How can I match color between two IPS monitors with different backlights?
Asked 4/9/2015
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I’m trying to get two IPS displays to look the same: an older CCFL-backlit Fujitsu P24-5 ECO and a newer LED-backlit Dell U2412M. I calibrated/profiled both under Linux using dispcalGUI with targets around 6500K and 140 cd/m², and tested with several colorimeters. White point and brightness looked close, but side-by-side the Fujitsu showed a slight red cast, especially in light skin tones.
Is this difference expected when matching displays with different backlight technologies? Do TRC/gamma curve differences in the generated profiles indicate a real display imbalance, or just the correction needed for that display? Would changing the standard observer setting help, and is a spectrometer necessary?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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In DispCalcGui go to Options->Set additional command line arguments... New dialog box should open with a list of tools. In the box that says "dispcal" enter -Q 1964_10 and see if it makes any difference. This parameter sets standard observer to CIE 1964 10º, which reportedly improves the results when matching multiple displays with different backlighting technology.
Originally by user27944. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27944
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Matching two different monitors exactly can be difficult, especially with different backlights (CCFL vs LED), but they should usually be able to get very close.
A profile TRC difference does not necessarily mean the profile is “adding red”; it can simply reflect the correction needed for that display’s native behavior.
Two practical takeaways from the shared experience:
- In dispcalGUI / ArgyllCMS, try using the CIE 1964 10° standard observer (
-Q 1964_10). This is reported to improve visual matching between displays that use different backlight technologies. - If one application still shows mismatched color while the desktop looks correct, check app-level color management. In this case, the apparent red tint turned out to be caused by darktable’s profile handling, not the calibration itself. Setting darktable to obtain the display profile from
colordfixed the issue.
So before buying a spectrometer, verify that your editing/viewing software is actually using the correct display profile consistently. A spectrometer may help in some workflows, but based on the answers here, software color-management settings were the real cause.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
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