An inexpensive method of setting the monitor white point

This chapter discusses an inexpensive method of setting the monitor white point. Calibrating a color television monitor in terms of the CIE XYZ color notation system has assumed an increasingly important role in computer graphics. This adjustment has been shown to be useful in applications as diverse as two-dimensional page layout for the graphic arts and three-dimensional realistic image synthesis for commercial animation. Part of the calibration process involves setting the individual brightness and contrast controls for the three monitor guns so that a white color with known chromaticity coordinates is produced whenever R = G = B. Typically, this is thought to require an expensive color measurement device, such as a colorimeter or a color comparator. This chapter shows how a relatively inexpensive luminance meter can be used to establish this setup. It also shows how the luminance meter may only need to be used once if a simple light meter with arbitrary spectral sensitivity but linear response is available. The chapter discusses how this approach can be adapted to postpone the need for a complete monitor calibration.