# optimal display brightness for developing images in lightroom



## dtbain

I've just bought a rMBP, on which I am using Lightroom, and am wondering:  are there rules-of-thumb for how bright I should set the display for optimal editing in Develop mode?

I like using it with display brightness on max, but it occurred to me that if (but perhaps this isn't the case) rMPB displays are brighter than most computers' displays, or brighter than the systems printers will use to print my images, then perhaps my images -- when printed or viewed on other computers -- will be subdued?

A dumb question, I suspect, but any advice?

Thanks as always

d


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## RikkFlohr

Well, if you want your prints to match, making white on your monitor the same brightness as white on the intended print paper is a good rough place to start.


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## Tony Jay

Not a dumb question at all!

The answer to your question is that: it depends.

If you are editing for printing then, in general, the brighter your monitor (or more correctly the higher the luminance is set) then the darker will be any corresponding prints).
As you suspect the same could apply when others view your images on other electronic devices.

The appropriate luminance to set your monitor to is a function of how bright your editing suite is.
The principle is that the gloomier your editing suite is then the lower the luminance should be set.
As an example my monitor is set to a luminance of 95 cd/m2.

Now, although I do own an MBP myself, it seems to only allow changing luminance via a slider.
I do not do critical colour and tone editing on my MBP using its monitor as gauge personally because I use a large 30' NEC Spectraview monitor instead.
Because this monitor is designed for colour critical image and video editing the luminance range that it can display is much greater than most monitors that are in the marketplace. In general a lot of monitor manufacturers want the monitor to look as bright as possible and they cannot even be altered to display a luminance of < 100 cd/m2.

Nonetheless, the way to configure the correct luminance for your situation is by trial-and-error.
Based on the difference between how a print looks compared to how the same image looks on your monitor alter the luminance of the monitor and then edit the image so that it looks like it needs to and then reprint the image and then recompare.
A couple of iterations may be required before the print approximates the colours and tones of the image displayed by the monitor.

An important aside: Although I am asking you to compare a print with a monitor display this is actually a bit like asking you to compare apples and oranges.
The reason why is that a monitor is a transmissive medium and a print is a reflective medium.
A monitor also has a much higher Dmax than any print. What this means is that the brightest and darkest tone that can be displayed by the monitor is much higher than what can currently be achieved by any print technology.
So any comparison that will be done has to take into account these differences. Nonetheless, a very close approximation can be achieved - so close in fact that it might take an experienced pixel-peeper to really appreciate the differences.

Tony Jay


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## dtbain

Thanks Rikk and especially Tony, that's very helpful indeed.

Tony:  regarding your principle, I take it my 'editing suite' is LR?  In which case, do you know:  how gloomy is LR?

I think you're right, Tony, that the rMPB brightness can be changed only a slider or the brightness keys, which allow 16 increments.  I'll try trial-and-error as you propose but in the interim (since I am editing a big batch of images at the moment -- just family pics, nothing professional!) it sounds as though having the display a few increments down from max, at least, would be sensible.  I think Victoria Brampton edits on a rMBP; perhaps I'll ask her what setting she normally has the display on.

I am not a professional (hence editing on a notebook simply so I can do it on a sofa!) but one day might like to get into calibrating my display for brightness and colour, to the extent this notebook allows it.  Is there a book or site that explains the simplest way, for a nonexpert like me, to do that?

Thanks again -- really helpful

David


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## Tony Jay

Sorry David, I should have been more precise.

By editing suite I literally meant the room in which you work - gloomy room = low monitor luminance but bright room means higher luminance.

Tony Jay


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## RikkFlohr

I run my MBPr at 50% brightness and get pretty close matches.


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## clee01l

Nothing IMO can top a good screen calibration tool,  With it I can set my luminance (100 cd/m2) with some confidence of precision. You can eyeball this with the Display System tool but a dedicated calibration tool is probably more accurate and less subjective than the human eye.  A good calibration tool will monitor ambient light and compensate for the variances in room lighting through the day. 
 For printing I use LR's softproofing  function to tune the image that I see on the screen to look like what it will appear with my printer and paper selected.  The display is a transmissive media and paper is a reflective media. So, you can only approximate the effect of paper with the transmitted light from the LCD/LED display.

The MBP Retina display is not particularly brighter than any other IPS display although visually it might appear so since the higher pixel density means less black gaps between pixels


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## dtbain

Great, thanks -- I'll do the same (at least until I get into the business of proper calibrating tools and the rest)!

d


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## dtbain

Thanks Cletus, can you recommend a tool -- I've got no idea what these things even look like!

d


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## clee01l

dtbain said:


> Thanks Cletus, can you recommend a tool -- I've got no idea what these things even look like!
> 
> d


http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2...-photographers-6-top-models-tested-and-rated/

Most folks user either a Spyder or one of the tools by X-Rite.  I use the X-Rite i1DisplayPro because it will calibrate and actively manage dual monitors.


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## RikkFlohr

I use the Data Color Spyder 4. Lacking a hardware device, the exposure meter on your camera will help you set your monitor white to your paper white so you are at least close on brightness.


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## dtbain

Thanks all.  REALLY helpful as always

d


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