Color accurate monitors: Basic features and comparison of four monitors

Abstract

Color accurate monitors are high resolution, luminance‐controlled displays with very large color gamut. They have internal controls to match specific color standards (e.g., sRGB, Adobe‐RGB, REC‐709) and well‐defined gamma functions (mostly γ = 2.2, but others such as Equal Probability of Detection, Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). Usually, they come with external tools for automatic calibration (like Chroma 5 or Spider) and for communicating with the host computer through USB port, and with software to control the calibration process. Most of them allow a calibration to a specific customer selected color gamut, besides the precalibrated standards, but limit the gray levels calibration to a gamma type function (typically γ = 2.2). Their unique properties, challenges, and applications will be discussed. A comparison between the properties of four monitors and optical test results of their parameters is presented.

A timely reminder about stimulus display times and other presentation parameters on CRTs and newer technologies.

“…At the extreme, web-based research with its huge concomitant variability in hardware/software (screen type and size, operating system, keyboard/mouse interface, browser) can still provide meaningful results within limits and with large numbers of respondents (Reimers & Stewart, 2014; Simcox & Fiez, 2014). When much smaller tolerances are at the heart of the experiment, self-calibrating or carefully measured displays are crucial (e.g., Abileah, 2013). At the same time, the experimenter needs to know the artifacts of the technology, and whether the display is appropriate for the research at hand.…”