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Your first calibration

Use this page to calibrate a display for the first time, save the calibration report and send the results to your web account.

Calibration measures your display with a photometer and corrects it, so images look the way they should on every display.

Before you start

  • ViziCAL is installed and activated. See Activate your licence.
  • Your photometer is plugged in, or your display has a built-in photometer.
  • The display has been switched on for at least 30 minutes, so its brightness is steady.
  • The room lighting is as it normally is when people read images.
  • You have about 15 minutes for each display.

Find the right display

If the computer has more than one display, check which one is which.

  1. Open ViziCAL.
  2. Click Identify Displays. A number appears on each display.
  3. Find the matching number in the Displays list in ViziCAL.

Calibrate the display

  1. In the Displays list, find the display you want to calibrate.
  2. Click Start Calibration for that display.
  3. If your display has a built-in photometer and you also have an external one plugged in, choose which to use under Select photometer configuration:, then click Next.
  4. If ViziCAL finds a compatible LG display, choose how to apply the calibration. LG Monitor (Recommended) is best for most people. Click Next.
  5. When the screen says Place Photometer Over Black Square, hold or hang the photometer flat against the screen, over the black square.
  6. Click Start Calibration.
  7. Don't move the photometer or use the computer until the calibration finishes. ViziCAL shows a series of grey patches and measures each one.

The first time you calibrate a display, ViziCAL also flashes the patch black and white for a few seconds to time how quickly the screen settles. For everything that happens during a calibration, see Calibrate a display.

The calibration screen with the black square for the photometer

If your display has a built-in photometer

Before measuring, ViziCAL flashes a patch under the built-in photometer black and white, to check that the photometer can see it. What else happens depends on the display:

  • LG displays: the first time, ViziCAL needs to find where the photometer sits on the screen. A message explains this. Click Start and keep the mouse pointer off the display while it searches. ViziCAL saves the position, so you only do this once for each display.
  • WIDE displays: the display shows the measurement patches under its own photometer, so there's nothing to find. If you use only the built-in photometer, the middle of the screen shows an animation instead of a patch. Below it, ViziCAL says what it's doing (for example "Measuring grey level 12 of 52"), how long it has taken and roughly how long is left. It takes a few minutes. Don't close the window: closing it stops the calibration and puts back the display's previous calibration.

The calibration screen for a WIDE display, with the built-in photometer animation and progress messages

What you'll see

When the calibration finishes, ViziCAL applies it to the display straight away. The display card shows the new Last calibrated: date, and the graphs show the results.

If the display doesn't meet your chosen standard, a window says This calibration does not pass your selected standard. It lists which tests didn't pass and what to try. The calibration is still applied.

Save the report

Click Save Report. ViziCAL saves a PDF report and opens it.

The report shows the results for each display, with the owner information you entered. Print it or save a copy with your quality assurance records. You can find it again in History → Previous Reports. See Save reports and upload results.

Send the results to your web account

  1. Click Upload Results.
  2. Wait until Uploading results... goes away.

The results appear in your web account under Technical → Workstations. Open the workstation to see each display's latest calibration and its report.

Note

If you close ViziCAL without uploading, the Results not posted window asks whether to send them first. Click Post to send them.

Upload Results needs the web service to be on for your organisation. See Licence types.

Common problems

ViziCAL says No connected photometers detected
Unplug the photometer and plug it straight into the computer again, not through a hub. Then click Refresh.
ViziCAL says the diffuser is covering the sensor
Some X-Rite photometers have a cover that turns over the sensor. Turn the cover to the other side, then click Continue.
ViziCAL asks you to try again during calibration
The photometer probably moved or isn't over the black square. Put it back in the centre of the black square and click Try Again.
ViziCAL says the built-in photometer didn't see the test patch
Check that nothing is covering the built-in photometer, then click Try Again. On an LG display, if it keeps failing, click Find sensor position again. On a WIDE display there's no position to find: check that the display's USB cable is connected, then click Try Again.
The calibration doesn't pass the standard
Follow the suggestions in the results window. Often you need to turn up the display's brightness using its own buttons, or dim the room lights, and then calibrate again.