jpg


I may not even be asking the question correctly. Please let me know if you need me to rephrase.

There is a substantial area where the black level on the bicep is ZERO, it ramps from 1 - 7 or so near there so it is no wonder you seeing it match the background - as it does = full black. Apply a levels adjustment and shift the midpoint left a bit until you like the definition.


-Shea

You would be happy with a hardware calibrator but if for some reason you can not buy one you can try a simple online adjustment.


You can perform a Monitor Black Point Check, Monitor Luminance Sensitivity test and Monitor Grayscale test here:


http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/Calibration/monitor_black.htm


It is not the best option but can tell you if your monitor is way off.





- Johnny

I can't say on this monitor, as I'm at work. What I've used to calibrate the brightness/contrast settings on my LCDs at home was the Lagom LCD test images. It's free, and I improved upon the factory settings. How well it compares to other solutions, I couldn't tell you.