Monitor Mode confusion

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Hi There, I'm getting a bit confused and I'm hoping someone can help me.


I have a Dell 2713H monitor, an X-Rite i1 and the Dell UltraSharp calibration solution tool installed on the computer. The monitor has several modes and I don't know which one(s) I should be using for editing (Lightroom & Photoshop). The modes are:

  • Standard
  • Multimedia
  • Movie
  • game
  • AdobeRGB
  • Cal 1 – (Currently calibrated to SRGB)
  • Cal 2 – (Currently calibrated to Native)
  • SRGB
  • 5000k
  • 5700k
  • 6500k
  • 7500k
  • 9300k
  • 10000k
  • Custom
  • Paper

Using the i1 I'm able to calibrate the two Cal modes to anyone of a number of colour spaces. There are two things that I edit in Photoshop and Lightroom,

RAW files off my camera and TIFF files from negative scanning. The TIFF files I export with an AdobeRGD16bit profile (due to the scanner\0

I understand that Lightroom and Photoshop work using the ProfotoRGB colour space which has the biggest gamut and that the monitors Native colour space is also large. Therefore should I be using the Native setting on my monitor for editing and then checking via soft proofing in SRGB before exporting from print/internet?

For the TIFFs should I use the calibrated ARGB mode or the Native mode?

What's confusing me is editing in one space, exporting in another and the monitor being in something else.
 
Right, I'm not an expert, but this is what I do - I've worked in Adobe rgb since the days of crt displays and Photoshop 4, so I've just stuck with it - so currently my display is set to Adobe rgb, my digital camera raw output and my film scanner raw or tif output to the same (in 16-bit), and so is my working space in LR and PS.

Specific conversions to other spaces are done just at time of saving copies for particular purposes (usually srgb, or sometimes cmyk), in 8-bit. Does that help?

I believe that temperature-wise, 6500k is the one.

It would be a bit odd to have a wide gamut monitor set to srgb?
 
Last edited:
Thanks @droj but I'm still confused.

I'm thinking I should be doing the following, but would like conformation or a pointer as to where I should change my work flow.

For digital – Shoot RAW, Edit in Native monitor mode, export for printing and web use sRGB (using soft proof).
For film – scan as aRGB TIFF, edit in aRGB monitor mode, export for printing and web use as sRGB (using soft proof).

I would be able to calibrate the two preset modes to native and aRGB.
 
I'd be going for either 56k or 65k.
I'm led to think 56k was the film standard for daylight colour temperature.
 
You should be using one of the two Cal modes, it makes sense to calibrate to aRGB and you will need both a hardware calibration and a software profile... rather than try to explain things (and possibly me not explaining properly) here is a link that explains the process, I would read it and then read it again, then maybe print it out as an aid whilst carrying out the calibration/profiling process.

https://photographylife.com/how-to-calibrate-dell-wide-gamut-monitors

HTH
 
I wouldn't have two alternative modes to edit in - I'd use the same one across the board, and soft-proof (if required) at output time.
 
I wouldn't have two alternative modes to edit in - I'd use the same one across the board, and soft-proof (if required) at output time.
Agreed, that is why it makes sense to do the calibration as aRGB rather than sRGB, with these monitors where the calibration is held within the hardware a software profile is also needed for use by profile aware applications (LR and PS)
 
Thanks, I get it now and I agree with the above. I had a chat with someone over at X-Rite. They said I would be best using the Native mode (calibrated) for everything given my work streams. Native is the maximum that the monitor can do, which in my case is 99% aRGB. When I export I will check using the soft proofing function.
 
So far so good. As I understand it, basic, across-the-board colour balance comes from calibration of the working system. Soft-proofing is more of a check, first for colours being in or out of gamut, not a huge issue in my experience but neither something to ignore altogether - but perhaps above all for the tonal adjustments needed for particular output scenarios (printing on different media, etc).

My gut feeling isn't to get bogged down in theory, but just to learn what actually works. A measure of control is essential for this - we can't just blunder about hoping for the best. The digital world is a labyrinth as much as darkroom work ever was.
 
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