Camera-supervised Monitor Shading Correction for Softproofing Systems

A softproofing system is required to faithfully display color images. As the user relies on an appropriate calibration of the system, a method for the evaluation of the quality of the calibration is required. Such a method has recently been developed and allows a critical side-by-side comparison between the original sample and the reproduced monitor image by placing the original directly in front of the monitor. An internal light source of the softproofing system establishes an almost uniform illumination of the target. In this paper, we present a method to spatially equalize the brightness of the monitor with respect to an object placed in front of the monitor. The automatic calibration procedure requires minimal user intervention and utilizes a standard RGB camera in combination with a special calibration target. The results show that the camera enables an accurate and uncomplicated homogenization of the monitor with respect to the object in front of the monitor.