Monitor Calibration; Auto Brightness Control or No?

[drr1531]

I was wondering how many folks out there let their editing machines adjust monitor brightness based on ambient lighting versus just using a static brightness setting.

 

[Butlerkid]

I have always calibrated my monitor. It makes a HUGE difference. My NEC monitor came with built in hardware and s/w. But Xrite has some very good products. Not only is brightness adjusted, more importantly a color profile is created so that the colors are adjusted so that the monitor displays accurate color.

This appears to be a good article on the subject....

 

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not sure of what you're asking, but I calibrate my monitor only when a very specific lighting situation exists. That situation is the same that occurs when I do all of my post-processing: no direct light falling on my monitor and no direct sunlight entering the room.

 

[TonyW]

I was wondering how many folks out there let their editing machines adjust monitor brightness based on ambient lighting versus just using a static brightness setting.

A bad idea and practice to allow auto compensation for ambient lighting IF your intention is to print and you require accurate soft proofing.

A good idea and practice is to keep a constant ambient light level in your editing environment that is comfortable for you and adjust the monitor luminence level to allow for a print to screen match.

If you cannot keep consistent ambient light conditions and assuming you have tried those new fangked curtain things it is still poor practice to let automated brightness take over.

Should you not wish to print there is less pressing need for accurate calibration although it is still a good idea to calibrate to a given standard and hope that others that may view your images have at least attempted some form of voodoo to make their screens usable.

Should you wish or need to have an accurate view of your image data then monitors should be calibrated regularly. Monitors will shift over time luminence and colour. Calibrating to your required standards will adjust the resulting profile to take into account these shifts and therefore present your data correctly. You cannot do this by relying on eye alone: by the time you notice there will have been a fairly large change

 

[Growltiger]

No I don't allow it. It seems a really bad idea, as any hope of consistency is compromised.

 

[gryphon1911]

I don't allow it either. I can control the ambient lighting in my office where I edit, so lighting conditions are the same always. Well mostly. It does change slowly over time between aging light bulbs or different bulbs when certain ones burn out and are replaced.

I just do the periodic recalibration when needed and call it a day.

 

[Walter]

No auto adjust. Color calibration assumes a fixed (static) working environment. That includes no changes to brightness. Part of the calibration process is to set the white point for your display. Auto-adjust changes the white point thus voiding the color calibration you spent time setting.

 

[drr1531]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of a dedicated office space. I'm setting up a new machine but with my old wide gamut monitor. And in a moment of humility I entertained the thought that perhaps the people who write the software(Xrite in my case) know more than me about color management and put that option in there for a reason. But intuitively it seems like a bad idea even in an uncontrolled lighting environment. Clearly those who've responded thus far are of the same opinion.