Laptop screens...

[junglebear]

I'm writing this on a university computer, I've just been looking on Flickr and noticed my photos look a lot darker on this screen. In particular the blacks look a lot...blacker!
At home I use a Dell laptop, I was just wondering if anyone knows whether laptop screens are generally brighter or calibrated differently? Or it could just be the monitor here is not very good...

Cheers

[teaking]

No two screens even from the same model, batch and factory are identical by calibrating you can get them dam near though. As for laptop screens they are notorious for altering brightness when viewed at different angles. Idealy you would calibrate both screens and make sure the viewing environment was close.

[mambo]

You will also notice a colour chage depending on the angle you veiw the screen, which is normally different between laptops and desktops.

[OsmosisStudios]

If you ever use a Mac screen (laptop or otherwise) then you'll notive a HUGE difference as well. The screens are higher-res, so the result is a sharper and more defined image. Colours also appear a bit deeper. After calibrating mine, I had to re-process a few images to get them just perfect.

[junglebear]

Hmm interesting, that's gonna make printing a painful experience!

[Murtasma]

Originally Posted by osmosisstudios

if you ever use a mac screen (laptop or otherwise) then you'll notive a huge difference as well. the screens are higher-res, so the result is a sharper and more defined image

This is incorrect I'm sorry.

[mrdale]

I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about monitors depending on where you look. The general consensus is that any laptop is a poor choice for photo editing due to the technology used. Follow the link below for some interesting reading. A search on Google will also give you more links than you can imagine. I'm still using a CRT with calibration software. I check calibration about every 3 months, its still stable. I only publish on the web so my requirements are not as rigid as someone who prints. I'd love to have one of the high end Eizo, Lacie, Barco but the $$$ are beyond me at this point.
The link:

STICKY: The LCD Thread - AnandTech Forums


dale

[junglebear]

Thanks for the link, Dale, interesting stuff. I'm on another public computer right now and my shots look much nicer than at home...
I think I've opened myself a can of worms here!

[BCampbell]

Oh, you have.

First, it really has nothing to do with resolution, as someone pointed out above. It has a lot to do with the range of colors a display can... well, display. And believe it or not, cheap displays are worse in this regard. Shocking, I know.

It's similar to the way that the Adobe RGB colorspace can incorprate more colors than sRGB. Every monitor is a little different, but some have wider gamuts and some narrower. Laptop screens are generally very, very poor. Another factor is that for typical computing -- surfing the web, composing documents and email, gaming -- we want high contrast and cranked up brightness. When we use those same settings for photos, they might look good on the web but the result is not representative of what you'll get from other output, like a printer.

This is one reason we have monitor calibration tools. Try printing one of your photos and see how different it looks compared to your laptop screen.

Generally, LCD screens do not have a wide gamut, unless you spend a decent amount of money on a high quality model. CRT screens are decent, and if you have a good one still kicking around they're generally better than off-the-shelf LCDs. Laptop monitors are generally useless for photo editing unless again you pay for quality.

You can try to squeak by with your laptop. I'd suggest at least calibrating it. You may want to get a dock and a dedicated monitor for photo editing, though.

[BEGM83]

Yeah mmm ive realised - having seen my pictures on my parents HUGE high-def telly - that i need to adjust my laptop screen...soon... and re-edit all my pictures