Thanks again Glyn! I have literally spent hundreds of hours faffing around with printers and things and, like you, I could never get a print out I was happy with. I came across this video yesterday and followed it closely. I also got some decent printer profiles sorted and the results I’m getting now are as close to spot on as I could hope for. The prints I get out almost exactly match the screen (when viewed with a daylight viewing lamp). Thank you so much. You also helped me out recently with the canon professional layout and print software / Lightroom printing that wasn’t working. That’s working well too. Keep them coming 👍👍👍 now I just need to learn how to take decent photos 🤣🤣🤣
Awesome video! Thanks so much for creating and sharing with us. I just subscribed and will now go out and watch more of your content. You have a wonderful flow and an excellent teaching style!!! Well done.
Thanks, Glyn. I've got very similar gear to yours: Benq SW271, Canon Pro-1000, and Colorchecker Display Pro. I also use Palette Master Element, and like you, my biggest struggle was getting a proper luminance value. I've settled on 58, not too dissimilar from your findings. Art (Art is Right) is an invaluable resource for all things BenQ, but I can't go along with his recommendation of 80. My prints were just too dark at that setting. One thing I haven't tried yet is using 0.5 nits for black point, thanks for that, I'll try it. FWIW, I haven't had any problem using v4 profile version, but I don't think it matters much in terms of how well-calibrated the monitor is. Keep up the fantastic work!
Hey thanks so much for watching and commenting. Really appreciate the kind words too. Yeah I know Art...great guy and one heck of a resource for all things BenQ. Nothing beats the results once you have the display set right huh 😉👍🏻
Thanks for this. I have spent around 4years getting to this point. I have a Benq 2700 and canon pro 10S. I could never get palette master to work properly. I downloaded the current one, followed your settings and wow, it worked great. I used to softproof but with this it wasn't needed. Again thanks. Terry
Glyn, your usual, down to earth, sensible, yet absorbing tutorial. The first person to see my view regarding luminance. I’ve lost count the number of times calibration tech “experts” have told me luminance should be 100 to 120, like it was absolute gospel. That is despite my saying that I get my best results at 60 - 80. Their answer was always that my room lighting is too dim. I prefer working in dim conditions. You have confirmed that I wasn’t wrong after all.
Agreed. I think 120 is one of those "standards" which everyone keeps repeating without ever testing on their own. I calibrate to 80 which I settled on because my monitor couldn't go lower.
Great instructional video Glyn, Thanks. I struggle with this everytime i print despite keeping my monitor in calibration. However, your comments about luminance and blackpoint are where i am going to concentrate my hunt. One day i will get 99% perfect prints 99% of the time!
Perfect timing. It was time to calibrate my monitor and I needed a refresher. I also have a BenQ (271C). I actually didn't know you could store up to 3 calibration settings. Duh. And I have been using it for about 1 year now (granted, I never read the manual :-)) - Great tutorials as always.
As soon as you said 'X-rite'...my ears perked up... I used to use a X-rite 881 ( I think it was ) densitometer when I worked in photolab's. Best part of that ? It was just so damn EASY to use ! Thanks for the video Glyn...this is probably the most useful video I've come across on YT yet.
Perfectly timed kick up the rear for me Glyn, I've had the same monitor for about a year now and haven't calibrated it yet, hopefully my spydercheckr 5 elite + is still good enough for palletmaster.
I guess I'm old school and printing is the final step in the process, but it has been a long road to get to where I am today, somewhat happier than I was at the start but still nowhere near where I want to be and thats getting to a point where I can confidently print what I see on the screen with the paper of my choice for the final print.
Totally with you there Steve and yeah printing most definitely is the final part of the process and when it all comes together, it's more like the icing on the cake 😃
Great information like always. The BenQ calibration software looks like it is a lot more in depth than the x-rite software that comes with the i1Display. I do have a question though, do you also calibrate your MacBook Pro? If so, do you use the x-rite software for that? Also, have you figured out any tricks to get the brightness of your MacBook Pro monitor to the correct level? What I mean, is there are no numbers for lowering your brightness, only little dash marks. So without hooking up a color checker each time you edit, how do you make sure that your MacBook Pro monitor is at the correct brightness level?
Thanks of watching Brian. the X-Rite Software does actually have a lot of fine tuning options in there but only if you choose options other than 'Native'. You can choose specific Luminance Values, Black Point in cd/m2 and so on. I have done a video no this for my printing course. I do use it for calibrating my MacBook Pro however I only set it to the D65 White point and 100 cd/m2 for brightness as a 'catch all'. I don't use it for editing but more for an 'on the go' machine and because of that the light is different everywhere I use it so being too rigid with a calibration would be pointless. Does that make sense?
Thanks for a very insightful demonstration of monitor calibration, which I found very helpful. The only thing that I would disagree with is using the monitor setting for colour space. I attended Canon & Canson Infinity Post Workflow Day, where the two professional photographers suggested that one should use the same colour space for the camera and monitor (RGB), as printers useRGB also. Thi ensures that you get a consistent workflow
Yeah great piece of software for the BenQ monitors as it's doing a Hardware Calibration too. The X-Rite /Calibrate software is good. Does a software calibration and there's a lot of options in there too, but for the BenQ monitors, PME is definitely the way to go. Hope you're keeping well out there 👍🏻
Hi Glyn, thanks for such a great video. I think the hardest part is knowing what is good ambient light. Then a question regarding the brightness of the screen itself. Do you make any changes or do you let calibration decide everything?
Fantastic video Glyn, and I'm going to add a lot of your hints and tips into my notebook! Just purchased a BenQ SW270c in the last couple of days. It's also reassuring to know that I'm not alone in sometimes feeling a slight sense of trepidation, particularly in terms of thinking about getting some of my images printed in the future...
Many thanks for the helpful video. I have just bought a SW270C monitor. Can you please answer three questions for me? 1. MacBook display setting for colour profile: the out of the box setting is 'BenQ SW270C'. Should I change this to 'sRGB61966-2.1' as I use an external printing company to print my pics? 2. I used PME to do an initial calibration using your recommended settings (native panel) and saved this a 'Calibration 1'; however, the colour does not look natural (slight pink hue?). Thus, should I now switch to sRGB so that the colours are more natural? If I do that, does it ignore the calibration I just did and show colours as a result of the MacBook profile? Thus, should I change the MacBook colour profile to the settings I used for the calibration (the drop-down menu shows it as 'SW270C-1-D65 etc) then select sRGB via the puck? If I do that, I presume that may cause problems with my printer who ask for files to sent to them using 'sRGB61966-2.1' . 3. You recommend a luminance of 60 cd/m2, which is very low compared with most other sources on the internet. Is this because your studio is very dim? I work in slightly brighter conditions, so I think I'll get test prints for 60 cd/m2 and 80 cd/m2 to help me decide which works for me. Many thanks.
Brilliant video! In order for the Benq hardware calibration to operate properly, is it necessary or useful to remove previous "software" calibration profiles?
Great great video man!!! I am using monitor first time and I normally edited photos in laptop’s monitor. I got questions or asking help that’s (1) Do i have to calibrate monitor separately for website, general use or others used not for print? (2) or Can I use same I calibrated monitor for especially Print in website or general use? (3) Do I need change any settings in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop and Normally Lightroom and photoshop comes with Adobe RGB or Prophoto? If yes the how? (4) in Calibrate monitor my all raw photos look flat or very less contrast and less saturated? Do you have any Ideas? Do I separately calibrate Monitor for Print, website, social media, client delivery and other general use??? What is best Luminance value for website or general used if like calibrate monitor??? My picture looks less contrast and saturate means for me lifeless picture. Please if you help me it’s much a lot for me…
Maybe first watch the updated video I put together where I explain how / why I have different calibration settings. This is the video ... hope it helps th-cam.com/video/eMJZ8x3glPo/w-d-xo.html
This is so helpful thanks! One thing I always wonder though...what should you have the brightness/contrast/temp etc set to in the actual monitor menus? Or does it not matter as long as you don't change them once you have calibrated?
Helen if you change brightness , contrast etc using the menu afterwards then yeah that would mean having to calibrate again. If you have a display that is hardware calibrated you can store the calibration so that if you change anything manually later you can just got back to the saved calibration and you’re good.
Great video, thank you! I'm using the exact same equipment and I'm wondering if you'd use these same settings if you intend to print in black and white?
Glyn ,great video. I just bought a benq sw270c and I did 2 successful calibrations , one for printing with all your setings. Now my other calibration is at 6500k for most uses and I work in adobe rgb and edit to satisfaction, then convert to profile srgb for web uses. I save all my edits before conversion in a .psd file on disk. The conversion is done on a duplicate. My question is if I change to the calibration with the settings you describe can I use the fully edited .psd or do I have to reedit in this calibration all over from the start with a saved raw file? I will probably be using this print calibration only from time to time and only after really liking what I edited for the web. Thanks, I appreciate your input.
Thank you Glyn for the super useful instructions (as always). I have a BenQ monitor as well but the software does not seem to adjust the brightness setting of the monitor. What do you set your screen brightness to which is controlled on the monitor and ranges from 0 to 100? For example, I noticed that I start with the monitor brightness at 100, even after the calibration is done and I store the setting to Puck 1, when I go back to that setting the screen brightness is at 100 which is not where it should be.
With the display being hardware calibrated, it's that which controls the brightness etc so wheb you check the brightness afterwards and see that it is at 100, it's actually at 100 (%) of the brightness target you specified in the calbiration ... if that makes sense
Hi! I'm trying to Calibrate my BenQ SW321C and a MacBook Pro 16" display with an i1studio x-rite calibrator for print and also web and video editing. I'm pretty confused on how to calibrate both my MacBook and BenQ It would be awesome to see you calibrate with Palette Master element and then also use CCstudio for the MacBook display. I followed the video to get to calibrate my BenQ SW321C but there are different options in CCstudio when I go to calibrate the MacBook display. I'd like them both to be as close as possible. Does the color profile or preset I use for the MacBook display in the display system settings have any impact on the calibration process when starting the calibration in CCstudio? Right now I have it set to Photography (P3-D65). Should I use a different preset or profile when initiating the calibration process?
Hey. Great Video Man. But I am a little confused as to what Luminance and Blackpoint values should I use for an extremely dark environment? I work for Films and am currently trying to calibrate my display to DCI-P3 colorspace.
If I send out to printer and don’t print at home, do you still suggest 80 for lighting or higher? How about the new Patette Master ultimate? Tried that yet? Best settings for same monitor but sending to outside lab for printing?
Thank you for the exelent video it was very enlightening, i have a question to ask. Pallete master after callibration creates a color profile. This profile is saved on pc (the same way my xrite software does), or directly to monitor? Thanks in advace.
Thanks Glyn! Great advices for sure! Quick question for you. You mentioned that D65 was the industry std and that we can't go wrong using that white point if we send our photos to a lab for printing. However, you also mentioned that a common white point used in labs and studios is warmer (5800K). I'm confused... if I intend to send my photos to a lab for printing, should I calibrate my screen using a white point of 5800K or 6500K? Cheers!
No problem Pierre. If you leave it at D65 then it won’t be far out from what you if you send it to a lab … it won’t be perfect but it will be ok. If you use a slightly warmer white point of 5800 then yes your own prints will be better. This is also a common white point used by labs. So, D65 will be ok if you send it away …. 5800 will be better is what I was saying. I said this because some people don’t have the option to store 2 different white points like you can with BenQ so if they mainly look at images on screen or share online then they will be better using d65 … if they print occasionally too, then they will be ok. 5800 is better though if you print yourself OR send to a lab for a better print to paper match.
HI Glyn Great video. I have a BenQ Monitor and I have tried to use Palette Master. When I try to use it a message appears stating that the monitor has to be connected via a USB to the computer. If this what you had to do? Hope you can help
Hi Glyn, i have decieded to buy the canon prograf a3+ printer ! but i know i need to do a lot more to get everything working right, i am fed up of sending pics away for printing and getting rubbish back and also its an extra step that would make me feel more accomplished as a photographer, you video was amazing and even i could understand it so its gotta be good , is there a particular list of monitors that are better ?
Being searching and everyone is recommending this monitor, and I see you have the Mac Studio like I do, is this the best monitor for Video and photo editors, I’m also trying to print my photos but they don’t look the same when I print then, will this monitor help with that issue?
What would you reccomend setting the nits to for wedding photos which get delivered to displays but also get printed. ? And would you choose srgb for that usecase? I always edited my photos in adobe rgb...
The nits would be personal to you and your editing environment. If they look good on your correctly calibrated display then great but you can't account for other displays and how dark , bright people have them, quality and so on. If you lose control of the images that are being displayed and they 'could' be put on the web, then for best I would send them in sRGB
Hi Glen thanks for this made calibrating my Benq easy! Got one issue though and was wondering if you could help? After I edit a photo I like to put it on my background on my desktop so I can decide if I need to make any changes. But since calibrating my monitor the background image is really over saturated and looks completely different from in L/R P/S. any ideas?
Thank you so much, fantastic video. But I have a question about what happens if you keep your room subdued like you do. This means you have to reduce the luminance of your monitor to 60. Great for printing, but what happens if you were not printing sending your finished photograph to somebody else electronically. And most of those will have their monitor set much higher in luminance. So presumably, the photo will appear to be overbright. So you to have your room brighter, the luminance of your monitor higher and then the results you get should work both for printing and for sending digitally? Or have I got this wrong!?
Actually, I think I’ve answered my own question! I thinking about it now, I wonder if this will just produce exactly the same result for the viewer with a much higher luminance of their screen. Both will be over bright, so presumably, you have to make two versions of your fed item image, one for printing yourself, and one for sending to others electronically with the luminance value different in each case?
Thank you for your great tutorial. I have a Spyder 5 Pro and was using an EIZO ColorEdge CS2730 27" screen. I just bought a BENQ PD3200Q 32" and got to see your great presentation. Some of my first reactions on my hardware are: - the Spyder 5 Pro v5.5 is very easy to use, but lacks any history of the previous measures. It does not remember saved results file names. - the BENQ PD3200Q 32" while being huge, has a screen setup that is so small as a matchbox. Having an eye distrophy, I can't read it without a magnifying glass. I found an article on Display Pilot and hope this will help. Maybe you have some advice for me.
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn, I didn't see your email. Sorry for my late reaction. Well, brightness has direct access, so it is ok. I mean all the other screen's specific settings like Input, Picture mode, System, Audio etc. Which can't be zoomed in by the OS settings.
I have the benq pd3230u and Im looking for the CMYK calibration, because my printing material is darker than my CMYK images on the screen. Im using the sRGB mode on the monitor. Plus Im using the monitor with a PC laptop: Alienware x17 r2
If your display is hardware calibrated, then definitely don't do a software calibration. Just run the check at the end as in the video to check Display.
What I'm confused about is the brightness value set on actual monitor/puck vs luminance settings during calibration: Say I put luminance 80 in calibration software, and my actual monitor brightness is set too high for luminance 80: Will calibration just compensate and reduce light in the color profile, so I don't have to worry about the monitor brightness - or is there a particular monitor brightness I should set before calibration?
wonderful tutorial, have watched a few. But no one explains why you have to connect the monitor to the PC via USBC rather than display port which I am told is more accurate.
Min 2:20 I downloaded the software and installed it correctly. But I can't select a monitor at all. My monitor is not displayed for selection. And at X Rite there is no green tick but a red X
Glyn, appreciate all your videos!! I recently went through a printing lesson with Matt K. He had a completely different point of view and procedure than yours. I too had years of problems with getting a good print on my Epson Pro 3880 and finally after going through Matt's course, I'm now printing excellent prints. Maybe take a look at what Matt K. says and comment on the differences. Thanks again.
One important thing to mention is needing to change the software display profile on the computer if you change to one or more of the other calibration settings as they have a 1:1 relationship. If you don't, there will be a mismatch of hardware software calibration. As I understand it anyway.
@@glyndewis Deeply thanks for your reply. Actually I followed you calibrated procedures for print in D50, Luminance 60, gamma L* and black point 0.5 and Gamut Color panel or AdobeRGB AND my can i those your settings in everyday use for website, social media or others? Or is it only settings for Print? If no what is your best settings or advice for daily use? I really listen your advice and it’s means a lot to me and I got some problems like I see very less contrast and color saturated in monitors? Imagine looks almost lifeless. I recently bought Benq SW270C? This is my first time using big monitor and calibration?
@@glyndewis thanks and this new Palette Master Ultimate why don’t have color pallet option S, M and Large, large gives more color and Color panel than only AdobeRGB????
Hi Glyn, I realise this is an older video but looking for help from anyone... I'm having a lot of trouble calibrating the BenQ SW271 monitor. I'm using the latest version of Pallete Master Elements. When I use the Photographer preset, everything calibrates with really good values for Delta E However, if I try to adjust the Luminance value at all (I've tried it at 80, 90 and 100), I get a result with Target Luminace of 0 and the subsequent validation report is unusable. Delta values of 6 plus. Below I've detailed my settings using the Pallete Master Elements software with Spyder X elite plugged into the USB port on the monitor in a controlled lighting environment. White Point: 5800 Panel Native/Adobe RGB (attempted with both) Luminance 80/90/100 (any deviation from the 120 results in this problem) Gamma: 2.2 Blackpoint: 0.5 nits I'm completley stumped as the Photographer preset yields acceptable Delta E values and an accurate Target Luminance value. Any advice much appreciated. Shane.
Hi Shae ... can you drop me an email about this so we can speak? Also have you tried inputting the required settings without first choosing the. photographer preset?
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn, Thanks for the reply. The problem was in my GPU display settings which hadn't been selected to manage colour output. When I changed that and also set it to output 10 bit colour it calibrated perfectly. Still don't understand how it could have calibrated using the Photographer preset before when this hadn't been selected but at least it appears to be working now. Haven't printed yet, as it was late last night I resolved the issue but the calibration report was absolutely spot on with really low DeltaE values. Thanks so much for getting back to me. Really didn't expect a reply at all but was reaching out in hope!
I just downloaded palette master to my M1 Mac mini and keep getting an error message: “Make sure your benq display usb cable is connected to your computer” My monitor (PD3200U) is connected via BenQ’s Mini Display to USB 3 cable. Any ideas?
Hi Christopher. Do you also have the USB connected to the computer ... not the one to show the contents on the display but the other USB cable that needs to be connected?
@@glyndewis Mine failed too. I did everything exactly as in the your video. I have the same BenQ monitor and did everything according to the video (I have a SpyderXPro.) What do I do now?? Please help! Report Summary: Failed Blackpoint: .025 nits Average DeltaE: 8.63 Maximum DeltaE: 13.71
What do you do if your calibration FAILS? I have the same BenQ monitor and did everything according to the video (I have a SpyderXPro.) What do I do now?? Report Summary: Failed Blackpoint: .025 nits Average DeltaE: 8.63 Maximum DeltaE: 13.71
Ok so those Delta E numbers are quite high. A few questions for you... 1) How long had the display and calibration device been turned on for before doing the calibration? 2) Have you done a further calibration since this? 3) How you tried / Are you able to try ... using a different calibration device? 4) How long have you had the display / monitor? 5) Did you use X-Rite / Calibrate, calibration software?
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn! Thanks so much for responding! Yes, I was really shocked that it failed! Just looking at the monitor it looks very bright and very cool. That is the reason why I did a calibration right away - it was obvious just by looking at it that it was "off". 1. The display and calibration device had been on for about 2 hours. 2. Yes, same result. 3. The SpyderXPro is the only calibration device I have (I got it about a year ago.) 4. I just got the monitor directly from BenQ this week. 😩 5. I only used the Palette Master Elements calibration software and just followed along with your video using my SpyderXPro. (I did not use any other calibration software.) Should I mess with the brightness setting directly on the monitor itself? And if so, what should I put it to? (It was at 100 when I turned on the monitor and it was glaringly bright.)
60 candela!!?!?? I’m currently at 100 because it’s summer and I have more and stronger ambient light and I’m not printing much at the moment. In the winter, I had my monitor on 80 candela (only 2.75 out of 10 brightness steps on my iMac), calibrated with a Calibrite spectrophotometer; and I have dark navy blue walls. I got good printing results with 80 candela. I’m scared to try 60 candela, but I’m also super curious and probably will try it out.
Great step-by-step demonstration, Glyn! Much appreciated.
You're welcome Adam...thanks for looking in
Thanks again Glyn! I have literally spent hundreds of hours faffing around with printers and things and, like you, I could never get a print out I was happy with. I came across this video yesterday and followed it closely. I also got some decent printer profiles sorted and the results I’m getting now are as close to spot on as I could hope for. The prints I get out almost exactly match the screen (when viewed with a daylight viewing lamp). Thank you so much. You also helped me out recently with the canon professional layout and print software / Lightroom printing that wasn’t working. That’s working well too. Keep them coming 👍👍👍 now I just need to learn how to take decent photos 🤣🤣🤣
Over the moon to read this mate. So good to hear this video has helped. Thanks so much for commenting 👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome video! Thanks so much for creating and sharing with us. I just subscribed and will now go out and watch more of your content. You have a wonderful flow and an excellent teaching style!!! Well done.
Very kind … Thank you
Thanks, Glyn. I've got very similar gear to yours: Benq SW271, Canon Pro-1000, and Colorchecker Display Pro. I also use Palette Master Element, and like you, my biggest struggle was getting a proper luminance value. I've settled on 58, not too dissimilar from your findings. Art (Art is Right) is an invaluable resource for all things BenQ, but I can't go along with his recommendation of 80. My prints were just too dark at that setting. One thing I haven't tried yet is using 0.5 nits for black point, thanks for that, I'll try it. FWIW, I haven't had any problem using v4 profile version, but I don't think it matters much in terms of how well-calibrated the monitor is. Keep up the fantastic work!
Hey thanks so much for watching and commenting. Really appreciate the kind words too.
Yeah I know Art...great guy and one heck of a resource for all things BenQ.
Nothing beats the results once you have the display set right huh 😉👍🏻
Another great one from master Dewis 💪🏼
Thank you mate
Very informative and you made it so easy to understand. I'm really looking forward to your printing course. :)
Thank you Sue
Thanks for this. I have spent around 4years getting to this point. I have a Benq 2700 and canon pro 10S. I could never get palette master to work properly. I downloaded the current one, followed your settings and wow, it worked great. I used to softproof but with this it wasn't needed. Again thanks. Terry
That's brilliant to hear Terry...thanks so much for letting me know 👍🏻
Another great in depth tutorial Glyn , good job!
Thanks Joe 👍🏻
Glyn, your usual, down to earth, sensible, yet absorbing tutorial. The first person to see my view regarding luminance. I’ve lost count the number of times calibration tech “experts” have told me luminance should be 100 to 120, like it was absolute gospel. That is despite my saying that I get my best results at 60 - 80. Their answer was always that my room lighting is too dim. I prefer working in dim conditions. You have confirmed that I wasn’t wrong after all.
That's so good to hear Terry...thank you. It's beyond me how a figure can be given when everyones conditions are different.
Glad you like the video
Agreed. I think 120 is one of those "standards" which everyone keeps repeating without ever testing on their own. I calibrate to 80 which I settled on because my monitor couldn't go lower.
Thanks for an excellent step by step of calibration of the monitor for printing
You're welcome
Great instructional video Glyn, Thanks.
I struggle with this everytime i print despite keeping my monitor in calibration. However, your comments about luminance and blackpoint are where i am going to concentrate my hunt.
One day i will get 99% perfect prints 99% of the time!
Keep me posted Geoff 👍🏻
Best video I've seen on this ! thanks so much !
Great to hear that … thanks
SO helpful! Great tip to do two calibrations! Just finished printing 5 images and very pleased with the results so many thanks for this video.
That's great to hear 👍🏻
Hi Glyn, your tutorials are excellent and I for one really enjoy your teaching style. Thank you for your time and effort it is appreciated.
You're very welcome Milan; thank you so much for looking in and for commenting
Perfect timing. It was time to calibrate my monitor and I needed a refresher. I also have a BenQ (271C). I actually didn't know you could store up to 3 calibration settings. Duh. And I have been using it for about 1 year now (granted, I never read the manual :-)) - Great tutorials as always.
Cheers Luc.
Yeah the ability to store up to 3 calibrations is so incredibly useful 👍🏻
Excellent video mate, awesome explanation and exactly what I needed! Finally sorting my calibration out! 😎😎😎
As soon as you said 'X-rite'...my ears perked up... I used to use a X-rite 881 ( I think it was ) densitometer when I worked in photolab's. Best part of that ? It was just so damn EASY to use ! Thanks for the video Glyn...this is probably the most useful video I've come across on YT yet.
That's very kind of you to say Ian...thanks so much and thanks for watching
Best video on sw321c i've seen.
Thanks so much Sebastian
Perfectly timed kick up the rear for me Glyn, I've had the same monitor for about a year now and haven't calibrated it yet, hopefully my spydercheckr 5 elite + is still good enough for palletmaster.
Absolutely it will be mate; glad the video is well timed 👍🏻
I guess I'm old school and printing is the final step in the process, but it has been a long road to get to where I am today, somewhat happier than I was at the start but still nowhere near where I want to be and thats getting to a point where I can confidently print what I see on the screen with the paper of my choice for the final print.
Totally with you there Steve and yeah printing most definitely is the final part of the process and when it all comes together, it's more like the icing on the cake 😃
Great information like always. The BenQ calibration software looks like it is a lot more in depth than the x-rite software that comes with the i1Display. I do have a question though, do you also calibrate your MacBook Pro? If so, do you use the x-rite software for that? Also, have you figured out any tricks to get the brightness of your MacBook Pro monitor to the correct level? What I mean, is there are no numbers for lowering your brightness, only little dash marks. So without hooking up a color checker each time you edit, how do you make sure that your MacBook Pro monitor is at the correct brightness level?
Thanks of watching Brian.
the X-Rite Software does actually have a lot of fine tuning options in there but only if you choose options other than 'Native'. You can choose specific Luminance Values, Black Point in cd/m2 and so on. I have done a video no this for my printing course. I do use it for calibrating my MacBook Pro however I only set it to the D65 White point and 100 cd/m2 for brightness as a 'catch all'. I don't use it for editing but more for an 'on the go' machine and because of that the light is different everywhere I use it so being too rigid with a calibration would be pointless. Does that make sense?
Thanks for a very insightful demonstration of monitor calibration, which I found very helpful. The only thing that I would disagree with is using the monitor setting for colour space. I attended Canon & Canson Infinity Post Workflow Day, where the two professional photographers suggested that one should use the same colour space for the camera and monitor (RGB), as printers useRGB also. Thi ensures that you get a consistent workflow
Brilliant!.
I have never used Pallette Master to calibrate my monitor so must give it a go.
Yeah great piece of software for the BenQ monitors as it's doing a Hardware Calibration too. The X-Rite /Calibrate software is good. Does a software calibration and there's a lot of options in there too, but for the BenQ monitors, PME is definitely the way to go. Hope you're keeping well out there 👍🏻
This is great I’ve been meaning to calibrate my laptop. Definitely going to go ahead and do it, I thought it was a much more complex process.
It might take a few attempts using different luminance values to get it right mate but yeah not a difficult process at all
Hi Glyn, thanks for such a great video. I think the hardest part is knowing what is good ambient light. Then a question regarding the brightness of the screen itself. Do you make any changes or do you let calibration decide everything?
Fantastic video Glyn, and I'm going to add a lot of your hints and tips into my notebook! Just purchased a BenQ SW270c in the last couple of days. It's also reassuring to know that I'm not alone in sometimes feeling a slight sense of trepidation, particularly in terms of thinking about getting some of my images printed in the future...
Great video, Glyn...thank you!
Thank you David
Many thanks for the helpful video. I have just bought a SW270C monitor. Can you please answer three questions for me?
1. MacBook display setting for colour profile: the out of the box setting is 'BenQ SW270C'. Should I change this to 'sRGB61966-2.1' as I use an external printing company to print my pics?
2. I used PME to do an initial calibration using your recommended settings (native panel) and saved this a 'Calibration 1'; however, the colour does not look natural (slight pink hue?). Thus, should I now switch to sRGB so that the colours are more natural? If I do that, does it ignore the calibration I just did and show colours as a result of the MacBook profile? Thus, should I change the MacBook colour profile to the settings I used for the calibration (the drop-down menu shows it as 'SW270C-1-D65 etc) then select sRGB via the puck? If I do that, I presume that may cause problems with my printer who ask for files to sent to them using 'sRGB61966-2.1' .
3. You recommend a luminance of 60 cd/m2, which is very low compared with most other sources on the internet. Is this because your studio is very dim? I work in slightly brighter conditions, so I think I'll get test prints for 60 cd/m2 and 80 cd/m2 to help me decide which works for me. Many thanks.
Brilliant video! In order for the Benq hardware calibration to operate properly, is it necessary or useful to remove previous "software" calibration profiles?
Cheers Tom.
To answer your question, I haven't found that necessary 👍🏻
Great great video man!!! I am using monitor first time and I normally edited photos in laptop’s monitor. I got questions or asking help that’s (1) Do i have to calibrate monitor separately for website, general use or others used not for print? (2) or Can I use same I calibrated monitor for especially Print in website or general use? (3) Do I need change any settings in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop and Normally Lightroom and photoshop comes with Adobe RGB or Prophoto? If yes the how? (4) in Calibrate monitor my all raw photos look flat or very less contrast and less saturated? Do you have any Ideas? Do I separately calibrate Monitor for Print, website, social media, client delivery and other general use??? What is best Luminance value for website or general used if like calibrate monitor??? My picture looks less contrast and saturate means for me lifeless picture. Please if you help me it’s much a lot for me…
Maybe first watch the updated video I put together where I explain how / why I have different calibration settings. This is the video ... hope it helps th-cam.com/video/eMJZ8x3glPo/w-d-xo.html
This is so helpful thanks! One thing I always wonder though...what should you have the brightness/contrast/temp etc set to in the actual monitor menus? Or does it not matter as long as you don't change them once you have calibrated?
Helen if you change brightness , contrast etc using the menu afterwards then yeah that would mean having to calibrate again. If you have a display that is hardware calibrated you can store the calibration so that if you change anything manually later you can just got back to the saved calibration and you’re good.
Great video, thank you! I'm using the exact same equipment and I'm wondering if you'd use these same settings if you intend to print in black and white?
Hi There. Yeah I use exactly the same and the prints come out exactly as I’d want / hope for. Works a treat.
Glyn ,great video. I just bought a benq sw270c and I did 2 successful calibrations , one for printing with all your setings. Now my other calibration is at 6500k for most uses and I work in adobe rgb and edit to satisfaction, then convert to profile srgb for web uses. I save all my edits before conversion in a .psd file on disk. The conversion is done on a duplicate. My question is if I change to the calibration with the settings you describe can I use the fully edited .psd or do I have to reedit in this calibration all over from the start with a saved raw file? I will probably be using this print calibration only from time to time and only after really liking what I edited for the web. Thanks, I appreciate your input.
Thank you Glyn for the super useful instructions (as always). I have a BenQ monitor as well but the software does not seem to adjust the brightness setting of the monitor. What do you set your screen brightness to which is controlled on the monitor and ranges from 0 to 100? For example, I noticed that I start with the monitor brightness at 100, even after the calibration is done and I store the setting to Puck 1, when I go back to that setting the screen brightness is at 100 which is not where it should be.
With the display being hardware calibrated, it's that which controls the brightness etc so wheb you check the brightness afterwards and see that it is at 100, it's actually at 100 (%) of the brightness target you specified in the calbiration ... if that makes sense
Hi! I'm trying to Calibrate my BenQ SW321C and a MacBook Pro 16" display with an i1studio x-rite calibrator for print and also web and video editing. I'm pretty confused on how to calibrate both my MacBook and BenQ
It would be awesome to see you calibrate with Palette Master element and then also use CCstudio for the MacBook display. I followed the video to get to calibrate my BenQ SW321C but there are different options in CCstudio when I go to calibrate the MacBook display. I'd like them both to be as close as possible. Does the color profile or preset I use for the MacBook display in the display system settings have any impact on the calibration process when starting the calibration in CCstudio? Right now I have it set to Photography (P3-D65). Should I use a different preset or profile when initiating the calibration process?
Hey. Great Video Man. But I am a little confused as to what Luminance and Blackpoint values should I use for an extremely dark environment? I work for Films and am currently trying to calibrate my display to DCI-P3 colorspace.
If I send out to printer and don’t print at home, do you still suggest 80 for lighting or higher? How about the new Patette Master ultimate? Tried that yet? Best settings for same monitor but sending to outside lab for printing?
Id like to know this too
Thank you for the exelent video it was very enlightening, i have a question to ask. Pallete master after callibration creates a color profile. This profile is saved on pc (the same way my xrite software does), or directly to monitor? Thanks in advace.
Hi There. The LUT that is created using the BenQ software is stored directly onto the chip within the BenQ display as it's hardware calibrated 👍🏻
Thanks Glyn! Great advices for sure! Quick question for you. You mentioned that D65 was the industry std and that we can't go wrong using that white point if we send our photos to a lab for printing. However, you also mentioned that a common white point used in labs and studios is warmer (5800K). I'm confused... if I intend to send my photos to a lab for printing, should I calibrate my screen using a white point of 5800K or 6500K? Cheers!
No problem Pierre. If you leave it at D65 then it won’t be far out from what you if you send it to a lab … it won’t be perfect but it will be ok. If you use a slightly warmer white point of 5800 then yes your own prints will be better. This is also a common white point used by labs. So, D65 will be ok if you send it away …. 5800 will be better is what I was saying. I said this because some people don’t have the option to store 2 different white points like you can with BenQ so if they mainly look at images on screen or share online then they will be better using d65 … if they print occasionally too, then they will be ok. 5800 is better though if you print yourself OR send to a lab for a better print to paper match.
Awesome! Thanks so much for your help and kudos for being so fast to respond!
HI Glyn Great video. I have a BenQ Monitor and I have tried to use Palette Master. When I try to use it a message appears stating that the monitor has to be connected via a USB to the computer.
If this what you had to do? Hope you can help
Hi Brian. How are you connecting the calibration device at the moment? Any issues you can email me if you like. Address is on website glyndewis.com
Hi Glyn, i have decieded to buy the canon prograf a3+ printer ! but i know i need to do a lot more to get everything working right, i am fed up of sending pics away for printing and getting rubbish back and also its an extra step that would make me feel more accomplished as a photographer, you video was amazing and even i could understand it so its gotta be good , is there a particular list of monitors that are better ?
Great choice of printer with the Pro 300. Aa for monitors, are you looking at BenQ?
Being searching and everyone is recommending this monitor, and I see you have the Mac Studio like I do, is this the best monitor for Video and photo editors, I’m also trying to print my photos but they don’t look the same when I print then, will this monitor help with that issue?
What would you reccomend setting the nits to for wedding photos which get delivered to displays but also get printed. ? And would you choose srgb for that usecase? I always edited my photos in adobe rgb...
The nits would be personal to you and your editing environment. If they look good on your correctly calibrated display then great but you can't account for other displays and how dark , bright people have them, quality and so on. If you lose control of the images that are being displayed and they 'could' be put on the web, then for best I would send them in sRGB
Hi Glen thanks for this made calibrating my Benq easy!
Got one issue though and was wondering if you could help? After I edit a photo I like to put it on my background on my desktop so I can decide if I need to make any changes. But since calibrating my monitor the background image is really over saturated and looks completely different from in L/R P/S. any ideas?
Great to hear it helped with calibrating your display.
Ok so re the image you're using for the screen background, what colour space is it in?
@@glyndewisthanks for your fast reply I think I exported it in SRGB.
Thank you so much, fantastic video. But I have a question about what happens if you keep your room subdued like you do. This means you have to reduce the luminance of your monitor to 60. Great for printing, but what happens if you were not printing sending your finished photograph to somebody else electronically. And most of those will have their monitor set much higher in luminance. So presumably, the photo will appear to be overbright. So you to have your room brighter, the luminance of your monitor higher and then the results you get should work both for printing and for sending digitally? Or have I got this wrong!?
Actually, I think I’ve answered my own question! I thinking about it now, I wonder if this will just produce exactly the same result for the viewer with a much higher luminance of their screen. Both will be over bright, so presumably, you have to make two versions of your fed item image, one for printing yourself, and one for sending to others electronically with the luminance value different in each case?
Thank you for your great tutorial.
I have a Spyder 5 Pro and was using an EIZO ColorEdge CS2730 27" screen. I just bought a BENQ PD3200Q 32" and got to see your great presentation.
Some of my first reactions on my hardware are:
- the Spyder 5 Pro v5.5 is very easy to use, but lacks any history of the previous measures. It does not remember saved results file names.
- the BENQ PD3200Q 32" while being huge, has a screen setup that is so small as a matchbox. Having an eye distrophy, I can't read it without a magnifying glass.
I found an article on Display Pilot and hope this will help.
Maybe you have some advice for me.
Thierry…when you say screen set up on the BenQ are you meaning the controls for brightness etc ?
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn, I didn't see your email. Sorry for my late reaction.
Well, brightness has direct access, so it is ok. I mean all the other screen's specific settings like Input, Picture mode, System, Audio etc. Which can't be zoomed in by the OS settings.
I have the benq pd3230u and Im looking for the CMYK calibration, because my printing material is darker than my CMYK images on the screen. Im using the sRGB mode on the monitor. Plus Im using the monitor with a PC laptop: Alienware x17 r2
Great video! Does it make sense to run a software calibration after the hardware calibration? Or would it be useless?
If your display is hardware calibrated, then definitely don't do a software calibration. Just run the check at the end as in the video to check Display.
What do you do with the save icc file, Glyn? How to use that file?
What I'm confused about is the brightness value set on actual monitor/puck vs luminance settings during calibration: Say I put luminance 80 in calibration software, and my actual monitor brightness is set too high for luminance 80: Will calibration just compensate and reduce light in the color profile, so I don't have to worry about the monitor brightness - or is there a particular monitor brightness I should set before calibration?
wonderful tutorial, have watched a few. But no one explains why you have to connect the monitor to the PC via USBC rather than display port which I am told is more accurate.
Have you started using palette master ultimate yet? If so what are your thoughts and is it worth using instead of elements?
Yeah started using it and definitely liking it. Will have a video very soon 👍🏻
Min 2:20
I downloaded the software and installed it correctly. But I can't select a monitor at all. My monitor is not displayed for selection.
And at X Rite there is no green tick but a red X
What monitor are youusing?
@@glyndewis I am using a dell u2417H
Is it ok to do a hardware calibration using PME after doing a software calibration using color profiler by colorchecker?
Can I apply this to my HP system?
Glyn, appreciate all your videos!! I recently went through a printing lesson with Matt K. He had a completely different point of view and procedure than yours. I too had years of problems with getting a good print on my Epson Pro 3880 and finally after going through Matt's course, I'm now printing excellent prints. Maybe take a look at what Matt K. says and comment on the differences. Thanks again.
Cheers Rick. Great to hear you're getting great results after using Matt's advice 👍🏻
subbed!!!
Thanks so much 👍🏻
Once Calibrated benq monitor and does it need calibrating again every 4 weeks?
That's a personal choice but my workflow is to always do a calibration before I do a print ... not necessarily every 4 weeks
One important thing to mention is needing to change the software display profile on the computer if you change to one or more of the other calibration settings as they have a 1:1 relationship. If you don't, there will be a mismatch of hardware software calibration. As I understand it anyway.
No need to do that
@@glyndewis if the colour gamut changes yes, if the luminance changes no. Can you expand on why there is no need to do that? Thanks... 🙂
Can I use same calibrated monitor for web and social media photo?
Oh yes
@@glyndewis Deeply thanks for your reply. Actually I followed you calibrated procedures for print in D50, Luminance 60, gamma L* and black point 0.5 and Gamut Color panel or AdobeRGB AND my can i those your settings in everyday use for website, social media or others? Or is it only settings for Print? If no what is your best settings or advice for daily use? I really listen your advice and it’s means a lot to me and I got some problems like I see very less contrast and color saturated in monitors? Imagine looks almost lifeless. I recently bought Benq SW270C? This is my first time using big monitor and calibration?
@@glyndewis thanks and this new Palette Master Ultimate why don’t have color pallet option S, M and Large, large gives more color and Color panel than only AdobeRGB????
Hi Glyn,
I realise this is an older video but looking for help from anyone...
I'm having a lot of trouble calibrating the BenQ SW271 monitor. I'm using the latest version of Pallete Master Elements.
When I use the Photographer preset, everything calibrates with really good values for Delta E
However, if I try to adjust the Luminance value at all (I've tried it at 80, 90 and 100),
I get a result with Target Luminace of 0 and the subsequent validation report is unusable. Delta values of 6 plus.
Below I've detailed my settings using the Pallete Master Elements software with Spyder X elite plugged into the USB port on the monitor in a controlled lighting environment.
White Point: 5800
Panel Native/Adobe RGB (attempted with both)
Luminance 80/90/100 (any deviation from the 120 results in this problem)
Gamma: 2.2
Blackpoint: 0.5 nits
I'm completley stumped as the Photographer preset yields acceptable Delta E values and an accurate Target Luminance value.
Any advice much appreciated.
Shane.
Hi Shae ... can you drop me an email about this so we can speak? Also have you tried inputting the required settings without first choosing the. photographer preset?
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn,
Thanks for the reply. The problem was in my GPU display settings which hadn't been selected to manage colour output. When I changed that and also set it to output 10 bit colour it calibrated perfectly.
Still don't understand how it could have calibrated using the Photographer preset before when this hadn't been selected but at least it appears to be working now.
Haven't printed yet, as it was late last night I resolved the issue but the calibration report was absolutely spot on with really low DeltaE values. Thanks so much for getting back to me. Really didn't expect a reply at all but was reaching out in hope!
I just downloaded palette master to my M1 Mac mini and keep getting an error message: “Make sure your benq display usb cable is connected to your computer” My monitor (PD3200U) is connected via BenQ’s Mini Display to USB 3 cable. Any ideas?
Hi Christopher. Do you also have the USB connected to the computer ... not the one to show the contents on the display but the other USB cable that needs to be connected?
@@glyndewis Yes, I have both connections running. Tried to fix with dis- and reconnecting, restarting etc, but won’t work. 🤷🏼♂️
@@glyndewis Just got off the phone with tech support. Palette master does not work with PD monitors, unfortunately. It only works with the SW line.
Lately i have had validation reports fail. didn't have that problem before????
Are you using Version 2 or Version 4 ICC Profiles Danny? I get failures if I ever try Version 4
@@glyndewis Mine failed too. I did everything exactly as in the your video. I have the same BenQ monitor and did everything according to the video (I have a SpyderXPro.) What do I do now?? Please help!
Report Summary: Failed
Blackpoint: .025 nits
Average DeltaE: 8.63
Maximum DeltaE: 13.71
Hi, why did you create a matrix profile. In my opinion a LUT profile is better.
Recommended from a Colour Scientist
What do you do if your calibration FAILS?
I have the same BenQ monitor and did everything according to the video (I have a SpyderXPro.) What do I do now??
Report Summary: Failed
Blackpoint: .025 nits
Average DeltaE: 8.63
Maximum DeltaE: 13.71
Ok so those Delta E numbers are quite high.
A few questions for you...
1) How long had the display and calibration device been turned on for before doing the calibration?
2) Have you done a further calibration since this?
3) How you tried / Are you able to try ... using a different calibration device?
4) How long have you had the display / monitor?
5) Did you use X-Rite / Calibrate, calibration software?
@@glyndewis Hi Glyn! Thanks so much for responding! Yes, I was really shocked that it failed! Just looking at the monitor it looks very bright and very cool. That is the reason why I did a calibration right away - it was obvious just by looking at it that it was "off".
1. The display and calibration device had been on for about 2 hours.
2. Yes, same result.
3. The SpyderXPro is the only calibration device I have (I got it about a year ago.)
4. I just got the monitor directly from BenQ this week. 😩
5. I only used the Palette Master Elements calibration software and just followed along with your video using my SpyderXPro. (I did not use any other calibration software.)
Should I mess with the brightness setting directly on the monitor itself? And if so, what should I put it to? (It was at 100 when I turned on the monitor and it was glaringly bright.)
Just tried it again and here's what I got:
Report Summary: Failed
Blackpoint: .020 nits
Average DeltaE: 8.96 (failed)
Maximum DeltaE: 14.04 (failed)
Holly was a member of the family. Sorry, Glenn.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
60 candela!!?!?? I’m currently at 100 because it’s summer and I have more and stronger ambient light and I’m not printing much at the moment. In the winter, I had my monitor on 80 candela (only 2.75 out of 10 brightness steps on my iMac), calibrated with a Calibrite spectrophotometer; and I have dark navy blue walls. I got good printing results with 80 candela. I’m scared to try 60 candela, but I’m also super curious and probably will try it out.
Different room and enviroment so different candela needed for me to get accurate screen to print match
Last time in the uk you said absolute zero. I am a bit confused now. You also mentioned the L*
Never said Absolute Zero for "Best Screen to Print Match" Calibration settings. L* is best to use 'IF' you're software and Display allow; overwise 2.2
@@glyndewis thanks
the important question is how do you know that the screen needs to be calibrated?
If you do colour critical work
excelente
Thanks Glyn I will send you an email Regards Brian
I’ll keep an eye out for it Brian 👍