A New Computer

Posted by Philip Northeast Jul 26, 2007

I am, hopefully, nearing the end of the process and I have identified some of the key issues from the photographer’s point of view.

Processor speed is always important and crunching through large image files really lets a quick processor strut its stuff. I just finished shooting all day at a go-kart race meeting, so I had several hundred images to deal with. One stage in my digital workflow is batch processing the images through a noise reduction program. This is important for sports shoots where I use a high ISO to achieve fast shutters speeds for capturing sports action. The new Core 2 Duo processor from Intel really chugged through the task far quicker than the old machine, a real bonus.

As digital camera makers keep adding pixels to the sensors, the image files produced have grown in size. Every few years hard disks seem to make a monumental increase in capacity that seems impossible to fill, at least for a couple of years. So at least for a while my worries are over about running out of disk space as I store more photos on the computer.

The real worry is the new monitor, a lovely wide screen LCD unit that is bigger, brighter and takes up less space in the office worktop than the old Cathode Ray tube monitor. However, this part of the new machine produced the biggest headache. Getting the monitor properly adjusted to the right combination of color balance and brightness and contrast is not simple.

While for general use, it is excellent it also needs to be accurate allowing for fine adjustments to my photos, so when I print them the color balance and exposure are correct. Over the years, I tweaked my old monitor so the photos were printed the same as they looked on screen. There are is now special hardware and software for calibrating monitors and this could be the next step.

As well as getting my own system working properly, I am also gathering material for future feature articles on the subject to make life a bit simpler for others.