Digital Light & Color

Found this CD in a box and I'm wondering if the monitor calibration tool could be resurrected?

I remember I ordered version 1, and was delighted to receive version 2 in the mail...

How did the monitor calibration work back then?

I'm ashamed to say that I don't remember the procedure.

I'm curious to know if it would work with LCD monitors, as it was designed when CRTs were typical...

The monitor calibration command displayed five gray patches on the monitor against a white background. You taped the film overlay to the screen adjacent to the gray patches and had controls to adjust the brightness and color of each patch to match the film overlay. This created a set of color curves that were applied to all images when they were displayed. The film overlays were created using an imagesetter and were highly repeatable and stable. We had them printed out in sheets and then paid someone to cut them apart with an exacto knife and place Scotch Magic Tape over the patches to work as a diffuser. The densities of each patch were printed on the overlay and were entered into the program to match each batch of targets. I believe we discontinued this feature around PWP 4.0. The same method should work regardless of the type of monitor.

Where is the catch?

It worked well enough but was difficult to manufacture and a little awkward to use. If you calibrate with a sensor, you can create a more accurate curve and also set the brightness and white point of the monitor. For a while we were able to purchase sensors in bulk and sold Monitor Mechanic which did automated monitor calibration with the sensor, but our source of sensors dried up and we had to discontinue it.