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Jan 18, 2019 5:30 am -08:00 by Justin McQueen. With the US set to have an elongated weekend with MLK day on Monday, price action in major G10 currencies.
My first post - I joined because I saw a very active PC hardware and gaming community and discussions. I saw the VG248QE thread, but I wanted to make a new thread on this specific issue and request. I calibrate TVs, monitors, projects, etc. Using i1D3/i1Display Pro and usually profile with a spectrometer if I can get my hands on one. I spent a good bit of time trying to make this monitor look better and I mostly succeeded with a few exceptions. Some important findings: - It doesn't matter if its LB mode or standard mode at any refresh rate - only BT.1886 gamma is acceptable for this monitor due to its high black level.
With BT.1886 tone curve, this monitor actually displays a very decent picture with plenty of depth. SRGB tone could work too, but it would be a bit too light. I used CalMAN v5 Enthusiast to generate a LUT/ICC at first, but then I tried ArgyllCMS+dispcalGUI, which is a very thorough and extremely accurate 1DLUT and 3DLUT calibrator/profiler. The LUT it generated was far superior to any software out there. You absolutely have to profile i1Display Pro/i1D3 with a spectrometer on this exact display. The degree of error is very high when using X-Rite's LED correction file for i1D3 colorimeter. Luckily, I was using dispcalGUI with ArgyllCMS, which has a database of correction files and there was one done with i1Pro spectrometer for i1D3 colorimeter on this exact monitor.
Using that correction resulted in a much better grayscale - one that is actually neutrally gray! For the first time I was happy with the image!!! - This monitor is more sensitive to dE error than any display I ever calibrated. Anything above dE 0.5 and your grayscale will have a tint. Its really that bad!
It requires excessive accuracy! - Finally, the one and only issue that needs fixing is a 256bit step grayscale calibration. As you know a LUT contains 256 bits (0-255) of RGB white balance and gamma values.
All the profiling and calibrating software use a certain number of points for calibration (like 10, or 21, or in case of ArgyllCMS - about 90!) and then interpolates/guesses the needed values for all the points in-between. This monitor presents a big problem in that its 0-30% grayscale range (IRE), which is the most important and most used one by games and movies, has highly variable errors! Usually, an error such as too much blue in WB, persists over a range of bits (from 15-100, for example), but with this monitor bit 15 may have too much blue, while bit 16 may have too little blue, and bit 17 may have too much blue again! These error spikes make it impossible for any software to calibrate this monitor by creating an accurate LUT/ICC file.
The best result is a mostly neutral gray scale, but some important bits are purple, while others are green, and others are red. That OR this monitor is not actually capable of producing neutral grays - something I refuse to believe! I can only think of ONE way to fix that - manual calibration of an already existing LUT/ICC that I made with ArgyllCMS. Since my LUT is 90% accurate - redoing the whole calibration is pointless. However, I have been unable to find a program that would be able to capture an existing videoLUT and allow me to manually edit it bit by bit. VideoEquilizer is the best I could find, but it only allows a maximum of 81pts and I need all 255!
I realize each screen is different and requires its own calibration, but given the fact that an i1Pro spectro correction file from the internet worked like a charm on my VG248 suggests that if I were to create an ICC or a LUT file with a neutral-gray scale for my monitor - it would work on others! I would more than happy to provide such an ICC file, but only if I could actually achieve those neutral grays using manual bit by bit adjustment/calibration. Please let me know if you are aware of such software!!! My first post - I joined because I saw a very active PC hardware and gaming community and discussions. I saw the VG248QE thread, but I wanted to make a new thread on this specific issue and request. I calibrate TVs, monitors, projects, etc. Using i1D3/i1Display Pro and usually profile with a spectrometer if I can get my hands on one.
I spent a good bit of time trying to make this monitor look better and I mostly succeeded with a few exceptions. Some important findings: - It doesn't matter if its LB mode or standard mode at any refresh rate - only BT.1886 gamma is acceptable for this monitor due to its high black level. With BT.1886 tone curve, this monitor actually displays a very decent picture with plenty of depth. SRGB tone could work too, but it would be a bit too light. I used CalMAN v5 Enthusiast to generate a LUT/ICC at first, but then I tried ArgyllCMS+dispcalGUI, which is a very thorough and extremely accurate 1DLUT and 3DLUT calibrator/profiler. The LUT it generated was far superior to any software out there. You absolutely have to profile i1Display Pro/i1D3 with a spectrometer on this exact display.
The degree of error is very high when using X-Rite's LED correction file for i1D3 colorimeter. Luckily, I was using dispcalGUI with ArgyllCMS, which has a database of correction files and there was one done with i1Pro spectrometer for i1D3 colorimeter on this exact monitor. Using that correction resulted in a much better grayscale - one that is actually neutrally gray!
For the first time I was happy with the image!!! - This monitor is more sensitive to dE error than any display I ever calibrated. Anything above dE 0.5 and your grayscale will have a tint.
Its really that bad! It requires excessive accuracy! - Finally, the one and only issue that needs fixing is a 256bit step grayscale calibration. As you know a LUT contains 256 bits (0-255) of RGB white balance and gamma values. All the profiling and calibrating software use a certain number of points for calibration (like 10, or 21, or in case of ArgyllCMS - about 90!) and then interpolates/guesses the needed values for all the points in-between. This monitor presents a big problem in that its 0-30% grayscale range (IRE), which is the most important and most used one by games and movies, has highly variable errors! Usually, an error such as too much blue in WB, persists over a range of bits (from 15-100, for example), but with this monitor bit 15 may have too much blue, while bit 16 may have too little blue, and bit 17 may have too much blue again!
These error spikes make it impossible for any software to calibrate this monitor by creating an accurate LUT/ICC file. The best result is a mostly neutral gray scale, but some important bits are purple, while others are green, and others are red. That OR this monitor is not actually capable of producing neutral grays - something I refuse to believe! I can only think of ONE way to fix that - manual calibration of an already existing LUT/ICC that I made with ArgyllCMS.
Since my LUT is 90% accurate - redoing the whole calibration is pointless. However, I have been unable to find a program that would be able to capture an existing videoLUT and allow me to manually edit it bit by bit. VideoEquilizer is the best I could find, but it only allows a maximum of 81pts and I need all 255! I realize each screen is different and requires its own calibration, but given the fact that an i1Pro spectro correction file from the internet worked like a charm on my VG248 suggests that if I were to create an ICC or a LUT file with a neutral-gray scale for my monitor - it would work on others!
I would more than happy to provide such an ICC file, but only if I could actually achieve those neutral grays using manual bit by bit adjustment/calibration. Please let me know if you are aware of such software!!! BT.1886 gamma averages around 2.4 which will cause light black crush vs.) on a gamma shift free AHVA/IPS/PLS panel, obvious black crush on a VA panel and very obvious black crush on a TN panel.
Measure the gamma at the top of a TN after calibration; the gamma will likely average around 2.8 resulting in black crush (loss of detail in dark scenes) and cause some colors, especially light colors to look quite dark & dull. Now remember that TN's suffer from vertical gamma shift: the gamma is higher at the top of the screen & gets lighter when descending vertically which is one of the reasons (LED back-lit TN's typically have smaller & inaccurate color gamuts vs. Good non-TN's) why TN panels colors look uneven from top to bottom and washed out compared to AHVA/IPS/PLS & VA panelss. BT.1886 gamma averages around 2.4 which will cause light black crush vs.) on a gamma shift free AHVA/IPS/PLS panel, obvious black crush on a VA panel and very obvious black crush on a TN panel.
Measure the gamma at the top of a TN after calibration; the gamma will likely average around 2.8 resulting in black crush (loss of detail in dark scenes) and cause some colors, especially light colors to look quite dark & dull. Now remember that TN's suffer from vertical gamma shift: the gamma is higher at the top of the screen & gets lighter when descending vertically which is one of the reasons (LED back-lit TN's typically have smaller & inaccurate color gamuts vs. Good non-TN's) why TN panels colors look uneven from top to bottom and washed out compared to AHVA/IPS/PLS & VA panelss. Click to expand.The whole idea of this gamma is that it prevents black crush effectively. BT.1886 changes its curve based on black level point. For example, my plasma TV is calibrated to BT.1886 and it reaches value of 2.2 at 5% IRE.
My VA TV uses the same gamma, but it reaches value 2.2 at 10% because its blacks are higher than those of plasma.This monitor's black point is so high that BT.1886 gamma reaches value 2.2 all the way @ 50%! What is you see in HCFR as a reference line for this gamma changes based on the black level of your device. Try it out - there is NO black crush. The screenshot you provided is NOT for this monitor, but for a device with far better black levels - my guess either an excellent VA panel or plasma TV. My plasma TV has an identical curve with BT.1886. Using 21step reading, the first 5% with BT.1886 curve is about 1.7 on VG248QE! Here is what it looks like in HCFR - and this is what the same exact gamma looks on my plasma using CalMAN -.
As you can see - the curve changes based on black point. This is why its such a great gamma - it makes images look very close to each other on devices with different black levels. By image i mean actual image - NOT the image of the curve, which changes. The reason this gamma came back from CRT era is because mastering studios have extremely accurate TVs with excellent black levels, but the majority of TVs does not. Thus, an image mastered and viewed with power law gamma 2.4 on studio TVs and home TVs is different due to different black levels.
And on some devices, like this monitor, power law 2.4 or even 2.2 completely crushes black levels! BT.1886 resolves this issue by optimizing luminance based on device's lowest black point and the result is that one sees more detail in blacks and the perception of depth improves drastically. The very debate about it in pro calibration community is that it raises blacks and can create a washed out image on TVs with excellent black levels. Thus, some know it as a gamma for TVs with poor black levels.
In reality, even plasma TVs with those 'raised blacks' create an image with more depth and detail with BT.1886 gamma. Not a single black square was crushed using this gamma and this test -.
The first black bit was visible in all areas of the screen using a different pattern file of mine. Just use ArgyllCMS or CalMAN or any software you have that can generate a proper LUT with BT.1886 gamma and you will see that it really is the best and causes absolutely no crush.
A very important note about generating LUTs with this gamma - one must use at least 21pts (5% steps) to get it right because the most important part to get right is the black and dark gray level area. I found that even 21pts is not going to be really enough and while it will greatly improve blacks, it will still leave them slighly darker than they should be because most blacks are below 5%. If you use ArgyllCMS + dispcalGUI, which takes about 45 minutes to create a LUT for this device, then it will make a ton of readings below 5% and create a truly proper curve. The problem is that you really would need a profiled colorimeter with spectrophotometer on this screen to get those blacks to look neutral. Using the same software, calibrating my VA panel's blacks below 5% was no problem at all and the results were neutral and excellent, but this monitor is very very special.I strongly suggest using full-screen patterns for calibrating this sucker as results are more accurate. DispcalGUI database has an i1Pro spectrophotometer correction file for i1D3/i1Display Pro and ColorMunki that worked wonderfully, but making a correction file using your own screen would be far better.
There is a slight limitation with ArgyllCMS is that in addition to raising black bits, it also raises actual black point itself, which cuts contrast ratio and does create a washed out image. But dispcalGUI resolved this issue by allowing users to bring that point back to 0 and adjusting several levels up accordingly, thus providing a truly accurate BT.1886 curve with black point level being exactly where it should be. I am not trying to advertise dispcalGUI and ArgyllCMS, but I guess I kind of am - its 100% super-free without any f.cking catches and more powerful, accurate, and functional than any paid-for profiler/calibrator out there. I strongly suggest checking out its ability to create 3DLUTs for madVR - something SpecrtaCal only offers in their CalMAN Ultimate Edition for $3000. A 3DLUT is like a regular LUT or ICC, but is far more accurate as it not only contains grayscale info, but the entire colorspace gamut, not just its outer/external/00% saturation data, but everything within it. Usually, 3DLUTs require an external device costing $700, but madVR supports it for free.
My 4 year old VA TV hooked to my PC uses madVR 3DLUT, which results in near-reference-like precision. My saturation and colorchecker sweeps in 10% steps have dE below 1.0 You can only 3DLUTs for video content, not games or desktop. A 3DLUT for this monitor will actually make it produce more accurate colors, but its colors are so bad that you can't expect reference-like accuracy even with a 3DLUT. A great guide can be found here - Use no less than 2500 patches.
Nice work will be nice when I actually find a way to properly calibrate each of the 256bits of grayscale. Do not buy CalMAN Enthusiast - I own a copy and aside from a pretty GUI, it has little to offer. ArgyllCMS does a much better job with regular LUTs and 3DLUTs. CalMAN 5 is also slow and not very responsive even on the fastest machines. HCFR 3.1.0.5 is all you need for TV and monitor calibration.
HCFR has recently began being updated with bug fixes and new features. It can also measure madVR 3DLUTs. HCFR - ArgyllCMS with dispcalGUI, and madVR developers all work together. They should get together and create an ultimate monitor calibration package!
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