Dual monitor calibration on Windows XP PCs

As mentioned in some of our colour management articles, we use Apple Macs, so we don't always get to check out the detailed behaviour of software on PCs. That said, most of the software and hardware that we have reviewed on the site works just as well on either platform. There are a few differences that have caught people out sometimes.

After some recent reviews of monitor calibration and profiling hardware, Keith was asked by several people about how to profile dual monitors on a PC.

Thanks to Serge Cashman for sending us some of the info (and the second screen shot) below! We always appreciate comments and feedback on our articles...

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The Microsoft Color Control Panel Applet

If you are using Windows XP SP2 then you can use a piece of Microsoft software to allow you have a monitor profile for each monitor in a multiple monitor system.

The video card needs to be configured to assign different settings to each monitor (how it's done depends on the videocard drivers).

More importantly on a dualhead card under Windows XP one would need to download a Color Control Panel utility from Microsoft and set it to be launched on start-up (with an /L switch as stated in the Help file) to load LUTs, plus disable other colour utilities to avoid conflicts.

Serge additionally commented:

--Technically only dualhead AGP card owners need to use the appet to be able to assign separate profiles. Some PCIe cards don't need it since Windows XP sees them as two cards in the device manager (and obviously systems with two separate cards don't need it either). However the applet lets you see your color management in a much more organized way that makes much more sense no matter which configuration you use. It makes the adjustments much easier.

Another importans aspect of the color applet (which can be regarded as a separate application actually) is it's optional startup LUT loader.

My general suggestion for XP dualhead card users would be to replace their LUT loaders in the Startup folder (Adobe Gamma, Colorvision, Eye-One) with a shortcut to Color Control Panel Applet LUT loader. It won't hurt in any case and it would work with dual-monitor aware software like Spyder2 Pro without any further configuration.

Normally the shortcut would be to:
"C:\Program Files\Pro Imaging Powertoys\Microsoft Color Control Panel Applet for Windows XP\WinColor.exe" /L

The "/L" part you can add by right-clicking on the shortcut and adding /L it in the Target field. " --

Not all calibration software supports dual monitors, so you may have to run your system with each monitor on it's own to get profiles that you can then select when working with both.

Amongst the features of the control panel:

Install and uninstall ICC colour profiles

Inspect, rename, and compare two different colour profiles

Associate colour profiles with devices such as printers, monitors, and scanners

Apply custom colour gamut adjustments to one or more displays on the fly

Set up display calibration reminders at intervals you specify

View a 3D graphics plot of colour profile colour gamuts

XP monitor profile gamut
Comparing gamuts

There is more information, and you can download the software from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/colorcontrol.mspx

I discussed some profile editing issues in the review of the Spyder2express, where you need to rename a profile's internal name for dual monitor support. The Applet can be used for this.

Useful discussions about this subject on the web

There are (many) more technical discussions about it on this message board (Rob Galbraith) and there has been a lengthy discussion in the ColorVision Yahoo group about using a Spyder2 for matching two monitors. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colorvision_group/message/316?threaded=1

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Colour management info and articles on this site

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The very simple guide to 'what is colour mangement'.
Is the red in RGB the same as a London bus, or a UK Telephone box? A very short explanation of what colour management is, and why you use it.

ColorEyes Display Pro
Top end monitor profiling software that works with a variety of measurement devices. Tested with Spyder2, Eye One Display 2 and Eye One Pro.

The Spyder2express - ColorVision's latest entry level monitor profiling package - includes example of unsupported dual monitor calibration.

Adjusting your monitor 'by eye'

Pantone Huey - review
The Huey is a new and relatively inexpensive addition to the monitor profiling market. Keith looks at how it performs, including its novel capacity to modify your monitor setup in response to changing room lighting.

The Pantone Eye-One Display LT - review

The Pantone Eye-One Display 2 - review (see also the original GretagMacbeth version below)

The Eye One Display 2 - review (original longer version)

A review of the Spyder 2 pro monitor calibration system.

The Eye One Design- review
A Spectrophotometer and software for monitor calibration, light measurement and basic printer profiling.

Eye One scanner profiling - review
Using the Eye One with a scan target to get better results form your film or flatbed scanner.

PrintFIX PRO - review
A considerable upgrade to the PrintFIX. The new version uses a Spectrocolorimeter to let you create printer icc profiles.

The original PrintFIX review

Printer profiling with the Eye One Photo - review
More advanced printer profiling with the Eye One.

Review of the printer profile editor in Eye One Match.

PrintFIX PLUS
The software only version of PrintFIX PRO that allows you to create icc profiles without your own patch reader.

Kodak Professional Colour Management check up kit - review

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