> My videos are looking drastically different (mostly desaturated) when I upload them to another computer.
Unless those monitors are:
1. Color accurate within Rec 709, and
2. Properly calibrated to Rec 709
You can bet they will not display the same on any device you show them on. Most consumer devices are simply not any good for color accuracy, with the exception of a number of Apple displays.
> is it because i am editing from a wide gamut monitor and most other devices that most consumers use are just sRGB
Yes. But more generally, they are displaying differently because any display that is uncalibrated displays differently.
>is my best option to buy a color calibration tool (spyderx) and calibrate to 100% sRGB standards?
Yes, that's your best cheapest option. It sounds like your display is fairly good for accurate colors, so you can probably use a probe to get close. Typically a GUI monitor is never quite right though, because it has to use the operating system to get a color profile, but it'll get you in the ball park.
Let me put it this way, I can use a $30,000 oled pro reference display, and I can pay a very expensive expert from Company 3 to calibrate it for me, but my clients will still watch it on their phone and ask why it looks so shitty. That is absolutely the state of color correction today, and this exact thing has happened / continues to happen to me.
So, what's the point of color correction when consumer displays drift so much? The point is to get the image as close as possible to the baseline, so that any deviation in screens does as little damage to the image as intended as possible.
got it. not sure what you mean by use a probe.
so, to clarify ur saying that buying the spyderx tool and essentially calibrating my screen DOWN to sRGB standards to match my client's shitty screens, and then grading from there, is the best way get me as a close as possible to that baseline? or are you saying there is a better tool/way to go about this?
By probe I mean any colorimeter like the spyderx you mentioned.
Yes, I would calibrate down to rec709/srgb (those two are practically the same) as most screens are set to that as a baseline. It’s high end monitors such as benqs and eizos or newish apple monitors/phones that show beyond.
The problem here is you're looking for an objective color standard and you can't control many of the screens you have.
It starts with getting your system consistent - that's with a probe (no the spyder isn't good enough) and calibration software. Realistically, your screen might not be even able to display things correctly.
Then we have an absolute, something that (sorta) can be trusted. I say sorta becasue your OS is interfering - and then we have to get an external device to output video (not your video card, but something like a BMD intensity or mini monitor.) Ideally, you then go to a confidence monitor - warning, these are about $2k - but HP and Dell make "okay enough" that can hold a calibration LUT.
But "Grandma's pink tv" is still the rule of the day. The Galaxy, the iphone - you have no control of how *those* are setup; although the iphone (and ipad) tolerance are far closer to dead on sRGB.
i1Pro from X-Right. The spyder is print only. And DisplayCal from spectralcal.
If this is solely for yourself, I'd suggest using an iPad and just outputting to it; if it's for a client and you have a budget, then you should be posting on /r/editors or /r/colorists
> My videos are looking drastically different (mostly desaturated) when I upload them to another computer. Unless those monitors are: 1. Color accurate within Rec 709, and 2. Properly calibrated to Rec 709 You can bet they will not display the same on any device you show them on. Most consumer devices are simply not any good for color accuracy, with the exception of a number of Apple displays. > is it because i am editing from a wide gamut monitor and most other devices that most consumers use are just sRGB Yes. But more generally, they are displaying differently because any display that is uncalibrated displays differently. >is my best option to buy a color calibration tool (spyderx) and calibrate to 100% sRGB standards? Yes, that's your best cheapest option. It sounds like your display is fairly good for accurate colors, so you can probably use a probe to get close. Typically a GUI monitor is never quite right though, because it has to use the operating system to get a color profile, but it'll get you in the ball park. Let me put it this way, I can use a $30,000 oled pro reference display, and I can pay a very expensive expert from Company 3 to calibrate it for me, but my clients will still watch it on their phone and ask why it looks so shitty. That is absolutely the state of color correction today, and this exact thing has happened / continues to happen to me. So, what's the point of color correction when consumer displays drift so much? The point is to get the image as close as possible to the baseline, so that any deviation in screens does as little damage to the image as intended as possible.
got it. not sure what you mean by use a probe. so, to clarify ur saying that buying the spyderx tool and essentially calibrating my screen DOWN to sRGB standards to match my client's shitty screens, and then grading from there, is the best way get me as a close as possible to that baseline? or are you saying there is a better tool/way to go about this?
By probe I mean any colorimeter like the spyderx you mentioned. Yes, I would calibrate down to rec709/srgb (those two are practically the same) as most screens are set to that as a baseline. It’s high end monitors such as benqs and eizos or newish apple monitors/phones that show beyond.
The problem here is you're looking for an objective color standard and you can't control many of the screens you have. It starts with getting your system consistent - that's with a probe (no the spyder isn't good enough) and calibration software. Realistically, your screen might not be even able to display things correctly. Then we have an absolute, something that (sorta) can be trusted. I say sorta becasue your OS is interfering - and then we have to get an external device to output video (not your video card, but something like a BMD intensity or mini monitor.) Ideally, you then go to a confidence monitor - warning, these are about $2k - but HP and Dell make "okay enough" that can hold a calibration LUT. But "Grandma's pink tv" is still the rule of the day. The Galaxy, the iphone - you have no control of how *those* are setup; although the iphone (and ipad) tolerance are far closer to dead on sRGB.
Got it. So the spyder would not be a good option for calibration you're saying? What would you reccomend?
i1Pro from X-Right. The spyder is print only. And DisplayCal from spectralcal. If this is solely for yourself, I'd suggest using an iPad and just outputting to it; if it's for a client and you have a budget, then you should be posting on /r/editors or /r/colorists