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Software gamma calibration

P

Pechendko

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
208
There's an app called CLtest which allows you to adjust gamma to the reference 2.2 reading as well as white and black levels.

This is probably the most accurate way to calibrate your monitor if you don't have any hardware tools.

http://forum.znyata.com/viewtopic.php?p=37370

Just use the simple steps in the slow or fast calibration mode and try to make color columns blend with the background or look as gray as possible (in slow mode), when you've done adjusting the gamma curve, the calibration is already applied to lut.

Then there's another app:

http://blog.i.ua/community/534/811608/

Use this tool to read the new gamma curve from lut and then save it to file.


I hope this will be helpful. I used it to calibrate my s27a950d, the results were stunning.
 
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chenw said:
Entirely software based?
Click to expand...

Yes, just two apps. One (cltest) for creating a color profile and the other (calibrilla) for loading it into gpu.

Though you can use calibrilla for the other calibration related stuff too, but cltest is simple and easy to use.
 
Tried using it, have absolutely no clue how to use it, the scroll wheel or the arrow key doesn't seem to do anything "(in both fast and slow calibrate), any pointers?
 
chenw said:
the scroll wheel or the arrow key doesn't seem to do
Click to expand...

Have just tried it again and can confirm that the arrow keys and the scroll wheel do indeed change the gamma curve. There's even values on the top that should be changing and the visual representation in another window. You need to align the gamma in every step using these controls so that the picture appears gray.


What is you gpu and drivers? It works just fine with my laptop's hd4000.
 
SLI 970's, was using 344.60 (not the latest, but it was the only driver I had reasonable download speed for). This is on Swift.

When I use up and down, the curve doesn't seem to change, and value at the top of the screen change by 2 at most (from [0] to [2] for example), and it doesn't change after that. The text in the window does flicker so the app is probably registering those inputs.

I am at work now, I will try later.
 
chenw said:
When I use up and down, the curve doesn't seem to change, and value at the top of the screen change by 2 at most (from [0] to [2] for example), and it doesn't change after that.
Click to expand...

No idea what could be the problem. Maybe you should try it on another pc.
It works fine on my desktop and laptop.
 
the program almost certainly works by modifying the videoLUT, which is a set of three 1D luts, one for each channel.

If you have other software that is actively preventing any changes to the LUT, then perhaps this particular program cannot overrule it. Just a theory...
 
False alarm, false alarm....

wanna guess what? I didn't actually install any graphics drivers (fresh OS install).

It's working as intended now :D
 
masterosok said:
Do you make the column gray or the entire window gray
Click to expand...


The columns should blend with the background with their corresponding colors, and the resulting picture in the preview window should be as gray as possible. The grayer it is the closer it is to 2.2.
 
Pechendko said:
The columns should blend with the background with their corresponding colors, and the resulting picture in the preview window should be as gray as possible. The grayer it is the closer it is to 2.2.
Click to expand...

preview window?

I have 2 windows...



 
I used Callibrilla to autoload the color profile (you can set one for each monitor individually I believe) and use its Overlooker utility, which automatically reloads yoru LUT data you have set everytime it detects a change in LUT data, and it loads on startup.
 
So, has anyone got any results? Is it working for you? :D

I used it to calibrate my s27a950d which had really horrible gamma settings out of the box, and it turned out so well I doubt I could get it any better if at all with entry level calibration tools.

It's not working quite as well for my laptop's screen though because of the huge vertical gamma shift.
 
chenw said:
I used Callibrilla to autoload the color profile (you can set one for each monitor individually I believe) and use its Overlooker utility, which automatically reloads yoru LUT data you have set everytime it detects a change in LUT data, and it loads on startup.
Click to expand...

Wait, are you saying it prevents any changes to the LUT and could thus be used to override gamma settings in fullscreen apps? For nvidia users this could be very useful. Gonna try when I get back home, my Swift is unusable without fixing the gamma. I have a colorimeter (which says stock gamma is 1.9 -.-) and made an .icc profile (a nice 2.2 gamma) but getting it to work in fullscreen games with g-sync is a pain and even with tools like MCW I've only had really limited success.

edit : well it seems to work nicely like MCW but some games still don't give a damn and reset my gamma to the ugly default :( even nvidia control panel settings can get overridden in some fullscreen games. Sigh.
 
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I'll be honest, I am no colorphile, and I couldn't tell a correct from incorrect gamma even if it was threatening me with an ugly stick, all I had been trying was getting windows to load my callibrated LUT data everytime I switch on the machine, and once I noticed that it was doing that, I stopped there completely, didn't try different games, or different refresh rates, G-Sync or not, nothing, so I can't really help there :(
 
kalston said:
some games still don't give a damn and reset my gamma to the ugly default
Click to expand...


That's because there's a call in direct x that resets the gamma curve to your gpu's default upon entering the fullscreen mode. Unfortunately most console game developers use it for PC ports because of their incompetence.

There's really no workaround for this issue over than the borderless windowed mode which can introduce tiering and for which you can be easily banned from multplayer if you use 3rd party apps that mess with game files like this: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/WindowedBorderlessGaming


The best solution would be to check the calibration before you buy a monitor or keep returning it until you receive a reasonably calibrated one :D
 
What about SweetFX for games?
Lift Gamma Gain function has detailed customization for midtones, shadows and highlights and you can modify each color channel seperately.
I use this sometimes when a game crushes blacks and has no proper settings in the option menu, or when it overrides my gpu settings. (Just Cause 2)
 
Hmm.. playing games in windowed full screen mode was one of my ways to keep the adjusted colors intact (Diablo 3 had that option, and the result reminded me of my old IPS screen).
 
I know... but meanwhile ATI has a solution that seems to work even for fullscreen games (and it is said that the quality is superior as well due to 10bit+dithering processing vs plain 8bit for nvidia). Meh.
 
kalston said:
I know... but meanwhile ATI has a solution that seems to work even for fullscreen games
Click to expand...

Do you mean Powerstrip? I've read somewhere that it doesn't work anymore with the fullscreen games staring with dx10.

The gamma resetting issue based solely on whether developers use "reset gamma ramp" dx call for their games or not, and there's nothing you can do about it other than running them in a window.:rolleyes:
 
I haven't used ATI/AMD in a very long time but I heard that they have a working solution, not even sure if third party or not. Maybe its broken now though lol

But yeah, window mode is a solution... which means you can forget G-Sync though :/ MCW worked great for me on XP for some reason, I can't remember any game where it didn't work. But on Win 7... argh, I get plenty of games that just reset the gamma to whatever they fancy.
 
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