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NatalieGrace1980
NatalieGrace1980
Participant
June 3, 2019
Question

Calibration on a Laptop?

  • June 3, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 901 views

Technical stuff:

I have an Asus laptop with Windows 10. 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
4.00 GB (3.89 GB usable) No pen or touch input available.
I have Lightroom 6 edition installed on my laptop.

Problem:
When I edit photos and I like the way they look on my laptop screen then upload them for clients and I look at them on my Google Pixel phone, which is much newer than my laptop, the coloring is quite a bit different. They looks over-saturated - too yellow (for color photos) and my classic B & W look more like sepia. I tried to manually calibrate my laptop but it didn't make a difference.

Questions:
Am I just out of luck with the crummy laptop that I am using? Is it even possible to properly calibrate this machine? I've heard that professional photographers shouldn't edit photos on laptops - is that true? Thoughts? Comments? Advice?

Thank you in advance.

Natalie

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

Geoff the kiwi
Community Expert
Geoff the kiwiCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 3, 2019

Some good comments.....

If you can find the profile for the screen try changing it to SRGB and see what difference, if any, that makes.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 3, 2019

    We have a saying here in Norway: don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

    Even if the laptop display isn't perfect, proper calibration and profiling will certainly make it better than it is today. There's no reason not to do it. Then consider a good desktop monitor sometime in the future.

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 3, 2019

      ngg1980  wrote

      I've heard that professional photographers shouldn't edit photos on laptops - is that true? Thoughts? Comments? Advice?

      Laptop screens are generally nowhere near accurate enough for critical work, even the best ones. There's a reason they're thin enough to fit into a laptop lid.

      That said, this is about color management and/or lack thereof. You can get a lot closer by using a calibrator to profile your screen. Applications that support color management (like Lightroom) will use this profile to display images correctly - within the limitations of the screen.

      Applications that don't support color management will ignore the profile. This includes most basic photo viewers. So there will always be a difference between Lightroom and, say, Windows "Photos". This is normal and expected.

      Web browsers generally are color managed these days, with the notable exceptions of IE and Edge.

      Phones are not color managed at all. You have no guarantee that any phone will display anything at all correctly! In many cases this oversaturation is intentional, to make it more immediately "pretty" and make you want to buy the phone.

      NatalieGrace1980
      NatalieGrace1980Author
      Participant
      June 3, 2019

      Thank you for your comments.

      Would you then say it's better to rely more on what I'm seeing on my laptop than what I'm seeing on my Google Pixel cell phone?

      S
      Simon G E Garrett
      Inspiring
      June 3, 2019

      I can't comment on whether your laptop is better than your phone, certainly without calibration/profiling.

      Depending on the screen on your laptop, it might be possible to calibrate/profile.  Several issues:

      • Laptop screens often have a narrow gamut - less than sRGB.  Some are much better (indeed some are wide-gamut), it depends on the laptop.  Some phones also do better.
      • Laptop screens (and phone screens) often are inconsistent with viewing angle.  Move your head from side to side while looking at your monitor (or your phone); the colour brightness often varies as you do this.
      • Laptop screens often have features that vary the brightness with ambient brightness, battery level, whether you have any battery saving mode enabled and for all I know whether there's an R in the month.  You might want to track down and disable any feature that automatically alters brightness (or any other aspect of the display) before calibrating and profiling.
      • Arguably, laptop screens are rather small for assessing images.

      It really depends on your needs.  I mean, if you need to finish photos quickly and have only a laptop with you, then you've not much choice but to make the best of what you've got.

      I have a Dell XPS 15 with a wide-gamut display which I calibrate/profile and use for on-the-go editing, but I always make final adjustments on my desktop when I get home.  That's except for rare occasions when I have to send photos to someone before I get home.  Strictly amateur stuff - I wouldn't attempt to say what professionals might need in any particular circumstances.

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