Colors differ in the dual monitor

Question

I use a dual monitor.

The colors appear entirely different on the new monitor than they do on my laptop.

When you are selecting colors etc, to be included in a website design, it totally freaks me out.

Is there no software solution that finds how the settings of one of the monitor is and puts that to the second one?

Otherwise what all settings do I need to change manually on the second monitor to make it appear as it does on the laptop?

Thanks in advance.

Solution 1

Check this out Color Calibration 101 (codinghorror), it should help! But I would recommend to buy a display calibration device (absolutely useful when using dual display)! The good ones are pretty expensive, you can share it with friends to afford the price.

Solution 2

A large part of the problem will be that the LCD panels for external displays and laptops won't be manufactured in the same way in the same factory so there will always be differences in the colour profile of the screens.

You can get devices that help you to match the colour profiles of monitors so that what you see on one is the same as on the other, but they tend to cost a bit.

Solution 3

Usually monitors have a color 'temperature' adjustment, much the way a temperature Kelvin given on light bulbs typically refers to their color, not how hot they get. e.g. soft white is usually in the 2700K to 3000K range; bright white 3300K to 4500K; daylight bulbs usually run from 5400K to 6500K.

Most monitors have different presets in their menus for different temperatures Kelvin, too. The NEC CRT I'm using right now has presets for 9300K, 7500K, 6500K, 5000K and 3900K. The NEC LCD next to it has presets for 9300K, 8200K and 7500K. Having them both on 7500K gets them close to begin with, then I tweaked the red-blue-green and contrast/brightness settings to make them match... rather than comparing them to each other, though, I would recommend tweaking them both to match the same picture or calibration chart. That can be an ongoing process until you get them matched up, especially if you're also calibrating a good printer to print the same colors they are displaying (ICC Profiles should get you close, then you can tweak to match your paper).

If you do a web search for color calibration charts you should find sites that cater to both monitor AND printer calibration. e.g. http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html and http://www.normankoren.com/printer_calibration.html

Solution 4

If you have one monitor plugged into your graphics card port and one into the integrated graphics port that could be an issue. The settings between the two of these could be completely different and the graphics card connection would usually be much more enhanced.

View more solutions

Comments

[underscore_d]

No, it's almost certainly not the port or the card, just panel variation. Ports don't have "settings". The only possible way the discrete card could "be much more enhanced" is that it might have a driver/applet that would allow tweaking colour, but given the question, OP hasn't changed any of that, so it should "usually" be neutral, not "enhanced". The remaining possibility is differences introduced by an analog VGA connection, but IME that tends to affect brightness/contrast far more than colour, with the panel still being the main influence in the colour.

[underscore_d]

Why 50? Most displays would run at 60. Besides, usually the OS won't offer a rate that isn't advertised by the monitor as compatible, so it shouldn't be possible to select a 'wrong' one (without using advanced settings). Besides, how common is it that refresh rate affects colour? It's not an effect I've seen.

[underscore_d]

...and they're only asking about themselves, so this isn't relevant.