Dell 2408wfp calibration

This is a wide gamut monitor and I was very frustrated in my initial attempts to calibrate it. Initially it came as part of a Dell Package - a Vostro XP desktop with a dual monitor setup - 2408wfp display and E228wfp display. The video card is Nvidia GeForce 8800GT. Although this card can support 2 monitors it natively supports only one profile. This means that the one profile is assigned to each monitor even if the monitors are completely different. When you recalibrate one monitor its profile is assigned to both monitors and this can lead to unexpected results on the less recently calibrated monitor. Many people choose to install a 2nd video card to allow separate profiles for each monitor. Microsoft also suply a tool which to allows each monitor to have an individual profile using a single video card. http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto/downloads/colorcontrol.aspx.

Out of the box the 2408wfp is very bright and the colours are like neon signs. A definite bit of taming required. My calibration tool was the Spyder3 Pro from Datacolor http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc-s3pro.php . I spent a couple of frustrating days trying to get it right. The main problem was a colour shift in the deep blacks towards a crimson hue. I thought I had done everything called for..monitor set for defaults values, subdued lighting etc. Whatever I did the screen looked worse than the uncalibrated profile, and worse than the second display which was cheaper and smaller.

I put the screen through a black point test..http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/Calibration/monitor_black.htm. Much to my dismay the shadows had a deep crimson tint. The site provided the following information "If you see a color cast to the darker patches, this indicates a problem with either the calibration or a monitor that is not controllable in dark shadows. " I repeated the calibration several times with different white points and so on without any consistent improvement.

Was my colorimeter faulty? Was my screen faulty? Was I expecting too much from the monitor? A google search turned up a bunch of unhappy campers with this monitor and this calibration tool. My despair deepened.

Enlightenment was obtained and happiness restored when I finally realised that not only the monitor needs to be restored to default values via its OSD (on screen display), but the video card also needs to be restored to its default values. Control Panel > Appearance and Themes > NVIDIA Control Panel >Adjust Desktop Settings >Restore Defaults.

Once this had been done the calibration led to a profile which gave pleasing results. None of the shadows had a tint (hurray!) For me the take home message is set your monitor AND your video card to default values before recalibrating.

So here is what works for me.

If your computer, software, monitor, video card or colorimeter is different then it may not work for you.

1. Set monitor to default values in OSD.
- Preset Modes - Reset to default color settings
- Display Setting - Reset all display settings
- Other Settings - Factory Reset - Reset all display settings

2. Reset video card to default settings through control panel

3. Calibrate using spyder at gamma 2.2 and kelvin 6500K

4. Check RGB sliders (one of the advanced prefs) and adjust using OSD when prompted. Sets white point.

5. If using dual monitors make sure the correct profile is attached to your monitor. Microsoft color applet may be needed.

Boring battery stuff

Got a couple of old olympus cameras.
Current battery alternatives

OM 1....#675 hearing aid batteries...I believe these are a little smaller than the holder...some people have put in some sort of rubber ring stabilise the batteries.

Update: I was able to get a A675PX battery to fit into the OM1 battery compartment with some cardboard packing. The meter indicated a faster speed than the OM2n meter...by about 2 stops. Not actually taken any pictures however. This battery is a 1.5 v alkaline battery. (A$7.95 - Fletchers). The original mercury battery was 1.3 0r 1.35 volts. There are 1.4 V 675 Zinc Air batteries which may be more suitable, and can be obtained in a 6 pack fairly cheaply. http://www.hearingaidbatteries.com.au/catalogue/category13/category6/product48

$A4.00 per 6 pack plus shipping (approx $3.00)

Some info would suggest that a 386 silver oxide battery may be another option as a replacement battery, but its 1.55 v (some leica forums...as leicas used similar batteries to OM1)


OM2n....SR44 is a direct replacement AFAIK.

Might blow some dust off them and shoot a bit of film.

Spider Udate #2

Lot of rain and wind and so on and the spider didn't put a web up last night, but lo and behold it's done it again tonight though the weather is worse if anything. The web construction is more disjointed than the previous structures but I'm amazed that it's giving it a go.

Spider - Update 1

This spider must have read the books on expected orb weaver behaviour. By 8 am it had dismantled the web. It reconstructed it this evening. I'll keep a bit of a lookout what happens over the weekend.

Spider

This is the Garden Orb Weaving Spider. This one just spun a web on the back verandah. Here's some sites with some information about Orb weaving spiders.

http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/orb_weaving_spiders.htm

http://www.faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=79

http://www.mdavid.com.au/spiders/orbweavers.html

http://www.geocities.com/pchew_brisbane/Garden_sp.htm

The site above has some interesting details about web building

Non destructive sharpening in PS CS2

This is done in Layers.

Create a COPY of the merged visible layers and sharpen the copy. You can create multiple copies (each with a different name of course) to apply different sharpening parameters to each copy.

How to

ALT + Merge Visible.

DRIVER_IQRL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

This blue screen error code has had me tearing my hair out. Have a DIY computer built about 3 years ago. ABIT IC7-G MB, P4 processor, 2GB Kingston RAM, Antec True Power PSU, Win XP pro.

Recently getting start up errors with a BSOD as windows is booting. Error still occurs despite replacing memory, disabling sound card, replacing SATA drive, reseating cards. Can be due to rogue drivers, but no new ones installed prior to event. Last thing I did was try and fix virtual memory if that was the problem.

Here are some sites with some info:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms795930.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=810093&sd=RMVP

http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

If the error occurs again I will try running memtest and flipping memory modules in and out. If that fails looks like new MOBO.

AVG Free Update Unsuccessful

Recently AVG Free started returning a message "Update Unsuccessful" when Update Manager was run. This meant that the anti-virus defs were not being updated.

The solution to this problem is to -
1. Launch AVG Control Center
2. Go to View in Menu bar
3. Click "Extended Mode"
4. In Extended Mode window scroll down to "Update Manager"
5. Right Click. Go to Settings
6. Click Advanced tab
7. Press "Delete Update Temporary Files" button

I was then able to Update successfully.
This solution was posted by someone on Yahoo answers. May not work in every case.