|
|
Microsoft Windows and Colour Management
All versions of Microsoft Windows (to date) display some annoying 'features' that can get in the way of
a colour managed workflow. The main problem lies in the way that Windows applies
monitor profiles, or rather that it doesn't. Unlike Mac OS-X, Windows relies on a
third-party driver to send the gamma ramp associated with a monitor profile to a graphics
card. Normally the monitor profile will be set by a third-party
program at startup. This works reasonably well but problems can occur after any of the following
events:
-
the screen saver is run (not always a problem on all systems)
-
the computer is woken from hibernation or from stand-by
-
Windows Vista displays an authorization dialog
The first thing to do is turn off your screen saver, you don't need it for modern displays anyway.
Screen savers were intended to prevent 'phosphur burn' on older CRTs if the same image was
displayed on a monitor for a long period. These days with LCDs or modern CRTs this just isn't a problem.
The second (and more important) workaround is to use the freeware
DisplayProfile
tool from
GretagMacbeth
(works with Vista and XP) or a similar calibration loader.
Run this tool every time you are about to do some colour critical work
to ensure that your monitor profile is loaded correctly.
The
Calibration Tester
tool allows you to check if a profile has been applied to your monitor.
|
|
