Monitor calibration for newsprint

[Damo]

Is anybody out there in the newspaper industry?

I work in the enhancing department for one of uncle Rupert's publications. Until now, our monitor calibration has been by eye, and frankly, sloppy.

Now we have an i1 Display 2 ... woohoo!

Can anybody suggest the best settings (white point, gamma and luminance) for newsprint work?

Cheers,

Damo.

[digitaldog]

Other than playing with the contrast ratio (which many products can't address), there's nothing unique about newspaper work with respect to the target calibration values you select. Use a 2.2 gamma (unless you have the option to select Native which only the Sony Artisan and the EyeOne Display products allow that I know of). I'd try using CCT 5000K as a white point to start with since your paper is very warm (usually I'd say start at 6500K but in this case, you're in a somewhat unique position). If screen to print matching is too warm, you can up the CCT Kelvin target value).

Luminance is based upon the ambient light by the display (lower is better). On a CRT, you'd be hard pressed to get more than 95 cd/m2 for long. An LCD can go much higher (meaning you can work in something other than a dark cave). That said, and not knowing anything about your environment, you might try something along 120 cd/m2 for a CRT.

[mattbeals]

Just get a good press profile and a good monitor calibrator like the EyeOne Display.

[Damo]

Originally Posted by digitaldog

Luminance is based upon the ambient light by the display (lower is better). On a CRT, you'd be hard pressed to get more than 95 cd/m2 for long. An LCD can go much higher (meaning you can work in something other than a dark cave). That said, and not knowing anything about your environment, you might try something along 120 cd/m2 for a CRT.

Thanks for the reply. My problem with luminance is not "going high" but "going low". Our department is brightly lit, just like any office anywhere in the State - so we can view our work in similar lighting conditions to our readers.

(Please don't bother to point out the naivete of the broad statement "similar lighting conditions" - I'm aware of it!)

In spite of that, I still can't attain a low enough luminance setting to achieve a good monitor-to-print match. EyeOne Match offers presets down to 80cd/m2, and under custom I can choose 50cd/m2, but even that gives me a more contrasty monitor than the newspaper that I'm looking at.

[digitaldog]

I'm not following you. IF the room is very bright, you want the luminance higher not lower.

[Damo]

Well, that's what I don't understand ...

I've read plenty of advice on this forum and others, and on your website and others, that consistently repeat that advice - "The brighter the ambient lighting, the brighter the luminance needs to be".

But we want our monitors to display the same amount of contrast as the printed images on paper (very dull inks on crappy newsprint), ie quite low contrast.

Do I have the wrong tack here? Is luminance not the setting I should be concerned with?

[Damo]

Well, that's what I don't understand ...

I've read plenty of advice on this forum and others, and on your website and others, that consistently repeat that advice - "The brighter the ambient lighting, the brighter the luminance needs to be".

But we want our monitors to display the same amount of contrast as the printed images on paper (very dull inks on crappy newsprint), ie quite low contrast.

Do I have the wrong tack here? Is luminance not the setting I should be concerned with?

[digitaldog]

Originally Posted by Damo

Well, that's what I don't understand ...

I've read plenty of advice on this forum and others, and on your website and others, that consistently repeat that advice - "The brighter the ambient lighting, the brighter the luminance needs to be".

But we want our monitors to display the same amount of contrast as the printed images on paper (very dull inks on crappy newsprint), ie quite low contrast.

Do I have the wrong tack here? Is luminance not the setting I should be concerned with?

The display should be the brightest and darkest item in your view. You said the room is bright and you can't get the luminance lower which is backwards.

You'll get the right soft proof (dynamic range) with good profiles and the proof setup set to simulate the paper white. Otherwise, Photoshop see's say 255 RGB and tries to make the screen as white as it can and isn't taking into account the paper white. You'll dull down the soft proof big time using the simulate check boxes.

[Damo]

Ah, I thought it might come down to that.

Well, we don't have a "proper" icc profile in use, only a Photoshop-generated one. Plus we're still using PS5.5, which I don't think supports soft-proofing. Finally, I don't think it'd be easy to educate the old hands in our department on the use of soft-proofing, even if it was available. They're used to simply working on dull monitors.

Thanks anyway.

[papawestray]

http://www.kpgraphics.com/white_pape...ve/monitor.asp