       WYSIWYG COLOR PRINTING WITH WINDOWS 95 PLUG 'N PLAY

                          September 1995
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Better color printing is one of the improvements people have looked for in
Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system. Users want to be able to print
the colors they see on their monitor's display screen. They want the logo
on the presentation to be the same Pantone color as the logo on the
building. They want the headline on the budget chart to be blue, not
purplish. And they want the photo of the director to print true-to-life in
her review copy. 

WYSIWYG display-to-printer color matching has been a problem until now
because color management was not built into the operating system. Windows
3.1 had no color architecture; that is, it contained no exact definitions
for red, green, and blue. Instead, each scanner, display, and printer
defined colors in terms of its own phosphors or pigments, and they were
all different. A clear cherry red on the monitor might print as orange. Or
burgundy. 

Graphic arts professionals could invest in costly colorimeter hardware for
color proofing, but for the business user with presentations and graphics
to print, color matching was ignored. Many monitors provide controls to
balance the color on-screen between the red, green, and blue guns. This
enhances the look on the display, but because these controls are not part
of the system software and do not interact with the document when it is
printed, printout colors remain unpredictable.

Color Architecture in Windows 95

The Windows 95 color management module, Image Color Matching (ICM), is part
of Microsoft's Color Plug 'n Play strategy. In the ICM architecture, the
monitor becomes the focal point for color management. ICM relies on
information provided by the monitor manufacturers to implement color
matching for displays, printers, and scanners. 

ICM color matching was developed in conjunction with Eastman Kodak using an
industry-standard specification from the InterColor Consortium. ICM offers
Windows users a high level of color matching previously available only on
the Macintosh. 

To perform color matching, ICM requires a color profile for each display,
printer, and scanner. A device's color profile defines for the operating
system exactly what color the user is seeing: which red, what blue, and
how green. A monitor's color profile takes into account the color effects
caused by the system's video card, monitor settings, and other
environmental influences in the user's workspace. It also describes unique
characteristics of each monitor, such as: 

* monitor gamma-the relationship between the brightness of the color
onscreen and the amount of voltage applied to each gun

* phosphor chromaticity-the wavelengths of light that the monitor displays
when each gun is at full voltage

* white point-the shade of white resulting when all three guns are combined
at full voltage

* black point-the point where each color fades to black (depends on the
brightness of the room lighting compared to the monitor's brightness)

Using the color profile for the monitor, at print time ICM builds a color
transform that forces the printer to match the display.

The Role of Monitor Software in Color Matching

The Windows 95 ICM architecture relies on monitor manufactures to supply
color management software such as Sonnetech's Colorific that will provide
the monitor's color profile to the operating system. If Colorific or
another set-up utility does not provide data to the operating system,
Windows 95 will default to a preset adjustment for the NEC 4FG, regardless
of what monitor is installed. In these circumstances, the monitor is
compatible with Color Plug 'n Play at only the simplest level, equivalent
to Standard VGA and Super VGA. Since ICM is forcing the printer to adjust
printed colors so they match the default color characteristics of the NEC
4FG monitor, users may experience poor color matching between screen and
printer. 

VESA DDC Plug 'n Play Monitors

Some manufacturers advertise that their monitors are compatible with
Display Data Channel (DDC), a specification defined by VESA, the Video
Electronics Standards Association. The Windows 95 user who selects a VESA
DDC-compatible monitor does not, however, automatically get improved
WYSIWYG printing. ICM continues to use the default color profile for the
NEC 4FG monitor. 

Although VESA DDC-compatible Plug 'n Play monitors provide Windows 95 with
a data file called EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) containing
phosphor chromaticities and monitor gammas, Windows 95 ICM does not use
this information. Windows 95 uses the EDID file only to identify which
model of monitor is installed and to configure refresh timings, color
depths, and resolution options. 

Colorific Fills the Gap in Color Plug 'n Play

Today, Colorific is the only software product available that lets a monitor
take advantage of the high-quality color management capabilities designed
into Windows 95. 

Colorific creates Kodak-certified monitor profiles in ICC format for all
Windows 95 applications. Colorific also creates Kodak profiles in the
non-ICC-compatible Precision profile format needed for such applications
as Adobe PhotoShop 3.0 and PageMaker 6.0, as well as for other prepress
applications implementing Kodak's Precision Color Management System (CMS)
for professional color matching usage. 

Computer uses who have not upgraded to Windows 95 can get full
ICM-equivalent Color Plug 'n Play from Colorific for Windows 3.1.
Colorific for Windows 3.1 adds Kodak's Precision CMS into the operating
system for business, academic, and technical applications, in addition to
prepress applications. 

By providing Windows 95 with accurate monitor color profiles, Colorific
gives superior results for all three types of color matching offered by
ICM. 

* Photographic matching-matches the perceived color, even when the color
displayed cannot be matched exactly by the printer. This type of color
matching produces the best results for difficult photographic images and
skin tones. Charts and computer graphics may lose saturation due to
dithering.

* Saturation matching-for business charts and computer-generated
presentations, matches the saturation, even if the color differs.

* Colorimetric matching-when an exact match to colors specified by the
Pantone system is wanted in printed output. Matching works only if the
color displayed is also within the printer's capability.

Colorific does this with exceptional ease of use. The software requires no
special commands to use. An on-screen color tuning sequence allows simple
set-and-forget operation. The software recreates the color settings each
time the computer is turned on. 

Colorific for Windows 95 is now shipping with monitors from ArtMedia, EIZO,
Iiyama, Mitsubishi, Nanao, NEC, Nokia, Optiquest, Sony, and ViewSonic in
the United States, Europe, and Asia. More than 180,000 copies of Colorific
for Windows 3.1 and Macintosh have been shipped to date. 

Sonnetech, Ltd., based in San Francisco, Calif., is an innovator in color
management and other system software for enhancing computer displays and
printing. The company's first product, Colorific color management for
monitors, is marketed through manufacturers of monitors and printers.
Customer inquiries: 415/957-9941 or colorific@aol.com. 

Sonnetech Ltd
350 Townsend St, Ste 409
San Francisco, CA 94107-1699
415-957-9940,  fax 415-957-9942
 
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