Jennifer

No - your Spyder instructions were fine. I think I mayhave tried them all in the beginning and came up with the numbered preset of 6500 being the best. The actual value was actually close - that's why O can't figure out what went wrong. But not giving up:)

Ok. And I appreciate you sticking through this with me.  Had posted in another group just for kicks and all I got was dell makes office monitors and if I really want a decent monitor for color management get eizo or nec. Oh and spyder 4 is outdated. None of that was tremendously helpful:(

This is the internal hard drive I installed when I got the system. You actually helped me do it and saved me money by me doing it myself and not having dell do it:)

Hey Damien - I couldn't find another computer to try the calibrator on, but I did have another photographer friend com eover (I met her through your group/classes), and she agreed with my assessment that the images on the screen are definitely greener, and the prints are more magenta. Since you talk about the presets being warmer vs. cooler, (rather than green vs magenta) would it make sense to say that the screen being green is actually warmer? And if that is the case - then  should I try the next highest preset to make the screen cooler?

["If you feel that your screen needs to be warmer to match your prints, choose the preset that gave you the next lowest number. If you feel that your screen needs to be cooler to match your prints, choose the next highest preset."]

I have been using the color temp presets (5000K-10,000K). None of those presets have come between 6000-7000 as per your suggestion, I was using 5700K which was giving me a reading of 5947 - the closest to that suggested range. My friend suggested I look at the multimedia or the game presets - does anyone use those?

Brian - I just realized this is happening when I am watching a video through VLC. I have some tutorial videos that I keep on my Seagate Barracuda (drive E) and when  I watch them, it makes that noise. It's actually the same noise that happens when I disconnect my Spyder, my external Dell drive, or any external. 

Thanks Brian! I'm not sure I'm hearing the click-a-thump...plunk but don't want to take the chance so I will tco right away.

Hey Brian -

Recently I have been having problems with what I think is the connection for my external hard drives. One of them is a Dell (made by Seagate) 1 TB - I'll hear a noise (like a 'plink" lol) and then get a pop-up that says I need to format Disk J (or whatever port I have the cable in). And then I'll get a window that says it is searching for content.  I usually just try to cancel out of it and make sure the connection is secure.

It was happening a lot with the ports that are in the front of the tower so I switched it to the port on the monitor. I have the Dell xps8700. I usually keep a couple of different hard drives connected to my computer at all times  - don't want to put them all onto the same external in case something happens to it. I also keep them connected because I have crashplan for backup.

Is it likely that it is the cable or the port that is having a problem?

Technology and I do not seem to be getting along these days:(

Thanks - jennifer

ok - off to find a friend who is willing to let me do this. Wish me luck!

So once I calibrate the computer, compare the prints to their screen - if they match - then a problem with my screen?

ok - so say I get someone to use their computer. Do I hook my Spyder4Pro up to their computer and then compare how their screen looks to my prints? Sorry if I'm being obtuse:)

I don't have another computer:(

I've done this at least three times already. That's why I'm so frustrated and tempted to buy a new calibrator - but then scared that the screen has gone bad after just two years:(

Actually, my prints don't seem to be matching very well. I no longer have the prints that I did the first time I calibrated the Spyder4 Pro with my desktop. However, I did have prints made a little while ago, and when I  compared them to my monitor after this stuff started happening, the prints seemed redder and my screen seemed greener.

Also, I'm not sure if it was my eyes playing tricks on me but the last time I calibrated, when I compared the calibrated screen to the uncalibrated screen, again, the calibrated images looked like they had a green tint.

Brian - what does it mean to "default your monitor" - does it mean to set back to factory defaults?

Hey Brian/Damien/et al:

I have a question about my monitor - Dell U2412M purchased in January of 2014. When I did the original calibration for this monitor with a spyder4Pro and followed Damien's directions, I remember that  the "current Kelvin value" numbers which were read from each preset were closer to the presets themselves. For example, the 6500 preset was a number much closer to 6500. I know that I picked the preset which fell between 6000-7000; I just don't remember which preset it was (although I'm such a pack rat I probably still have the paper I wrote it down on)! Things seemed to be fine for a while, and then these past few months, I started having problems with my Spyder4Pro (purchased at the end of 2013 I believe) and the calibration reminder not working. Went through downloading the latest version, following their suggestions, etc. and nothing worked. I do have an open ticket with them about that problem, but it's getting old so I may be in the market for a new calibrator.

In addition, every calibration after trying to fix that problem involved doing a full calibration. So, I was back to comparing the presets to the current Kelvin values again, and nothing came close to being between the recommended 6000-7000. I've been getting numbers like 5905 for the 5700 preset and 7371 for the 6500 preset.

So, my highest priority question is: Since I don't have (or at least no longer have) "a preset which gets me in the 6000-7000 range," does that mean I need to get a new monitor after just two years? Or that my Spyder4Pro is messed up and I should get a new calibrator?

Thanks - Jennifer

Hey D- Nothing wrong with calibration at this point that I see. I am starting to use a different lab bc I was not nuts about Millers, so I sent for off test prints and they seem to match pretty well. I'm just concerned that if this part is not working that there may be other problems.

Hey there... Working with Dell U2412M Monitor with Dell 8700XPS since 2014 when I bought based on Brian's recommendations and have been very happy with it. Bought a Spyder 4Pro to calibrate and for the most part didn't have any problems running the calibrator (thanks to Damien's easy instructions) However, about a month and a half ago, I started having  trouble with my Spyder4Pro not giving me a calibration reminder at the two week mark. However, when I would run the Spyder4Pro, I would get the "You have exceeded the time.. blah blah blah, so please calibrate your monitor." Damien - you recommended I contact Datacolor, so I did. Datacolor responded with this email: