Calibrating screen color with DisplayCAL
Calibrating screen color is mostly optional these days, if you buy a good screen that comes out of factory with a good calibration profile. Nonetheless, it is recommended to re-calibrate every year or so to account for display ageing, so a few years ago I purchased a Datacolor Spyder5 Express which is known to work on Linux, with Argyll Color Management System.
What doesn't always work so well is DisplayCal. In fact, the original project is dead and was dropped from Ubuntu 20.04 but was still possible to build with python2.7 packages. That is no longer possible in Ubuntu 22.04, but there is a Python 3 fork: eoyilmaz/displaycal-py3
System requirements
Running DisplayCAL requires building its depedencies (through PIP) so a few development packages are necessary, on top of ArgyllCMS:
# apt install -y \
build-essential dbus libglib2.0-dev pkg-config \
libgtk-3-dev libxxf86vm-dev python3.10-venv argyll
Python requirements
Building dependencies is necessary in either case, but unless you want to build DisplayCAL itself from source, you can skip directly to run the latest release.
$ git clone https://github.com/eoyilmaz/displaycal-py3
$ python -m venv ./displaycal_venv
$ source ./displaycal_venv/bin/activate
$ cd ./displaycal-py3/
$ pip install -r requirements.txt
Running setup.py install for wxPython ... |
The instalation of wxPython takes a while, it will keep the
CPU busy and hot for several minutes (about 10 minutes on an
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X).
Build from source
Sadly this fails to build, despite having installed all the above requirements:
python -m build
$ python -m build
* Creating venv isolated environment...
* Installing packages in isolated environment... (setuptools)
* Getting build dependencies for sdist...
Trying to get git version information...
Trying to get git information...
Generating __version__.py
Version 3.9.11
['egg_info']
*** /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal_venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py egg_info
using distutils
/tmp/build-env-uooasz97/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/config/setupcfg.py:293: _DeprecatedConfig: Deprecated config in `setup.cfg`
!!
********************************************************************************
The license_file parameter is deprecated, use license_files instead.
By 2023-Oct-30, you need to update your project and remove deprecated calls
or your builds will no longer be supported.
See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html for details.
********************************************************************************
!!
parsed = self.parsers.get(option_name, lambda x: x)(value)
warning: no files found matching 'MANIFEST'
warning: no files found matching 'use-distutils'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.py'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.cfg'
warning: no files found matching 'dist/copyright'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/DCDM'
warning: no files found matching 'X'Y'Z'.icm'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/XYZ'
warning: no files found matching 'D50'
warning: no files found matching '(ICC'
warning: no files found matching 'PCS'
warning: no files found matching 'encoding).icm'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/XYZ'
warning: no files found matching 'D50.icm'
warning: no files found matching 'dist/net.displaycal.DisplayCAL.appdata.xml'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/displaycal.desktop'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/z-displaycal-apply-profiles.desktop'
warning: no previously-included files matching '*~' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.backup' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.bak' found anywhere in distribution
* Building sdist...
Trying to get git version information...
Trying to get git information...
Generating __version__.py
Version 3.9.11
['sdist', '--formats', 'gztar', '--dist-dir', '/home/artist/Downloads/displaycal-py3/dist/.tmp-70quu7wi']
*** /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal_venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py sdist --formats gztar --dist-dir /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal-py3/dist/.tmp-70quu7wi
using distutils
/tmp/build-env-uooasz97/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/config/setupcfg.py:293: _DeprecatedConfig: Deprecated config in `setup.cfg`
!!
********************************************************************************
The license_file parameter is deprecated, use license_files instead.
By 2023-Oct-30, you need to update your project and remove deprecated calls
or your builds will no longer be supported.
See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html for details.
********************************************************************************
!!
parsed = self.parsers.get(option_name, lambda x: x)(value)
warning: no files found matching 'MANIFEST'
warning: no files found matching 'use-distutils'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.py'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.cfg'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/DCDM'
warning: no files found matching 'X'Y'Z'.icm'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/XYZ'
warning: no files found matching 'D50'
warning: no files found matching '(ICC'
warning: no files found matching 'PCS'
warning: no files found matching 'encoding).icm'
warning: no files found matching 'DisplayCAL/ref/XYZ'
warning: no files found matching 'D50.icm'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/displaycal.desktop'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/z-displaycal-apply-profiles.desktop'
warning: no previously-included files matching '*~' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.backup' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.bak' found anywhere in distribution
* Building wheel from sdist
* Creating venv isolated environment...
* Installing packages in isolated environment... (setuptools)
* Getting build dependencies for wheel...
['egg_info']
*** /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal_venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py egg_info
using distutils
/tmp/build-env-po6qurti/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/config/setupcfg.py:293: _DeprecatedConfig: Deprecated config in `setup.cfg`
!!
********************************************************************************
The license_file parameter is deprecated, use license_files instead.
By 2023-Oct-30, you need to update your project and remove deprecated calls
or your builds will no longer be supported.
See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html for details.
********************************************************************************
!!
parsed = self.parsers.get(option_name, lambda x: x)(value)
warning: no files found matching 'MANIFEST'
warning: no files found matching 'use-distutils'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.py'
warning: no files found matching '_in_process.cfg'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/displaycal.desktop'
warning: no files found matching 'misc/z-displaycal-apply-profiles.desktop'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'misc/Argyll'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'misc/*.rules'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'misc/*.usermap'
warning: no previously-included files matching '*~' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.backup' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.bak' found anywhere in distribution
* Installing packages in isolated environment... (wheel)
* Building wheel...
['bdist_wheel', '--dist-dir', '/home/artist/Downloads/displaycal-py3/dist/.tmp-1xx40_u9']
*** /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal_venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py bdist_wheel --dist-dir /home/artist/Downloads/displaycal-py3/dist/.tmp-1xx40_u9
using distutils
/tmp/build-env-po6qurti/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/config/setupcfg.py:293: _DeprecatedConfig: Deprecated config in `setup.cfg`
!!
********************************************************************************
The license_file parameter is deprecated, use license_files instead.
By 2023-Oct-30, you need to update your project and remove deprecated calls
or your builds will no longer be supported.
See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/declarative_config.html for details.
********************************************************************************
!!
parsed = self.parsers.get(option_name, lambda x: x)(value)
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c: In function ‘get_displays’:
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:871:61: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 11 of ‘XRRGetOutputProperty’ differ in signedness [-Wpointer-sign]
871 | &ret_type, &ret_format, &ret_len, &ret_togo, &atomv) == Success
| ^~~~~~~~
| |
| long int *
In file included from DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:33:
/usr/include/X11/extensions/Xrandr.h:340:38: note: expected ‘long unsigned int *’ but argument is of type ‘long int *’
340 | unsigned long *nitems, unsigned long *bytes_after,
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:871:71: warning: passing argument 12 of ‘XRRGetOutputProperty’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
871 | &ret_type, &ret_format, &ret_len, &ret_togo, &atomv) == Success
| ^~~~~~~~~
| |
| long unsigned int **
In file included from DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:33:
/usr/include/X11/extensions/Xrandr.h:340:61: note: expected ‘long unsigned int *’ but argument is of type ‘long unsigned int **’
340 | unsigned long *nitems, unsigned long *bytes_after,
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:1036:53: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 10 of ‘XGetWindowProperty’ differ in signedness [-Wpointer-sign]
1036 | &ret_type, &ret_format, &ret_len, &ret_togo, &atomv) == Success
| ^~~~~~~~
| |
| long int *
In file included from DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:27:
/usr/include/X11/Xlib.h:2696:5: note: expected ‘long unsigned int *’ but argument is of type ‘long int *’
2696 | unsigned long* /* nitems_return */,
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:1036:63: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 11 of ‘XGetWindowProperty’ differ in signedness [-Wpointer-sign]
1036 | &ret_type, &ret_format, &ret_len, &ret_togo, &atomv) == Success
| ^~~~~~~~~
| |
| long int *
In file included from DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:27:
/usr/include/X11/Xlib.h:2697:5: note: expected ‘long unsigned int *’ but argument is of type ‘long int *’
2697 | unsigned long* /* bytes_after_return */,
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c: In function ‘enumerate_displays’:
DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:1364:56: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 1 of ‘PyBytes_FromStringAndSize’ differ in signedness [-Wpointer-sign]
1364 | (value = PyString_FromStringAndSize(dp[i]->edid, dp[i]->edid_len)) != NULL) {
| ~~~~~^~~~~~
| |
| unsigned char *
In file included from /usr/include/python3.10/Python.h:82,
from DisplayCAL/RealDisplaySizeMM.c:1:
/usr/include/python3.10/bytesobject.h:34:50: note: expected ‘const char *’ but argument is of type ‘unsigned char *’
34 | PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyBytes_FromStringAndSize(const char *, Py_ssize_t);
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~
error: can't copy '/tmp/build-via-sdist-b6k1fhs3/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/../misc/displaycal.desktop': doesn't exist or not a regular file
ERROR Backend subprocess exited when trying to invoke build_wheel
Switching to the development branch (git checkout develop)
leads to the same build error, and
other branches
don't seem likely to fix this either.
Run latest release
Instead of building from source, you can simply run the latest release:
$ wget https://github.com/eoyilmaz/displaycal-py3/releases/download/3.9.11/DisplayCAL-3.9.11.tar.gz
$ tar xfz DisplayCAL-3.9.11.tar.gz
$ cd DisplayCAL-3.9.11/
$ ./DisplayCAL.pyw
However, this won't work without first installing all the
above requirements, it will fail because send2trash is
missing and wxPython is too old:
$ ./DisplayCAL.pyw
Acquired lock file: <DisplayCAL.main.AppLock object at 0x7fb42b873970>
DisplayCAL.pyw 3.9.11 2023-06-05T17:07:58Z
ubuntu 22.04 jammy x86_64
Python 3.10.12 (main, Jun 11 2023, 05:26:28) [GCC 11.4.0]
Faulthandler
wxPython 4.0.7 gtk3 (phoenix) wxWidgets 3.0.5
Encoding: utf-8
File system encoding: utf-8
Loading /home/artist/.config/DisplayCAL/DisplayCAL.ini
listening
writing to lock file: port: 15411
/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/edid.py:45: Warning: No module named 'DisplayCAL.lib64.python310.RealDisplaySizeMM'
warnings.warn(str(exception), Warning)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/main.py", line 549, in main
_main(module, name, app_lock_file_name)
File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/main.py", line 534, in _main
from DisplayCAL.display_cal import main
File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/display_cal.py", line 45, in <module>
from send2trash import send2trash
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'send2trash'
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Traceback (most recent call last): │
│ File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/main.py", line │
│ 549, in main │
│ _main(module, name, app_lock_file_name) │
│ File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/main.py", line │
│ 534, in _main │
│ from DisplayCAL.display_cal import main │
│ File "/home/artist/Downloads/DisplayCAL-3.9.11/DisplayCAL/display_cal.py", │
│ line 45, in <module> │
│ from send2trash import send2trash │
│ ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'send2trash' │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
(DisplayCAL.pyw:943597): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:39:12.107: Theme directory places/128 of theme ubuntustudio-dark has no size field
(DisplayCAL.pyw:943597): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:39:12.107: Theme directory places/scalable of theme ubuntustudio-dark has no size field
Exiting DisplayCAL
Ran application exit handlers
To install the requirements, use only these two steps from those required to build from source, without using a virtual environment:
$ cd ../displaycal-py3/
$ pip install -r requirements.txt
Running setup.py install for wxPython ... |
Building wxPython takes a while, it will keep the CPU busy
and hot for several minutes (about 10 minutes on an AMD
Ryzen 5 1600X).
Once the required libraries are installed, the latest release runs without problems:
There may be several pop-up windows, which may not be visible if the Spyder5 instrument is on the center of the screen. Once those are dealt with, the calibration process can be started.
Loading the latest profile
Redshift adjusts the color temperature of your screen according to your surroundings. This may help your eyes hurt less if you are working in front of the screen at night.
While Redshift is active, color profiles are replaced with the darker, warmer tone. When Redshift is temporarily disabled, you need to re-load the color profile to use it.
To do this, simply run xcalib with the latest ICC profile.
The one-line xcalib-latest makes this very easy:
Moreover, the point of having this simple command in a simple Bash script is to run this script even more easily by clicking on a Desktop launcher:
| xcalib.desktop | |
|---|---|
Note
Redshift must be disabled (or stopped) before using this launcher; otherwise it will very quickly override the color profile.