Color Calibration Issue with HD 4600 Graphics on Dell Latitude E6540

[RPere14]

I have a Dell Latitude E6540 for my work computer that is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4610M CPU with integrated HD 4600 graphics. I have calibrated the display colors using a ColorMunki Display calibrator from Xrite and the screen now looks very good. It was far into the blue range prior to calibration.

I have set the new color calibration profile to be the default under the Windows Color Management tab of the display's properties and also changed the system defaults under the Color Management Advanced Tab to ensure that the new color calibration is the default calibration for the system and all users. All seems to be working well, except for one issue that keeps cropping up. When the laptop resumes from hibernation, the display reverts back to its original, non-color calibrated state. I then have to go in and manually force it to reload the default color calibration to restore it to its proper state using the new color calibration.

In researching this issue on the Internet, I've come across numerous articles claiming that this loss of color calibration is essentially a known issue when using Intel Integrated graphics and has remained unaddressed since the chips were introduced. This led me to some experimentation and I have found that if I kill the igfxCUIService.exe process, one of the Intel Graphics-related processes, before the computer goes into hibernation, that when it wakes up it will maintain the new color calibration.

This is one of those really annoying problems as it requires manual intervention on a daily basis and reloading the color calibration is several windows and tabs deep in the system. I have tried to disable the igfxCUIService.exe service, but it always gets re-enabled by the system after a restart, so either way, I haven't been able to permanently address the problem.

Does anyone know of any other ways or settings to use to correct this issue or get Intel to correct their drivers? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Allan_J_Intel1]

Thanks for joining the Graphics community.

I understand you have set a color profile but settings do not remain after system resumes from hibernation.

Please bear in mind that any issues related to color calibration is handled by your operating system developer.

It may help if you set a custom profile within graphics control panel.

I recommend checking more about this issue at http://support.microsoft.com/ Microsoft Support

Allan.

[RPere14]

Allan,

Thanks for your reply, but clearly you did not read or understand my original post.

I have set a custom profile within the Windows graphics control panel. It works just fine, with the exception of after hibernation.

Your Intel HD Graphics Control Panel does not work with standard monitor calibration files, so it cannot be set up to match the calibration profile that Windows uses.

I have used color calibration profiles on many Windows machines and the operating system handles them just fine. The only systems that I have used that don't work correctly are systems with Intel HD graphics. Furthermore, I have performed troubleshooting that isolates the problem to an Intel driver, namely igfxCUIService.exe. This, for most, would tend to implicate Intel as the source of the problem and that's why I came here to these forums for help.

Also, as I stated originally, there are numerous reports of users having issues using color calibrations in Windows on systems using Intel HD Graphics drivers and the problems have persisted since the on-die GPUs were introduced.

Please take another look into this issue to see if it can be resolved. Please contact Microsoft Support to learn how your drivers should properly deal with handling color calibrations.

[Allan_J_Intel1]

Thanks for the information, however, for support on color calibration or ICC profiles is managed by the operating system developer. I regret to inform you that this type of customization is not supported by Intel.

Allan.

[RPere14]

I understand that color calibration support is built into Windows and is managed by Microsoft; however, as a vendor of graphics drivers/utilities that are clearly impacting the operating system's ability to function normally, isn't it Intel's responsibility to make sure that they "are playing nicely" with Windows?

At a very minimum, there should be activity involving both Intel and Microsoft to understand why this built-in, well-established color calibration functionality fails when using Intel HD Graphics drivers and works just fine with other vendors' graphics drivers. Clearly, Intel has some responsibility here to deliver a fully functional product, which, with regards to not impacting Windows color calibration functions, it has yet to deliver.

[CCalv3]

I am with you on this.

I have a new HP laptop that I have just found out uses a really low end display (deliberately I believe to keep the cost down). It casts a distinct blue tinge to photos and why on earh HP couldn't have made the necesary corrections to make it at least half way decent I don't know.

So now I need to colour calibrate the screen for my wife to use and then I find out that the laptop uses Intel HD4600 and that a lot of people have trouble in making a calibration stick.

Believe me there are times when I seriously just want to kiill designers and marketers that make these really stupid decisions.

[RPere14]

I can certainly agree with your frustrations in this regard. Then, what is even more annoying is Intel refusing to acknowledge that there is even an issue with their drivers and just passing the buck to Microsoft. Especially when it has been clearly and repeatedly diagnosed as an issue that only occurs when using Intel's dedicated graphics solutions. I don't know of another way to make it any clearer to them, but I feel a bit better about it for having at least tried to bring it to their attention.

[CCalv3]

Not sure if this will help anybody but some posts I found elsewhere suggest that disabling igfxpers.exe in msconfig.sys seemed to make a calibration "stick". I will certainly try this once I have calibrated my screen. The blue cast noted in the OP above and my laptop are unacceptable.

I am currently investigating buying a Mac laptop and converting it over to run Windows. It seems to be the only way to get a decent screeen all-be-it at a much higher cost. I never used to have these problems with laptops when even a lowish cost laptop came with a higher screen resolution and a better quality screen. All my customers now complain that their new laptops aren't a patch on their previous model with regards screen quality. They are all prepared to pay more to get the quality back but that seems impossible now with all manfs lower end screens being the same low quality.

[MCole6]

Interesting thread. I was considering building two machines with 4600 graphics, both using dual monitors. My research now indicates that, under Windows, not only will 4600 graphics not support color profiles for each monitor separately, it will not even maintain a profile for a single monitor after restart.

Intel's response for this problem in the 4000 that this was a "design feature" and was "intentional". Now, it seems they simply state that it is an OS problem. Hmmm....my NVIDIA and ATI cards (all of them, even the older ones) maintain color profiles perfectly under Windows, even with a single card with a single GPU and dual head driving two displays, each with its own color profile. This seems a rudimentary capability that has been supported by other manufacturers for years. Are we to believe that Intel engineers are less capable?

I guess Intel doesn't have to care, since most people don't use custom color profiles, let alone using multiple profiles at once with multiple monitors. I'll have to look for another option. Sure, I can put a "real" GPU in the machines, but this thread and others have left a miserable impression of Intel's commitment to their integrated graphics. I hope to hear better news in the future.