When you see an image on your monitor, what is the display telling you about the image? That will depend on where the image is going. If the image is going to be viewed on a monitor you may be in luck: the image you see may be a reasonably accurate rendition of the final reproduction, especially if your monitor is in approximately the same condition as the end viewer’s monitor. If the image is going to be printed, there may be some...room for interpretation. If the printing press is printing on ppo quality paper you might be in for a surprise.
A monitor display is similar to a film-based color transparency in that the illuminant used to view the image comes through the image. Monitors and color transparency film display the RGB color space; monitors use phosphors and film uses dye layers.
The color and contrast of a monitor change. Change is evident from when the monitor is new to when it’s old, very much like the degradation seen in color film as it ages and fades. Change is also evident from manufacturing lot to lot (device to device) just like the variations from emulsion to emulsion observed in film stocks.
Does film look exactly like the finished printed photograph? Probably about as often as a monitor display does. Yes, it can and does happen, but not without translation. Can you adjust the color of your image based on the monitor display? Sometimes. Again, it depends on where the image is going. Photographs typically print on C print paper through a negative. Can a transmissive RGB phosphor on a monitor mimic the print you usually get on a sheet of Ektacolor paper? The answer will depend on who you ask. It will depend even more on how involved you are in the imaging process. If you deliver monitor-evaluated RGB’s to your color lab, you'll be lucky if you find that your monitor is accurate. If you make your own color prints (assuming you understand the process), if you carefully test each paper’s emulsion for color balance and contrast, then skill will determine your monitor's accuracy.
How involved are you in the color of your image when you shoot film and proof your exposures with color Polaroid? Do you shoot color film and proof with black & white Polaroid? Can you accurately judge densities on final film based on a Polaroid? These questions are leading in a direction that suggests the rendering of important densities, as densities, rather than colors, are the more important consideration when crafting an image. Treating the monitor as a less important arbiter of the wonderfulness of your image is probably prudent. The software’s densitometer readings of important reflectances will provide useful feedback on the imaging process. These readings will faithfully and accurately report the value of any reflectance, regardless of the color, contrast, the brand, or the age of your monitor. Used in concert with the monitor’s display you can reasonably predict the way your image will print. Use the monitor’s display to preview your success in communicating the emotion you’re looking to effect: the monitor’s display will look good when you’ve got a good RGB. Use the densitometer to verify that the important values are where you want them.
If you do not take responsibility for the color of your image apart from choosing a film emulsion and a color lab, you may want to start looking into the idea. It’s all about control. Knowing what’s going to happen before you actually print has exciting possibilities, not the least of which is profit. Factor in the consistency of color and the rendering of emotion with color; you will be a better shooter and your pictures will prove it.
These ideas will become particularly more important when you start shooting with portable computers utilizing TFT (thin film transistor) displays. MegaVision will be supporting the operation of its camera backs on battery powered computers with the NT release of our software. These TFT displays do not have the amplifier controlled color and gamma of the pricier, calibrated displays, so the evaluation of the image based on the luminance report becomes an even more valuable skill.