Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

I just got a Lenovo P32U-10 monitor.  It has about 98% Adobe RGB support as well as sRGB, etc.

I'm using Capture One as my main software and feeding the images to Qimage Ultimate via C1's recipe process.

I have calibrated the monitor using DisplayCal and a SpyderX device. Printer is Canon Pixma Pro-200.

The images look pretty good in Capture One and correlate reasonably well with the printed image using a standard Canon profile (Luster in this instance).

However, when I pass the image to QiU, skin tones are showing with way too much red in them.  Both the profiled image and the regular image in QiU are way too red.  As mentioned above, the actual print is much closer to C1.

The images are passed from C1 to QiU as 16-bit TIFF images using the Adobe RGB (1998) ICC profile.

Can someone help me understand what's happening here?

Thx

Have you selected your monitor profile in Qimage, at the top of the Printers and Settings tab?  As long as that has the proper profile, they should look correct.  Note that if you want the thumbnails to look correct (and the live view), you'd have to rebuild thumbs (in the "View" menu) so the thumbs are rebuilt for the current monitor profile.

Regards,
Mike

Yes, that was it as far as QiU and C1 are concerned.  I had forgotten to update QiU's reference.  Now both programs deliver identical coloring using the profile that Lenovo delivered with the monitor.

However, both programs are still redder than the actual print.  I'm using the profile delivered with the printer.

Any ideas on that one???

You'd have to decide which one is more accurate: monitor or printer.  Chances are, you need a better profile for one or the other.  But also remember that lighting can have a big effect on printed photos.  Have you looked at the printed photos outside in sunlight?

Mike

OK.  I will check sunlight tomorrow.  Otherwise I'll try to gen a new profile.

Thanks for your help.

Yes, sunlight was the answer.  Well, actually, we don't have sunlight at the moment - lots of fog!

But at the moment, if I cut the monitor brightness and contrast down sufficiently, the prints are an exact match for the monitor.  And, as I said before, QiU and C1 are matching exactly also.

Mission accomplished.

Thanks again.

The way to overcome lack of good daylight is to use an OTT Light. I've had one for some time to check prints next to my monitor.
I Think this is the latest version of what I've got, it now includes 3 colour temperature settings.

https://products.ottlite.com/p-539-prevention-by-ottlite-led-task-lamp-with-digital-display.aspx (https://products.ottlite.com/p-539-prevention-by-ottlite-led-task-lamp-with-digital-display.aspx)

Terry

And the color temps are accurate enough?

Yes it is (there's only one I assume it's 5500k normal daylight) on the older version I have so I would think the new version would be as good.

Terry

Hello Terry

That seems a good piece of kit.

Just one point, where does is get it's power.

Mains or battery? checking on line I can only see the voltage quoted as 120 presumably usa version.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
I trust  you are well.
Colour Confidence in the UK sell what is the same item but with different branding.

https://colorconfidence.com/products/grafilite-2?_pos=15&_sid=87429d5f0&_ss=r (https://colorconfidence.com/products/grafilite-2?_pos=15&_sid=87429d5f0&_ss=r)

The voltage is AC 100-240V – UK/Euro universal plug.

Terry

I use daylight LED bulbs in my office and find that they are good enough to remove any noticeable color casts.  I only use my Ott lite or go outside for sunlight for critical viewing or if I notice a slight change in color that I want to diagnose: this is now so rare that I haven't used my Ott lite in years.  In fact, I've replaced most bulbs in my home with the daylight bulbs.  Some people think the 5000K daylight is "harsh" but once you get used to it, anything else just looks "dirty".

Mike

I also tried fiddling around by setting up different monitor profiles using Lenovo’s different monitor color modes, such as their Adobe RGB mode.  I found that the the most ‘neutral’ version was just with their Custom mode, although I still had to turn red down a bit in order to match the prints.

Once I had adjusted the red, prints on various papers worked well with their downloaded profiles.

Hello Terry

Thanks for info.

Just what I require, so now ordered.

Yes, I am keeping well, just a dicky knee has cut down taking photos.

Jeff 

Hi Mike, that seems a good idea and simple to do. I had LED bulbs in my house for some time but most are warm white (<3000K), I'd not seen any of 5000K previously but they are now readily available here. I'll buy one for my 'office' where all the photographic work takes place to check it out.
Terry