Mismatched Monitors

Posted 12/23/2009 at 3:45pm | by The Maximum PC Staff

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I’ve got two monitors: a slightly older 24-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2443 BWX and a brand-new 22-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2233 RZ. I am attempting a dual-monitor setup for Illustrator/Photoshop purposes (as well as animation and other forms of graphic design) on a Radeon HD 4850 X2 with Catalyst 9.8 drivers. Out of the box the color representation couldn’t be worse. The new monitor is extremely blue and the old one looks better, but is still a tad red. Nothing I do can get these monitors to look even remotely close. I’ve fussed with the built-in controls on both for a good hour, and nothing. I even used the calibration tool in Windows 7 and still can’t get these monitors looking good. I’m sure that since they are different monitors, I can’t get them “perfect,” but they should at least have accurate enough colors for printing purposes.

We wish we could suggest an easy DIY method for getting accurate color from your two monitors, but we’ve had the best success using Pantone’s HueyPro color calibrator ($130, www.pantone.com). The nice thing about the Pro version is that it works for multi-monitor setups. You stick the USB calibrator to each screen and it measures the color temperatures and makes adjustments accordingly. Once adjusted, you can choose from a few different white-point profiles, which should help you find a good middle-ground between your warm and cool screens. If you don’t want to shell out for a hardware calibrator, see the free alternatives we suggest.

A color calibrator like the Pantone HueyPro will help match your monitors' color temperatures, even if they're from different manufacturers.

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