FSI CM171 Calibration Overview
The FSI CM171 is a 17.3-inch professional reference monitor from Flanders Scientific designed for critical color evaluation in various production environments. It features a native 1920x1080 resolution 10-bit LCD panel capable of reproducing over 1.073 billion colors, ensuring accurate color representation. The monitor utilizes full 12-bit video processing, enhancing its precision in color grading and post-production tasks.
The FSI CM171 display is a popular entry level choice into the professional display market, used by directors, DITs, and boutique colorists working with SDR content.
Below is an overview of the display's performance before and
after professional FSI CM171 calibration.
A 3D LUT calibration was done as the FSI CM171 has internal LUT storage. The unit had an estimated 15,000 hours of usage.
Equipment, software and target used in the calibration:
- Calibration software: DCM
- Colorimeter: CR-100
- Spectro: CR-300
- Patch generator: DaVinci Resolve, SDI out
- Calibration target: Rec 709 D65 G2.4 125 nits (SDR)
Native Gamut
This is the native gamut (before calibration) of the FSI CM171 compared to the Rec 709 color space calibration target. The display's native gamut covers the target color space efficiently, making it suitable for accurate display calibration. The blue primary is a bit off, this may be due to pixel wear and breakdown as the panel ages.
White Point
This is a close-up of the native white point (before calibration) compared to the calibration target of D65. It's close to target with a very slight cyan tint. The display bias/gain CMS controls were used to pre-calibrate the Greyscale and white point as good as possible.
RGB Balance
This is the Greyscale RGB balance before 3D LUT calibration, it was pre-calibrated using the display CMS controls.
EOTF: Gamma
This is the native gamma and luminance response of the FSI CM171. The reference line is configured for the calibration target G2.4. The display in its default native state is a bit too dark.
Spectrum Analysis
This is the spectrum of the FSI CM171 in native gamut for full white, with the red, green and blue primaries spectral output overlaid to identify color channel issues. The R, G, B color channels match the white response closely, this is ideal.
Calibration
After display preparation and configuration, a large display profile is run to create a detailed characterization of the display. From that profile data, a 3D LUT is then generated by DCT and uploaded into the display.
Gamut & White Point (post)
Gamut (post calibration) compared to the Rec 709 D65 target - both color space and white point are on target.
RGB Balance (post)
This is the Greyscale RGB balance post-calibration, further improved. Shadows are a bit compromised, due to the LCD backlight.
EOTF: Gamma (post)
This is the gamma and luminance response of the FSI CM171 after calibration compared to the reference calibration target G2.4. A noticeable improvement, the display tracks the reference much closer - performance in the shadows will always be a bit compromised on LCD monitors, due to the backlight.
Color Error: delta E 2000 (post)
These are the dE 2000 stats post calibration for a 1,100 point stress test validation profile. With an average dE 2000 color error of only 0.9, the FSI CM171 now performs very well given that the JND (just noticeable difference) for human vision is set at a dE 2000 value of 2.3.
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