Determing Bit Depth of My Monitor Prior to Professional Calibration - Windows Says Two Depths...?

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Hi All,

I'm about to buy a pre-owned calibration device to use with DisplayCAL free software. To use DisplayCAL it says you must have: “True color” 24 bits per pixel or higher graphics output.  In Windows 11, Display Settings/Advanced Display/ it lists my main monitor as "8bit" (see screenshot). But when I click on"Display Adaptor Properties for Display 2" (my main display, attached to my laptop) and then click 'List All Modes",  the mode that is highlighted by default says: "1920x1080 True Color 32 bit 60 Hertz" (also in screenshot) [Btw, I can't use the NVIDIA control panel, it says I am not using a display attached to an NVIDIA GPU.]

Can someone please tell me if I meet the system required bit depth to use DisplayCAL or not?

Any replies genuinely appreciated?

[NB, colourmanagement net]

@Cynthia372629184fz6 thanks for the feedback - I appreciate your thanks - let's hope it's accurate enough for what you need. Given your situation it seems unreasonable to recommend basICColor display as it, of course comes at a cost. You COULD try the 14 day free demo and compare results just for peace of mind, but that's quite a bit of work -0 I'd say trust for now and see how it goes.

For those wishing to be certain of calibrated appearance I use this kit - 

Have you ever wondered how to KNOW whether your screen [or printer] is ACCURATE and not just 'pleasing'?
If so please check this out: http://www.colourmanagement.net/products/icc-profile-verification-kit 

but again it’s a cost. 

work with what you have

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
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[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Yes, I am hoping it is accurate enough, with no real means of knowing. 

I checked out  basICColor Display 6 software and did not find mention of a free trial anywhere. I downloaded the setup file to see if it was mentioned during installation, but it is not. It seems like a great product, and supports the Spyder 5, but not certain it would support my basic, budget monitor, even if I could use a free trial....

As for colourmanagement.net, it costs 80 pounds and that just isn't feasible for me right now. It too seems like a quality product and a solution to the 'just having to trust' problem.

Do you think evaluating your monitor's performance using online test images, such as The Lagom LCD monitor test pages is of any value? 

A friend is purchasing a digital nursery art painting from me next week and will be having it printed on a 5ft wide canvas. I am advising him to do a small test print first but he is stubbornly declining to do so. Guess I will  see how things hold up at this point.... Rather costly method of finding out if your colors print as intended!

On the up side, I have been making and selling vintage style clipart images for 4 years with my humble equipment and have had over 5000 sales with over 600 5-star reviews, in which more than a few have mentioned that their colors printed beautifully. This gives me a  small amount of confidence. 

So although I wish I could afford the best equipment and software to assure professional results, for now, I will just have to trust the Spyder 5 did an adequate, if not excellent, job.

Thanks for introducing me to tools I can aspire to utilizing in the future. And for advising me regarding calibration in general. I'm fortunate to have the benefit of your expertise and think it very generous of you to volunteer your time assisting those less knowledgable than yourself.  Hopfully it is generating good karma and you will receive assistance from someone else if you should ever need it!  🙂

[NB, colourmanagement net]

HI @Cynthia372629184fz6 basICColor display after installation offers a trial licence. 14 days, it supports any display, it's just measuring screen output and building a characterisation (ICC profile) - same way the Spyder does but in a longer, more thorough, process. 

When you start the basICColor display software, you'll see this licensing screen,

if you don't see it, look under the help menu/license

see above, under Purchase it says "click on 'licence' for requesting a trial licence. "

 

Your friend making a 5-foot canvas print without a sample test must be crazy, that’s a great way to waste money. 

"Do you think evaluating your monitor's performance using online test images, such as The Lagom LCD monitor test pages is of any value? "

I don't think those charts will help you, I'd suggest viewing and assessing (as best you can without a reference) a test image (ideally a well tested composite image)  and just see if the 'memory colours' such as skin tones and the greyscale 'Look" right. 

Please go here and download the Adobe RGB testimage: https://www.colourmanagement.net/index.php/downloads_listing/

"On the up side, I have been making and selling vintage style clipart images for 4 years with my humble equipment and have had over 5000 sales with over 600 5-star reviews, in which more than a few have mentioned that their colors printed beautifully. This gives me a  small amount of confidence. '

that’s great, it should give you confidence.

give us a link so we can see what you do please? 

"Thanks for introducing me to tools I can aspire to utilizing in the future. And for advising me regarding calibration in general. I'm fortunate to have the benefit of your expertise and think it very generous of you to volunteer your time assisting those less knowledgable than yourself.  Hopfully it is generating good karma and you will receive assistance from someone else if you should ever need it!"

yep good karma is always welcome, I really appreciate your thanks

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.
Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Hi there.

I installed basICColor display and clicked on 'license' and got the page attached below as a screenshot. It says to click 'test license' for a free trial but I do not see those words on the page.... also don't know what the warning in red means. I created and was signed into, a baslCColor account while I did this.

It was possible to convince my friend to do a test print by leaving out phrases such as 'color profile' and 'gamut display' and instead just telling him, "It might look like crap." Looking forward to seeing the print.

The Adobe RGB test page looks good on my monitor. Thanks for that.

You can see the simple graphics  I've sold for years now at the shop link below.  Some are retro-style AI gens I've painstakingly painted the weird AI glitches out of and enhanced,  while others are scans of antique pictures that needed a lot of work. Not really 'clipart' but used in people's projects.

(My new 2nd store is selling much larger wall art image files that customers have printed as they like. Thus the recent concern with color management. I've decided to shell out some money and have a large color print made not only to test colors but also to see if edits using generative fill show their selection edges and a texture difference. These things do show in Photoshop at 100 or 200% view, but not the 'Print Size' view. Unfortunately,  I cannot correct this entirely. But that's another post in itself.)

The first shop with some good reviews about printed colors is here: [Removed by moderator]

Will try the new basICColor display software if I can activate the free trial.

Cheers 🙂

[NB, colourmanagement net]

@Cynthia372629184fz6  the red warning text 'you are not connected to the license server' is the issue, it suggests either you're not online or you're not logged in. 

The Adobe RGB test page looks good on my monitor. Thanks for that

My testimage? I'm pleased you found it useful, the "memory colours are helpful, I hope"

Will try the new basICColor display software if I can activate the free trial.

I'm afraid you'll need to get logged in and connected to the license server to get the demo licence.

I hope this helps neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right' google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.