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Is Your Campus Color Smart?

1/17/2007

By David Nagel

Hardware solutions
In order to relieve some of that ongoing tedium, there's a second option for calibrating displays: systems that incorporate calibration software with a hardware colorimeter. These used to be fairly expensive systems, but there are now excellent models on the market that come in at or around $100. Given that you'd need just one or two to service any number of displays, that's not too heavy an investment to consider.

And the advantage of these hardware systems is that there's no subjectivity involved at all. The colorimeter attaches to the screen and communicates (usually) to the software calibration system via USB. Plug it in, attach it and start running the software. The rest is automated, although there are times when you may be asked question of the software, such as the ultimate intent of the machine being calibrated (video work, print work, gaming, etc.).

Now, I'm not going to go into a sales pitch about all the brands that are available out there. If you or your institution have the cash and demand absolute color precision for print work, you look on the higher end of the spectrum. If you're more interested in color consistency between multiple machines coupled with pretty darned good color accuracy, you can look on the lower end. For my professional and personal work, I happen to stick with GretagMacbeth/X-Rite colorimeters coupled with Pantone color calibration software. On the low end, that's the Huey, which is a collaborative effort between Pantone and GretagMacbeth/X-Rite. It comes in at less than $100, most usually around $75, give or take. It's compact, lightweight and accurate, and the software is extremely straightforward. And there are no extra parts to worry about, like a baffle for LCD screens or suction cup for CRT displays. Those parts are built in. Plus it has a little feature called 'ambient light compensation.' This continuously adjusts the colors on the display in question in order to compensate for the perceptual fluctuations that can occur as room light increases or decreases. Of course, that feature can only be used on one computer at a time, so, unless you plan to buy one for every computer in your classroom, it's not going to be all that handy.

At any rate, I can't think of a colorimeter put out in the last few years that's particularly bad. There used to be issues with lower-end systems having color consistency problems when working with multiple disparate displays, but those issues have ben minimized in recent years. So, in most K-12 classroom situations, a lower-end model ought to be perfectly acceptable—and certainly better than software calibration in terms of color accuracy in relationship to other devices in the color workflow (cameras, scanners, printers, etc.).

Closing thoughts
The key here is that, regardless of the particular system you choose to use, the goal must be to provide consistent and at least reasonably accurate color for students. For classes that involve the visual arts—art, video editing, etc.—this ought to go without say, though I know it doesn't for the simple fact that I've known video editors who for years went without calibrating their displays, as well as artists new to digital media who did not have a proper perspective on digital color workflows. (That, of course, amounts to a lot of wasted ink from the printer.) But beyond the visual arts, accurate and consistent color also impacts the learning experiences of students wherever digital imagery is used as a part of the lesson. The digital images students see on their screens were created on calibrated displays and are viewed properly only on displays that have been calibrated likewise.

It's something at least worth considering when the cost of the fix can be so low (somewhere between free and $100).

Now, in all of this, we've considered only the display aspect of digital color workflows. This aspect can be the most important, but it certainly doesn't end there. You'll find more information on color workflows, as well as software and hardware for managing color workflows, at the links below.

More info:

• Screen Check from KLS
• Microsoft's Color Control Panel
• Apple's ColorSync Resource
• Color Calibration Software: Freeware/Shareware/Commercial (Mac)
• Color Calibration Software: Freeware/Shareware/Commercial (Windows)
• Pantone
• X-Rite
• ColorVision
• GrafixGear's Color Workflow Resources

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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.

Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.

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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.

Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.

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