Realistic colors for monitors ?

Paul Keinanen writes:
While in the past it has been necessary to specify the update rate,
spatial resolution, gamma and color space according to the available
display technology (CRT), does it make any sense to design new image
processing, storage and distribution standards according to some
obsolete display standards, when most likely, the display technology
will change every few years ?

OpenEXR, at least, seems more than flexible enough to handle future changes:

+ In dynamic range and precision, of course, it far exceeds available
display technology (using the default 16-bit floating-point channel
representation; for crazy applications where that's not enough, it
_also_ allows other representations like 32-bit floating-point, etc...)

+ It allows an arbitrary number of channels to be encoded

+ For the "standard" set of RGB channels, it has a way of specifying the
chromaticities of the primaries (and has explicitly defined defaults)

[I wish more software would support openexr well; if you can handle the
increased size of image files -- it's probably the best image format
around.]

-miles

--
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not
using enough of it.

The calibration of your PC monitor as well as settings on your computer will influence what you see on your screen. No matter how expensive your monitor or how advanced your PC, you will not get realistic colors if the calibration is off. This is most often evidenced when you print your favorite photograph in color and sadly discover that it is significantly different from the image you saw on your screen. Reason? Insufficient calibration of your monitor, PC and printer. Here is what you can do at home to see far better images on your monitor.

Instructions

Adjust Your PC Settings
1

Right click anywhere on your desktop, and select "Properties" from the menu. In the new dialog box titled "Display Properties," go to the "Settings" tab. If you have an LCD monitor that came with guidelines for screen settings, use these recommended settings. Otherwise, select the highest resolution from the drop-down menu that will still enable you to read fine text on your screen. The higher the resolution, the more realistic the display quality, but also the smaller the text on your screen. Setting such as 1024 by 768 or 1280 by 1024 represent a good compromise for most nonprofessional users.
2

Click on the "Advanced" button while you are still in the "Settings" tab. You will see the refresh rate for your monitor. As you increase the resolution, the refresh rate will start to decline after a point. If you see a rate below 72 hz, go back to the prior tab and slightly lower your resolution.
3

Click OK to close the "Advanced" menu and check the color quality, displayed on the lower right side. This should be set to 24 or 32 bits for realistic colors on your screen. If your computer is not equipped to handle 32 bits, you will note that it slows down when you select 32 bits from the menu. If so, select 24 bits. Now click "Apply" to close the screen and implement the changes.
Adjust Monitor Settings
1

Log on to a website designed for helping users calibrate monitors by using online images. Now that the settings on your PC are reasonably accurate, you should begin to calibrate the settings on your monitor. Visit a dedicated website where on-screen images are captioned with a verbal explanation of what they should look like on your monitor. Click the "Menu" button on your monitor and adjust brightness, contrast, size, geometry, zoom and other settings as per the instructions until your monitor displays the images as described on the site.
2

Print a picture. If you have a color printer, and your primary concern is being able to print images that look exactly as they do on your monitor, simply print an image. Then open the same image on your computer and compare it to the printed version. Now adjust your monitor settings until the two images match as closely as possible.
3

Send an image to a professional printer. Comparing the image on your screen to your printouts will ensure that you can effectively print what you see on your screen, but it will not ensure that you are seeing what the person taking the photographs or designing a website intended you to see, because your printer's colors may not be very accurate. To overcome this limitation, send a picture to a professional lab and adjust your monitor settings to match the professional print job as closely as possible.