Intel HD Graphics 5500 and Datacolor Spyder5

[TWrig3]

My computer is Dell XPS 13 which uses Intel HD Graphics 5500. I wish to calibrate my screen for image processing. I am using Datacolor Spyder5Pro colorimeter to do the calibration. I really want the gamma to be 2.2 but when I do the calibration with the target gamma set to 2.2 the actual gamma I see on the screen is 3.1 (as measured by the colorimiter). If I set the target gamma to 1.8 and do another calibration the actual gamma I see turns out to be 2.5. So it appears that the calibrated LUT is loading ok but something on my system is causing a shift in the gamma. Datacolor support believe it must be something to do with Intel HD graphics, but I don't know how to disable it without unintended consequences. Can anyone help?

[Amy_C_Intel]

Hello Seascape,

Please fill out the following form and post it here, make sure to follow closely all the instructions so we can investigate this matter.

Regards,

Amy.

[TWrig3]

Thank you Amy_Intel. Here is the form. Please note that I have been in contact with Datacolor support. They asked me to disable anything that could interfere with the display, including Adobe Gamma (which has been disabled) and igfx. They got me to download Autoruns with which to disable startup programs. I did try disabling igfx in Autoruns but when I did that I could not load any profile generated by the Spyder5 and the display reverted to a default profile which I could not change. Currently igfx is enabled and Datacolor ran out of ideas. They strongly suspect that it is Intel HD Graphics that is interfering with the Datacolor profile.

Category

Questions

Answers (N/A if not applicable)

Description

Provide a detailed description of the issue

Attempting to calibrate display using Datacolor Spyder5 colorimeter. After calibration the actual gamma I see on the display is not correct. If I set a target gamma of 2.2 (which is what I want to end up with) the actual gamma will be 2.8 to 3.1. It is not always the same but it is always higher (darker) than the intended gamma. If I set the target gamma to 1.8 (the lowest that the Datacolor software will allow) the real resulting gamma comes out around 2.4 or 2.5.

Does it fail every single time, or only sometimes?

If you can offer a % rate please do.

The exact gamma varies slightly, but it is always wrong

Hardware (HW)

Brand and Model of the system.

Dell XPS 13

Hybrid or switchable graphics system?

ie Does it have AMD or NV graphics too?

No

Make and model of any Displays that are used to see the issue (see note2 below). 

LFP = Local Flat Panel (Laptop panel)EFP = External Flat Panel (Monitor you plug in)<p style="font-weight...

[Amy_C_Intel]

Thank you for the information.

I will check the engineering department, as soon as I have some information this thread will be updated.

Regards.

[TWrig3]

Thanks. I have some further information. Here is the latest exchange with Datacolor support (all messages dated today):

Dear Timothy,

Spyder creates a global wide standardized ICC profile. This profile will be handled in two parts. This first and smaller part is the white point correction which is used by all your installed applications if they can. The second and bigger part will be flashed to the LUT (look up table) of your video card. This part corrects the gamma of the primary colors (RGB).

Now video card drivers come usually with some tools that allow the user to adjust brightness, contrast and even color gradients. Those adjustments are done via LUT of the video card. So even if you never applied adjustments to these tools, they will overwrite the Spyder correction profile with a flat line. That's why they need to be deactivated.

Best regards,

Oliver Mews

Senior Manager Global ICS Support

Datacolor AG

Loorenstrasse 9

8305 Dietlikon / Zurich

Switzerland

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Hi Oliver,

Thank you for the explanation which is a big help. This is the thing that I don't understand. If I do a full calibration with a target gamma of 2.2 and then do a CheckCal I find the gamma is 3.1 (or similar - it is not always the same value, but it is always around 3.0). If I then do another full calibration with the target of 1.8 and do another CheckCal I find the gamma is around 2.5. If the LUT of the video card is being completely overwritten by something why the difference between 3.2 and 2.5? Surely if it being overwritten wouldn't it be the same for both?

Regards,

Tim

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Dear Timothy,

yes...and this is the tool that would allow you to adjust brightness etc. Those adjustments would be done via LUT (LookUp Table) of your video card. If you don't adjust anything, this tool will flash a flatline to your LUT but there is NOT a flatline. There are the correction curves from Spyder and this tool will overwrite them.

So this is solved from our side.

Thank you in advance and best regards,

Oliver Mews

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Hi Oliver,

Thanks again for your explanation. I am trying very hard but I'm afraid I still don't get it. I am so sorry to bother you but I really need to understand this and what you are saying is not completely making sense to me.

Let's start with a new full calibration (target gamma 2.2, white point 6500K). After the calibration, if I do a CheckCal I am reading something like gamma 3.0 and the white point is correct. You are saying that some other tool (probably Intel HD Graphics) has overwritten the video card LUT with its own 'flat line' curves. Correct?

Now I do another full calibration (target gamma 1.8, white point 6500K) and then do a CheckCal. If the video LUT is being completely overwritten by Intel HD Graphics (or whatever) in the same way as before, would you not expect CheckCal to read the gamma as about 3.0 again? I have made no changes to anything except the target gamma in the Spyder software, so surely that would have no effect on the Intel settings and it should overwrite the LUT with exactly the same values as the first time. Please can you confirm that this is what you are saying should take place? Otherwise please correct me and tell me what I have misunderstood.

Kind regards,

Tim

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[Amy_C_Intel]

Thank you for sharing this information, I will forward this to the engineering department.

Regards.

[Amy_C_Intel]

Hello,

Thank you for your patience.

Have you tried using the color management utility of your operating system? Note the picture below:

For further reference http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/change-color-management-settings# section_6 Change color management settings.

The content on the above site is not controlled by Intel. This information is offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel for the merchants or services offered there.

Regards,

Amy.

[TWrig3]

Thank you Amy. Use Windows display calibration was checked by default. I unchecked it and restarted my computer. I ran a CheckCal with the Spyder and it was exactly the same as before. I ran a Full Cal with default settings and the gamma came in at 3.1 instead of 2.2. I can therefore see no difference in the behaviour whether the Use Windows display calibration is checked or not checked.

[TWrig3]

This is the latest advice from Datacolor:

in your video you opened the "Into HD Graphics Control Panel". This tool need to be deactivated, because it uses the LUT of the video cards.

Please contact Intel to ensure that all color adjustments are set to off and that also no tool overwrites the LUT with a flatline.

Can you please comment?

[Amy_C_Intel]

There is a new driver version available https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25541/Intel-Beta-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-1-10-15-40- Download Intel® Beta Graphics Driver for Windows® 7/8.1/10* [15.40], please give it a try and if the issue persists we will continue from here.