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I'm currently running a dual-boot Linux Mint / Windows XP Pro setup. I plan to migrate to a Linux only PC that runs Windows 7 64bit as VM in Virtualbox. I use the Win-7 VM to run Photoshop and other photo editing software, together with color management.
My screen is a NEC MultiSync LCD2690WUXi2 that supports color calibration using the NEC/ Xrite Eye One Display 2 colorimeter -- and stores the color correction curves inside the screen (not in the display adapter or OS). NEC provides a Windows software to do the calibration. At the end of the color profiling and calibration using the colorimeter, the software writes the color correction curves into the NEC screen using the DVI-D interface for communication.
How do I get the NEC software running in the Win-7 VM communicate directly through the graphics adapter with the screen, and vice versa? Is there any way to tunnel the information?
Another related question: will the Win-7 application "see" my colorimeter connected to a USB port?
Regarding the PC hardware: I haven't purchased anything yet as I will set up a new PC altogether. I'm considering an i7 3930K 6-core processor (with C2 stepping to support VT-d) as well as the i7 2600K version which doesn't support VT-d. Would VT-d support help solve this?
I understand that Virtualbox does not YET support VT-d, but does anyone know if that is in the pipeline?
Any help is welcome.
powerhouse
Posted 2012-04-08T12:18:26.150
Reputation: 121
It will be easier to calibrate your monitor in the real Windows XP. Since calibration is stored in the monitor and there will be no difference between windows xp srgb and windows 7 srgb. – crea7or – 2012-04-08T12:24:57.687
Thanks for the reply. I didn't make myself clear: I plan to purchase a new computer with a Windows 7 license and install the Win 7 as a guest system in Virtualbox which runs on Linux. There will be no native Windows XP or other Windows running on the machine, that is, I don't want a dual-boot setup (had this for much to long). Another point: my screen is a wide-gamut monitor and I want to use AdobeRGB color space for photo editing. Output will be to sRGB for web and regular photo print. – powerhouse – 2012-04-08T16:54:45.977
It's still better to install windows and calibrate monitor + gfx card setup. Because they both should be calibrated, even if curves will be stored in the monitor. Colorimeter will work well, since USB is perfectly supported. Even if not in virtualbox, but in the free Vmware player support it. But DVI interface isn't. At least I can't see that Vmware (as industry leader) have ability to even detect the monitor model. – crea7or – 2012-04-08T18:06:52.610
I tried calibrating my screen on my existing PC, from within a Windows XP guest in Virtualbox. Windows doesn't recognize the screen so the calibration doesn't even start, although it does recognize the colorimeter on the USB port. Within Virtualbox, is there any way to allow a Windows guest to access the graphics adapter directly? – powerhouse – 2012-04-09T07:18:09.453
Ok. I've done some more research. Looks like I'm going to give kvm a try. Not sure it does all I need it to do. Any experience with kvm? I'm also considering the commercial Parallels Workstation, and perhaps Xen (read some stories about VGA passthrough). Any thoughts? – powerhouse – 2012-04-16T21:01:27.477