I’m posting this in the Processing section because I believe monitor calibration directly affects how we stretch, color balance, and finalize our deep sky images. It's part of the workflow — whether we realize it or not.
Until recently, I’ve been processing all my astrophotos on an OLED display, enjoying its deep blacks, high contrast, and vivid colors. However, just a few days ago, I happened to view some of my finished images on a regular laptop and smartphone… and honestly, I was shocked:
- The images were far too dark — shadows crushed, faint details missing
- Contrast appeared flat or muddy — nebulosity lost structure
- Colors looked oversaturated — especially in stars and bright areas
At that time, I hadn’t calibrated my monitor yet. Now, I see how critical it is to calibrate before processing, especially when publishing to web platforms like AstroBin. I'm planning to calibrate the display for several profiles and would like to hear your thoughts and experiences on this matter.
What are your calibration practices?
- What kind of monitor do you use? (OLED, IPS, laptop?)
- Do you calibrate? If so, with which device/software?
- What color space do you process in? (sRGB, AdobeRGB, DCI-P3?)
- What brightness level do you aim for? (in cd/m²)
- Do you check your final image on other screens before publishing?
Looking forward to your feedback — I think this is a rarely discussed but crucial aspect of our processing pipeline!
Clear skies!
Oleksiy