Are LCD Monitors Brigter than CRT Monitors

I had some prints made at shutterfly and a third of them came out to
dark I sent shutterfly customer service a detail email expalin what
was wrong with the print. I also mentioned that I calibrated my
monitor with Monaco Optix xr.
They agreed to reprint my images. But they said that may images may
appear ligter than they actually are. Because LCD are brighter. This
did not sound right to me. I think Monaco Optix would take my LCD
Monitors brigtness into account when it calibrated the monitor.

I check one of my slides with a 10x loupe and the image on my monitor.
They matched. But the print was definitely darker. I include the reply
from shutterfly below and part of my original email. What is your
opinion on this?



Thanks

Al
http://www.bigalsoftware.com


************************************************** *************
************************************************** *************
Dear Al,

Please accept our apologies for the unusually long delay in getting
back to you; we have been experiencing very high volume lately. Please
know
that we do personally respond to all inquiries.

I checked the images on my monitor which I have calibrated with Adobe
Gamma, and they appear to be dark in the areas that you have
mentioned.
We have examined your order, and the original image files do seem a
bit
dark. The prints you received appear to be faithful reproductions of
the images.

We do use our proprietary VividPics technology when printing, which
analyzes your photo and automatically applies enhancements to the
photo
to improve the exposure and colors, so the prints that you received
are
brighter than the original files. If your monitor is an LCD monitor,
then the images will appear brighter because LCD screen illuminate
brighter than standard monitors.

I have reordered your prints at a higher brightness setting, so the
prints that you will receive are the brightest that we can print.

Thank you for using Shutterfly!


Original Message Follows:
-------------------------


The following pictures are to dark when I compare them to my monitor.
I have calibrated my monitor with Monaco Optix.




\


Al
http://www.bigalsoftware.com

Al wrote:
I had some prints made at shutterfly and a third of them came out to
dark I sent shutterfly customer service a detail email expalin what
was wrong with the print. I also mentioned that I calibrated my
monitor with Monaco Optix xr.
They agreed to reprint my images. But they said that may images may
appear ligter than they actually are. Because LCD are brighter. This
did not sound right to me. I think Monaco Optix would take my LCD
Monitors brigtness into account when it calibrated the monitor.

I check one of my slides with a 10x loupe and the image on my monitor.
They matched. But the print was definitely darker. I include the reply
from shutterfly below and part of my original email. What is your
opinion on this?

I think the statement they are making about LCDs being brighter is pretty
much true. When you first set up an LCD monitor you generally have to crank
the brightness down to get something bearable. Have a play with the
brightness on yours to see. Of course, if you cranked up the brightness on a
CRT, it would be too bright too!

In general, LCDs are not as good for colour matching as CRT monitors, so
many photographers doing there own digital printing will avoid them.

In fact, best option for the perfectionist is to get a good inkjet printer
and print your own. You can then use ICC profiles to get a very accurate
reproduction of your original image on the printer. These profiles are
designed to balance printer, paper and inks using a supplement to your print
driver.

For a little more info on this, take a look at www.papermilldirect.com and
click on the ICC logo at the bottom right of the page.

HTH

Martin

Al wrote:
I had some prints made at shutterfly and a third of them came out to
dark I sent shutterfly customer service a detail email expalin what
was wrong with the print. I also mentioned that I calibrated my
monitor with Monaco Optix xr.
They agreed to reprint my images. But they said that may images may
appear ligter than they actually are. Because LCD are brighter. This
did not sound right to me. I think Monaco Optix would take my LCD
Monitors brigtness into account when it calibrated the monitor.

I check one of my slides with a 10x loupe and the image on my monitor.
They matched. But the print was definitely darker. I include the reply
from shutterfly below and part of my original email. What is your
opinion on this?

I think the statement they are making about LCDs being brighter is pretty
much true. When you first set up an LCD monitor you generally have to crank
the brightness down to get something bearable. Have a play with the
brightness on yours to see. Of course, if you cranked up the brightness on a
CRT, it would be too bright too!

In general, LCDs are not as good for colour matching as CRT monitors, so
many photographers doing there own digital printing will avoid them.

In fact, best option for the perfectionist is to get a good inkjet printer
and print your own. You can then use ICC profiles to get a very accurate
reproduction of your original image on the printer. These profiles are
designed to balance printer, paper and inks using a supplement to your print
driver.

For a little more info on this, take a look at www.papermilldirect.com and
click on the ICC logo at the bottom right of the page.

HTH

Martin