DisplayCAL

When I first used DisplayCal to profile a new monitor and opened the “Calibration” tab, the check box for “Update Calibration” was checked, while the “Interactive Display Adjustment” checkbox was grayed out. After two unsuccessful attempts to calibrate my monitor, I closely examined the app’s GUI for something I may have missed. I determined that it must have been that I hadn’t run the “Interactive Display Adjustment.” After confirming (again) that the checkbox was, in fact, inaccessible, I clicked on the checkbox for “Update Calibration,” and, to my surprise, the checkbox unchecked and the “Interactive” checkbox automatically activated and became checked.

I’ve never seen an interface that works like this. Checkboxes usually permit multiple inputs, but it was obvious from the app that only one should be checked.  Oddly, when “Interactive” is checked, the “Update Box” does not gray out and remains available for selection (but, when selected, grays out the “Interactive” box).  Having to uncheck one checkbox in order to activate another is counter-intuitive. (The way the GUI is now operating is also inconsistent. Why isn’t the “Update” checkbox grayed out when the “Interactive” box is checked?) I thought I had encountered a bug that wouldn’t allow me to select “Interactive,” rather than experiencing an unusual GUI, so it had me stumped. I only discovered the solution by accident.

Solutions:

Don’t gray out the “Interactive” box  when “Update” is checked. Permit only one or the other to be in the “selected” state at any time, but the unselected check box should not become unavailable.

Use radio buttons. Radio buttons allow only one input, while all others remain available for input. Each input also automatically clears any previous input so that only one remains selected.