pageoneresults - 4:45 pm on Oct 29, 2006 (gmt 0)

I've worked with color now since 1990. I've been in the commercial printing industry where color is critical. We constantly perform monitor calibrations within our design workspaces. But, the lighting in those spaces is also calibrated. We also have "press ready" monitors.

I can tell you from almost 17 years of experience that calibrating a monitor is good practice and you should at least take care of the basics.

As others have mentioned, monitor calibration is typically for print. I remember the first time I bought an LCD flat panel. I actually took it back because the colors were "too vibrant". That was a few years ago when they were first becoming mainstream. I couldn't develop websites using that LCD as I was seeing colors that my clients were not. The whole backlight issue brings in another factor that really throws thing off if you are used to the standard CRT monitor. Imagine taking your CRT and shining a bright light behind it. Colors become more vibrant and in some instances look completely different.

Pantone is the authority on color when it comes to print. Fortunately for us, Pantone also provides RGB and Hex values for colors that companies use in their marketing materials. As long as you are using those values, you should be good to go. There are certain colors that may need to be tweaked here and there but for the most part, you can be assured that your butt is covered as long as you are using the appropriate color values.

No two monitors at the basic consumer level are going to show colors the same. Heck, I've watched them calibrate the press ready monitors and the process is painstaking. There are so many factors that have to be taken into consideration that it just isn't worth it for anything other than print. And even then, the client needs to go on the press check and approve those first sheets coming off the press for color. That's another issue in itself. Once it goes on press, color control is now in the hands of the pressman and the equipment they are working with. What a nightmare that can be. I know, I've been on press checks that started at 0100 and they didn't get the color right for 5-6 hours.