While it’s not a must-know piece of information in order to calibrate a monitor, it could come in handy to know what an ICC (International Color Consortium) Profile is. Note that each monitor uses a different ICC profile, which means you need to calibrate each specific device or monitor (for example both the laptop and the external monitor). Older monitors might need to be calibrated even more frequently. Most calibration software sends a frequent reminder and I suggest that you do it every 3-6 weeks. Remember to calibrate your monitor at a regularl basis.

It’s perfectly possible to change a display’s active profile at any time by going into your computer settings. For most computers, the profile is automatically updated and set as the standard. The spectrometer records these and uses the data to build an ICC profile that’s saved to the computer. You’ll see several different grayscales and colors appear on the screen during the process.

Follow the on-screen instructions from the software and wait for it to finish.

Connect the spectrometer (in this case Spyder X Pro) to your computer via the USB port and place it over the top of your screen.

Let the monitor warm up for at least 20-30 minutes before beginning and make sure there isn’t any direct light (daylight or ambient light) on it.

Let’s take a closer look at what each of them are: The calibration process only takes a few minutes and, for those who aren’t very tech-savvy, the program takes you through it step-by-step. I’ve been using different models of the Spyder for several years and am extremely satisfied with it. There are several high-quality spectrometers out there but I strongly recommend the DataColor Spyder X Pro.

This device hangs on the screen and, with the additional use of computer software, it measures colors, brightness, contrast and gamma, before creating and saving an ICC (International Color Consortium) profile based on the measured values.

While there are a few different ways to calibrate a monitor, the most accurate method is to use a spectrometer. In other words, the colors are correct when viewed on various devices and when printed. This brings us to why you need to calibrate your monitor: it ensures that the image’s colors are balanced and consistent with the common standard.

Best monitor calibration for mac