Monitor calibration in DaVinci Resolve

If you are serious about color grading you need a monitor you can trust, and calibrating using DaVinci Resolve is easier than ever. You can achieve excellent results without hiring professionals and to a very low cost.

We will give you a brief overview of what you need and how calibration in DaVinci Resolve works.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

DaVinci Resolve

Both the paid and free version will work.

Laptop with a calibration software

The calibration software can be run directly on the DaVinci Resolve workstation, but having a dedicated laptop means other displays such as the client monitor also can be calibrated easily.

We use ColourSpace by Light Illusions because it’s the industry standard calibration software used by most colorists, and it’s supported by DaVinci Resolve. I can be run on Windows or via VM on Mac.

CalMAN is also a great alternative.

A professional monitor

In this example we use the Flanders Scientific DM240 because it’s one of the most popular and affordable 24” color grading monitors on the market. It has ColourSpace integration and can store calibration LUTs internally.

Probe

There are many options available in all price classes, but you can get decent results with a cheap X-Rite i1D3.

PREPARATIONS

1. Make sure the monitor is connected to the DaVinci Resolve video output card, and that no existing calibration is active.
2. The DaVinci Resolve workstation must be connected to the laptop that runs the calibration software.
3. The probe must be connected to the laptop and be mounted on a tripod pointing straight to the centre of the monitor in a non-angled position.
4. The light in the room must be turned off.

HOW IT WORKS

When everything is connected, the idea is that the laptop with the calibration software will control DaVinci Resolve remotely and send colored test patterns to the monitor and at the same time take readings with the probe.

When the readings are done, the calibration software will create a calibration LUT that you can use to correct the monitor.

There are three ways to load the calibration LUT.

1. The LUT can be loaded directly into the monitor if your monitor supports LUTs.
2. If your monitor doesn’t support LUTs, you can load it into a LUT box that is a little device you can connect to the monitor.
3. You can also load the LUT directly into DaVinci Resolve as a Video Monitor LUT in the color management settings. That is a good and inexpensive solution if you have only one monitor connected. If you have more than monitors, e.g a client monitor, it will affect both of them and therefore not be the best way to load a LUT.
   Note that the LUT will not affect the GUI displays.

That’s it.

For details, read the documentation on your monitors site and on LightIllusions website