Can you calibrate a monitor using a DSLR and a color chart instead of a colorimeter?
Asked 7/5/2014
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I’m wondering whether a monitor could be calibrated without dedicated hardware by using a DSLR and a color chart.
The idea would be:
- Photograph a real color chart in known light to establish a reference white point such as D65.
- Use that to derive a correction matrix for the camera sensor.
- Photograph the same chart as displayed on the monitor.
- From that, derive a correction matrix for the monitor and build an ICC profile.
In theory this seems like it could produce a quick, inexpensive monitor calibration using only a camera and chart. What are the main technical reasons this approach won’t be accurate enough compared with a proper monitor calibrator?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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In theory, this seems fine for approximately reasonable results, but a cheap color calibration device gives you steps 1 and 2 already done, plus 3 done with many, many more samples than a color chart, and 4 done automatically.
I'm willing to bet that inaccuracies in the first steps plus the limited number of samples add up to (to put it mildly!) less-than-ideal results. With a "real" colorimeter costing under $100, I'm not sure it's even worth the time in doing it another way.
Plus, you're inherently limited by the native "device color space" of your DSLR — the way digital sensors are designed to measure color, and the particular idiosyncrasies of your specific camera. You couldn't accurately calibrate any aspects of the monitors' colors that don't happen to match that in the same way. This is a limitation in colorimeters vs. photospectrometers as well, but at least the colorimeters are made for it.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A DSLR-and-chart approach can give only rough results, not reliable monitor calibration.
The main problems are:
- Your reference capture is uncertain: shooting “outside” does not guarantee D65, and daylight changes with time, weather, angle, and reflections.
- Camera sensors are not neutral measurement devices. Each camera model, and even lens choice, can render color differently, so the camera adds its own bias.
- A camera’s native color response is limited, so it may not accurately measure all the colors a monitor can display.
- A color chart gives only a small number of sample patches, while a proper colorimeter/software combination measures many more points and builds the profile automatically.
- Ambient light and monitor backlight behavior also affect results, making repeatability difficult.
So the missing piece is that monitor calibration is a measurement problem, not just a comparison problem. A dedicated colorimeter is designed for the monitor’s emitted light and gives far more accurate, repeatable data. Even inexpensive calibrators generally outperform a DSLR-based workaround.
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