How can I get more accurate color when editing photos on a laptop screen?
Asked 11/2/2011
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2 answers
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I mainly edit color, white balance, brightness, and do some cropping on a laptop. The problem is that the image changes noticeably when I tilt the laptop screen or change my viewing angle.
How can I judge color accurately on a laptop display, and is there any way to make edits look reasonably consistent across different desktops and laptops? I assume calibration is part of the answer, but what can I realistically do when editing on a laptop, especially if I want to avoid buying extra hardware?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
10
It is pretty much impossible, although you can get closer.
At the very least you need a color-calibration device. Using that device you calibrate your screen so that the colors it can show are close to how they should be. Most laptop displays sadly only show 60-75% of sRGB color, so there can be up to 40% of colors you cannot see in the laptop. Instead they get substituted for another color. It can make it very surprising when you see your image elsewhere.
Even if you get a top-quality laptop like a Thinkpad W700 which has a color-calibration device built-in, you still only get 84% sRGB coverage which is on par with crappy monitors and yet costs a fortune.
Ideally, you would get a color-calibratable display and hook it to your laptop while you do any work which has to do with colors. The are relatively cheap these days and I know you can get the NEC P221W for under $450, so they are definitely affordable now. If that is too expensive, look for it refurbished (I bought 2 of those for $237 each like that). This is the cheapest wide-gamut display I know and covers 100% of sRGB and 96% of AdobeRGB color spaces, it also supports 10-bit internal LUTs which reduces calibration artifacts.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
14y ago
0
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Laptop screens often shift color and contrast with viewing angle, so you cannot make them fully reliable just by technique. The practical limits are:
- Keep your eyes perpendicular to the screen and your seating position consistent.
- Sit a bit farther back so small head movements change the viewing angle less.
- Use the laptop at a desk rather than casually moving it around.
For actual color accuracy, a hardware colorimeter is the best solution. Software-only visual calibration tools can help a little, but they are generally unreliable.
Also, many laptop displays cannot show the full sRGB gamut, so some colors are simply not displayed accurately even after calibration.
The best workflow is:
- Calibrate the laptop with a colorimeter if possible.
- For critical color work, connect a good external monitor and calibrate that.
You cannot guarantee the image will look the same on all other screens, because other people’s displays may be uncalibrated or lower quality. What you can do is edit on a calibrated, consistent display so your file is as correct as possible.
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