I now use almost exclusively darktable 3.6, on Windows 10, to process my raw digital camera snaps, and I am extremely pleased with its features and the results. It did take me a while to appreciate its strengths, and I am so glad I stuck with it, and fought through the learning curve.
A while back, I had the opportunity to understand a lot more about photo processing, via this seminal video by [Aurélien PIERRE], at the youtube link below
This most valuable exposition, educated me about the dynamic range transform that occurs between the raw image, and the screen with which I edit. While much of this may be discussed in the context of the filmic module in darktable, the principles are also adhered to in some fashion by other photo processing apps.
Recently I had the opportunity, prompted by a suggestion from another contributor on Pixls.us, to install darktable on a “new” laptop(albeit a somewhat old one which was once new in 2017 or 2018) . While the improved processing speed was remarkable, on the “newer” laptop, what struck me the most was the ease with which I could edit photos, not just by speed, but by the results I was obtaining, just by a change in hardware.
I had moved from a lower resolution TN display, to a Full HD 1920 x 1080 IPS display, and I found myself making relatively smaller changes in the values of the various tools in darktable.
I realised that my old display with the lower resolution and TN based panel obviously had lower contrast, and all along I had needed to adjust the parameters in darktable modules, by more significant values, to compensate for an inability to appreciate the contrast inherent in the image, which my poorer display prevented me from seeing properly.
The new IPS display, with better contrast, and better coverage of the sRGB color space, made it so much easier to see the impact of any changes, kind of like having better taste buds, so I needed to add less salt.
In a day and age when a basic IPS display is as cheap as $130(new), for a decent enough 1920 x 1020 FULL HD resolution monitor, and professional level monitors start at about $350/$400 for displays with 100% coverage of sRGB, as a minimum requirement for those targeting the web, and some of these come with the calibration features, and calibration kits are a few hundred dollars, I wonder how many are spending thousands on cameras and lenses, when a total investment of about $600 in a good quality monitor and calibration kit, really should be the 1st thing anyone quite interested in digital photography or photo processing, should acquire. (assuming they were editing on a desktop), or a similar upgrade to the display in their laptops
As impressed as I have been with my display upgrade, and it has truly changed the quality of my results, I then find out that my IPS display is in reality one of those operating at 6 bits, i.e. it uses a bag of tricks to simulate 8 bit results.
I can only dream/imagine the next level of display quality ahead of what I have now, when I one day get to use a proper 8 bit capable display, which is not using any tricks. And my oh my, how much easier it will be to work with images, when one eventually has appropriate displays which are calibrated.
As one who got into digital photography with a “proper” Interchangeable lens camera, only about a year ago, and for several years, has been listening and reading about all this expensive gear - cameras, lenses, stands, filters, flashes, lights, and expensive computers with even more expensive GPU’s, its just a big shock that the thing which will eventually allow you to edit the images properly and prepare them properly for others to see - a decent display - and a calibration tool, is probably the least expensive piece of kit, in the photo enthusiast or professional’s gear list. And in my experience, its the one that relatively few of the photo gear reviewers, and blog/forum/youtube commentators, discuss.
Instead it’s cameras costing thousands of dollars, Canon R5/R6, Sony A1/A9/A7R4, etc, etc, that get all the attention, yet without a relatively inexpensive calibrated display, all that gear is completely garbage.
I am ecstatic about the current and potentially future improvements in my workflow using better displays, which are getting less expensive, by the day, and thought others may benefit from what I have discovered.
Please don’t get that $2,000 or more expensive lens, or camera, unless you have a suitable display, that can actually show you what you have captured and do this properly.
HDR displays, promise even more realism, and with more and more people consuming images on HDR capable devices, a pretty exciting future for image processing and delivery.
