MONIT OR CALIBRAT ORS

Don’t let a deceptive display fool you. Calibrating your computer monitor lets your photos’ true colours shine through

You’d have thought all monitors would come pre-set to display at their best. To be fair, an average user viewing holiday snaps will be usually be happy with default display settings. However, imaging enthusiasts demand more – any colour casts or contrast bias just won’t do. At the very least, you want other people to have the best chance of seeing the same colours as you see.

This is where monitor calibration comes in. By sticking an ‘electronic eye’ (a colorimeter) on your screen and firing a selection of colours at it, any colour discrepancies can be detected and your computer programmed to compensate its colour output for the traits of your monitor. You can then edit your pictures knowing others will see what you see. What’s more, it needn’t cost big bucks to get great colour accuracy.