Hi,
We're in the process of updating our grading and compositing suites and I'm looking for any advice related to monitors and calibration. I will make a recommendation to my superior.
A bit of context about us : we do cgi, compositing and finishing work, mainly on TVC's.
Since around 2008 we have been using Panasonic plasma monitors as our reference monitors, and Panasonic plasma television sets for the clients; as well as a Pioneer Kuro. We used an X-rite Hubble probe, but we don't use lut boxes. The Hubble probe is out of order (and cannot be recalibrated as I've mentioned in another thread). The Plasma monitors are getting old, and certain clients have been complaining for too long about their color accuracy (or should I say, our lack of proper calibration ?). I think it's time to switch to OLED or LCD technology.
I have tried to absorb as much information as I could on this site, on the LGG forums, on the AVSforum,... I have also been in contact with the freelance graders that frequently work with us to ask for their opinion on OLED vs LCD. I would personally be more inclined to go the OLED route because of the perfect blacks. Can I consider that OLED is better in terms of (potential) color accuracy and larger gamut compared to LCD ?
Some colorgraders told me that clients are disappointed when they see their commercials on 'regular' screens (ie their LCD laptop screen or their LCD television). I read posts from Steve stating that it's a good practice to calibrate OLED monitors with a black level set at 0.05 nits which addresses this concern.
Are there any arguments to be made to prefer LCD monitors over OLED ones ? I have seen some issue on our LG B6V : when I look at a solid white patch there seems to be a color change when I shift my head. I hope this is not the case on pro monitors.
If we decide to use OLED technology I will probably recommend an FSI Oled monitor as the reference monitor, and a LG OLED screen for the clients. We already own a LG B6V.
Then comes the calibration issue.
I would like to use lut boxes as it seems to be the only way to achieve an accurate result (according to this site anyway
. I would opt for the Teranex Mini because of the support of UHD. The FSI monitor is factory calibrated and has it's own custom lut so that side is taken care for. For the LG client television I have two options : either pay a professional calibrator, or buy my own equipment. Do you know/recommend serious calibration pros that can travel to Belgium ? I haven't found any yet.
I have read on this site as well as elsewhere that a spectrophotometer is used in combination with a colorimeter. If I understand correctly the spectrophotometer analyses the color spectrum of the primaries on the screen, which allows to create a matrix to compensate between the primaries of the screen and the primaries of the color filters in the colorimeter. My question is : can I do without the spectrophotometer ? In my case, does LightSpace come with the matrix for LG Oleds for a CR-100 ? Or is there too much variation between screens, making such presets useless ?
Any advice would be more than welcomed.
Regards
Donat Van Bellinghen
www.nozon.com