Optimal settings for astrophotography on calibratable monitors

[Rouven Asmußen]

Hi,

I think everyone of you knows it. You edit an image and it looks good on your own monitor. But as soon as you look at the image on an iPad or another monitor, it looks quite different. Calibratable monitors are certainly a good thing to at least have a consistent working basis. 
However, I think this fundamental topic in the field of astrophotography is treated rather neglected. 
Wouldn't this be a good topic for a tutorial (in the sense of which settings are most suitable for astrophotography)?

Best 
Rouven

 

[Alexander Curry]

Hi Rouven,

This is something I could explore with our tutors. I don't think it's possible to have a single setting that would make your image look the same across all monitors, but there are certainly some adjustments that you can make depending on where you want your image to be shown

[Scotty Bishop]

In general you should calibrate your monitor for everyday use. I've found that https://displaycal.net/ works pretty well for my monitors (I use a 5k monitor for my primary, a 4k for my secondary monitor). Basically, follow the instructions in it. Now if you really want monitor calibration at a more pro level I have used the Datacolor Spyder X Pro. It is meant for professional photographers.

One thing to remember for monitor calibration is having HDR on or off can make a huge difference. I've found that having HDR off gives me photos that look decent enough. So, for astrophotography, set your monitor calibration for normal photography, and then turn off HDR to get what will be displayed on most people's monitors. I suppose I can do a little write up on this since I do calibrate my monitors.