Monitor calibration - Adjust to ambient light?

Miss Cupcake

Miss Cupcake

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I've got a Pantone Huey for calibrating my screen. I recall reading a comment somewhere that one shouldn't tick the box "Adjust for changes in room light". Is that right or wrong please anyone:)
 
It's probably personal preference, but I have it disabled with mine. I have tried it in the past, but it wasn't for me, the contrast just looked wrong as it altered.

Edit: You could try it out anyway and see how it works for you, if you don't like it, just right click on the icon in the notification area and disable it.
 
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Calibrator are pretty much all using an enclosed captor to perform the read-outs,
consequently, ambient light under normal conditions is irrelevant.
 
juggler said:
some calibrators are intended to be left plugged in all the time
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I was narrowly referring to the system we use not considering
other systems. Sorry for not being specific.
 
I think you're referring to the automatic adjustment function after calibration?

If your ambient light levels/color/etc is controlled (and it ideally should be) then there is no benefit.
If it is not controlled, then the program may be making changes as you work without you knowing it. That could be "better" or "worse."

But having the screen brightness set correctly for the ambient and calibration target will result in a better/more accurate calibration and editing environment. One way to quickly evaluate screen brightness is to hold a piece of white paper so it is lit by the ambient... The white on the screen should be similarly "bright" (maybe a little brighter). "Correct" screen brightness is typically well below what most use... 120 cd/m2 (for "medium" light levels) tends to be around 50-65% brightness for most Mac displays.
 
juggler said:
No, some calibrators are intended to be left plugged in all the time - after calibration - to monitor room brightness and adjust brightness settings accordingly.
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That's only if you are using the "Adjust to ambient light" setting.
If you're not using the adjust setting you can unplug the light sensor.

The general consensus is NOT to use ambient light adjustment after calibrating your screen.
 
As above, the general view is to not allow the monitor to adjust according to ambient light. It is also preferable to use a calibrated monitor in relatively controlled lighting conditions
 
Miss Cupcake said:
I've got a Pantone Huey for calibrating my screen. I recall reading a comment somewhere that one shouldn't tick the box "Adjust for changes in room light". Is that right or wrong please anyone:)
Click to expand...


Set it to a static value (between 80 and 120 cd/m2), and control your room lighting instead. Get blackout blinds or thick curtains, and a light source equal to your calibrated white point. So, as you're probably calibrating to D65, get a 6500K room light, and ensure it's not too bright. A 11watt Pro-Lite daylight lamp bounced off a ceiling (no direct light) will put you in the ball park.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Set it to a static value (between 80 and 120 cd/m2), and control your room lighting instead. Get blackout blinds or thick curtains, and a light source equal to your calibrated white point. So, as you're probably calibrating to D65, get a 6500K room light, and ensure it's not too bright. A 11watt Pro-Lite daylight lamp bounced off a ceiling (no direct light) will put you in the ball park.
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I'm not sure I'd want to have to work with all natural light cut off! I get little enough natural light at this time of year anyway.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Set it to a static value (between 80 and 120 cd/m2), and control your room lighting instead. Get blackout blinds or thick curtains, and a light source equal to your calibrated white point. So, as you're probably calibrating to D65, get a 6500K room light, and ensure it's not too bright. A 11watt Pro-Lite daylight lamp bounced off a ceiling (no direct light) will put you in the ball park.
Click to expand...

This - it's what I did for our study as the desk looks out onto the large window, so I needed a way of controlling the light. I use a Datacolour Spyderpro4 to calibrate my monitor and found by adjusting the room light to within the accepted parameters suggested, makes a big difference to the brightness of the display and I've found controlling the quality of the print. I've got into the habit of checking and adjusting room brightness when editing
 
boliston said:
I'm not sure I'd want to have to work with all natural light cut off! I get little enough natural light at this time of year anyway.
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(shrug)... it's the only way to get a consistent, known value of light. If you're gonna sit by a window then there's not much point calibrating to be honest. Whenever I'm not doing anything critical here in this room, I obviously open the blinds, and despite the screen being well calibrated, it visually appears very different as the light changes outside. At sunset (the room faces west(ish), the screen actually looks cyan/green if the sunset if particularly warm. If I was doing anything colour critical at that time without blacking out the daylight, I'd be compensating for that without thinking and making images that were excessively red/magenta.
 
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