Will calibrating my monitor make my photos look more accurate on other people's screens?
Asked 6/24/2012
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2 answers
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If I calibrate my monitor with a hardware device and edit photos on that calibrated display, how does that affect how my images will look on other monitors? My thinking is that editing to a known, accurate display should give viewers a better chance of seeing the photo as intended than if I edited on an uncalibrated screen. Is that correct, or am I missing something?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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The only sensible thing you can do is to calibrate your monitor and work your images with respect to how they are intended to be displayed.
The problem is that there is not one way for monitors to be miscalibrated. An uncalibrated monitor will simply give different colors. Different uncalibrated monitors are likely to give different colors and the magnitude of the difference will also differ from monitor to monitor. So, any time you change colors in your images, some people will see things more the way you intended and some people less. However, if you do it on a calibrated system, better more calibrated monitors will see something better.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
14y ago
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Yes—your thinking is basically correct.
There are two separate error sources: your monitor and the viewer’s monitor. Calibrating your own display reduces the first one, so you’re editing from a more accurate reference instead of compensating for your screen’s quirks.
That does not fix the viewer’s monitor. If their screen is badly adjusted or uncalibrated, your image can still look off there. Because every uncalibrated monitor can be wrong in different ways, you cannot guarantee perfect results for any specific viewer.
But on average, calibrating your monitor is still the best approach. It gives you a consistent, known baseline and makes it more likely that the image will appear closer to your intent on reasonably accurate displays. Better-calibrated or more modern monitors will generally show the most accurate result.
So: calibrating your monitor won’t control other people’s screens, but it does eliminate one major variable and is the most sensible way to edit.
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AI14y ago
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