Your new computer is ready and just waiting for that nudge of the mouse. Wait! Wasn't there something else? Monitor color calibration is one of the basic steps most of us forget or ignore.

Pixel perfect monitor calibration is a cardinal rule for photographers and graphic artists. If you are either of those, you know all about monitor calibration. Others should read on.

Why Is Display Calibration So Important?

A good monitor is expensive. But its impact will be lost if you don't take the pain to carefully (and intermittently) calibrate your monitor. The colors on the screen may not be the exact match of what they actually are.

Just imagine that you took a beautiful panoramic snap and downloaded it to your computer. Only to find out that the blue of the sky or the green of the grass doesn't resemble the one you saw through the viewfinder.

Today, it's a lot about watching online movies, snapping digital photos, and sharing image files. Color calibrating your monitor is important to get as close to the real thing as possible.

Graphics professionals will pick up serious color accuracy test tools for the job, like the Datacolor Spyder5Elite S5EL100 Monitor Calibration System. Some of you will go with the default monitor calibration software built into the OS.

How to Calibrate Your Monitor on Windows and Mac

Conveniently, Windows and macOS come with their down display calibration tools. Previously part of the Control Panel, Microsoft moved it to its own standalone app in Windows 11.

1. Calibrate Your Display on Windows

Windows Display Color Calibration

To open the Display Color Calibration tool, press Windows + S or open the Start menu, search for "calibrate display color," then open the matching result, and follow the on-screen instructions. On Windows 10, you can access the old version from Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display.

The tool will take you through basic color settings, brightness and contrast controls, and an RGB color balance adjustment. When you're done, you can opt to start the ClearType Text Tuner "to ensure that text appears correctly."

2. Tune ClearType Text on Windows

Windows ClearType Text Tuner

To manually open the ClearType Text Tuner, press Windows + S, search for "adjust ClearType text," then follow the on-screen instructions. On each of five screens, you'll select the text samples that look best to you.

3. Calibrate Your macOS Display

On the macOS, use the Display Calibrator Assistant. You can access it from Apple menu > System Preferences > Displays > Preset > Calibrate Display... Or you can also use Spotlight.

Online Tools to Calibrate Your Monitor

We can also take some online help from simple monitor calibration websites that have existed for a long time.

1. Photo Friday

Calibrate monitor with Photo Friday

Photo Friday is a photography site. Think of the challenges involved in adjusting the brightness and contrast of a shot, and you get the reason you should calibrate your monitor. So, head to the link for their monitor calibration tool beneath the homepage, or hit the link above.

The site offers this simple one-page monitor calibration tool to adjust the brightness and contrast of your screen thanks to the gray scale tones. The idea is to tweak the monitor settings (or buttons) so that you can clearly distinguish the transition of tones from true black to true white. After calibration, the blacks should look black and without any hint of gray.

The instructions start off by telling you to dim the lights and hit F11 for viewing the gray scale chart in full-screen mode. Observe your monitor from your normal viewing distance.

2. The Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages

Online monitor calibration with The Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages

The Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages are a far more comprehensive set of tools than Photo Friday. The site includes a series of test patterns that start from checking contrast to checking for response times of your monitor. It is recommended to go through the tests in the order they are placed.

For instance, use the first few images to check brightness, contrast, and sharpness. With those set, use a latter test like the “Viewing Angle” to see if the display changes brightness or colors in the corners.

For a beginner, it might seem overwhelming. But, the test patterns come with helpful explanations. The developer also states that you can put the images on a USB drive and try them in the computer store when shopping for an LCD monitor. A 120KB ZIP file download is included.

3. Online Monitor Test

Screen calibration with the Online Monitor Test page.

The Online Monitor Test website has a range of interactive tests to fix your screen colors. The menu appears when you move your mouse to the top. It starts off with a test that checks the brightness and contrast across the B/W tonal spectrum. It is similar to the test we covered on the Photo Friday website.

Next, the Color Range test checks if your monitor can smoothly produce color gradients. From the menu, you can pick different color charts. Look for “ghost images” or image trails in the Trailing test. Move the box across the screen and check if any trails are produced. The controls and options to change the color and shape of the box are placed at the bottom.

The Homogeneity test helps to pinpoint damaged pixels and faulty monitors with backlight bleeding. 1:1 Pixel mapping and testing for a blurring of Text are the last two tests in the lineup. While the former is not so much an issue with LCD computer monitors, the latter is worth a try if you feel that screen text is not crisp enough.

If you are setting up a dual monitor, try the Text Reproduction test across the connected displays and test for input lag.

We linked to the test version that requires JavaScript above. Most browsers won't support the Flash versions of the test, but if you'd prefer to download the executable (no browser plugin required), visit the Online Monitor Test homepage

4. Monitor Calibration and Gamma Assessment

Gamma assessment page

Remember, we were talking about Gamma values just a moment ago? Well, this whole page and the test associated with it is devoted to it. The importance and process are clearly laid out, and it's helpful for any tyro. The most important takeaway is that color saturation and hue change with gamma values.

The author also provides a series of “Gamagic” test patterns you can use to calibrate your monitor. Fall back on your eyes and adjust the gamma setting with the monitor controls until all the squares match up with their backgrounds as closely as possible.

If you want to skip the lectures and just get started testing, head to the Gamma page, and choose a target gamma from the list.

5. W4ZT

W4ZT Colore Response Check

This single page screen calibration chart has few of the test images we have already covered in the earlier tools. Go through the color, gray scale, and gamma adjustments.

The one feature going for it is that it is easy to understand. Just follow the instructions, and you will be able to tune your monitor for optimum viewing.

How Is Your Own Color Perception?

All you need is a good eye. But, how is your own color perception? Take this quick (but fun) color challenge test to find out.

Also, before you start off fine-tuning your monitor, follow these three rules first:

  1. Turn on your monitor and allow it to warm up for 30 minutes or so.
  2. Set your monitor at the highest native screen resolution it supports.
  3. Get familiar with the display controls for your monitor.

A Basic Calibration Is All You Need

Most users don't need to browbeat themselves over the steps or depend on third-party tools. Unless you are a professional photographer or a graphic designer who requires high-fidelity colors, these basic tools should be enough. Things are a little more involved if you're setting up dual monitors as well.