Calibration and system colors

wolfejm

I just received an i1 display 2 and am setting about calibrating every monitor in the house:) What should I expect with regard to how system colors should look on a calibrated monitor? For example, on my MBP, system blue (0,0,255) actually looks a little purplish. Photos look good, but I'm just not sure what to think about this. Btw, the effect is about he same whether I do the easy or advanced path, and the white point selected is 6500.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

wolfejm

Frist, let me apologize for posting this to the wrong group. I realize now I shouldhave posted it to the gear section. I don't want to cross post it, so hopefully a mod will move it for me, please

Second, after some searching, I've learned that lots of folks are having trouble with a violet tinge on calibrated mbp displays. Anyone know how to fix that?

Thanks!

pathfinder

Jeff,
I use an i1D2 colorimeter to calibrate my 30" Cinema Display and my MBP. I am used to looking at a calibrated screen, so they look fine to me, and more important, my prints, whether printed on my Epson 3800, or from Bay Photo look as expected. Which leads me to believe my screens are reasonable calibrated.

I think Finishing School is the place to discuss this topic, as calibration is fundamental to image editing.

I am not aware of difficulties with calibrating the MBP screen - matte? or glossy? I find the glossy screen unacceptable for image editing, but am aware not everyone agrees with me. But most of the serious pros I know probably to agree with me about glossy screens.

Although I carry my MBP at workshops and when travelling, I rarely use it for serious editing. I prefer the larger, easier to calibrate, display with my tower.

wolfejm

I, too, am looking for some of that calibrated display goodness. I'm struggling to accept the results I'm getting as quite good enough. Doing a bit more searching on the net, I have found lots of folks complaining specifically about their blues turning purple on Snow Leopard with calibrated profiles. I'd love to know if others have experienced this before I lose too much time chasing an os bug.

Thanks again! (and thanks for thumbs up on the forum selection)

pathfinder

Aha, I did not mention OSs did I?

I do not have Snow Leopard on my desktop unit precisely because of the rumors about Snow Leopard. I stuck with OS 10.5.8

My MBP does have 10.6.2, and I do not print or edit with it, so I may not have been as critical as you have been. I have calibrated it with the i1D2 and it looks ok to my eye on its MATTE screen. I have not specifically looked at 0,0 255.

ALL my printing and editing is being done with my tower with OS 10.5.8, and I have avoided Snow Leopard specifically because of the discussion on the Luminous Landscape about the Snow Leopard issue with calibration. I am surprised there has not been more discussion about this issue.

You did not mention if you are using a matte or a glossy screen. I think that matters a lot personally. (I did say I do not favor the glossy screen that my MacBook has - hence I use it only for web and email, not image editing. )

wolfejm

I happen to have glossy displays, and won't enter the debate on which is better

Letme propose a very simple experiment. Google for any color bar graphic, and open the image in both firefox and safari. I was shocked at how purple the blue was.

I am running machines that were upgraded. I'd love to know, if anyone's looks good, wether they are clean installs or upgrades of snow leopard.

Thanks again! Btw, this happens on my iMac too.

wolfejm

Follow Up
I just wanted to let folks know how this turned out. I tried at length to get a good calibration. In my mind, the calibration doesn't help a lot if one color is skewed and the others are considered better. I just can't filter the image in my mind that way. I had a few interactions with X-Rite that concluded with them leaving me a voicemail saying, literally, that the problems are with the macbook pro display and there was nothing they could do because of its limitations. The display didn't match the prints any better than before, and soft proofing was not any better in this case either.

Whatever the reality, I wasn't getting much value out of the process in the end, so I wrote to B&H who was wonderful about sending an RMA and a return shipping label. Way to go B&H!

SittingElf

I think there is a very lucrative business opportunity in this area... a niche market unmet to this point...

"Monitor/printer calibration service". Someone with high end instruments and a huge amount of experience to do custom, precise calibration on-site or off-site.

I'd be happy to pay someone to insure my monitors and printers are calibrated perfectly. I don't seem to have the finesse needed myself.

I'd have it done to both my MBP 17 and my Dell u2410 on my Mac Pro Tower.

arodney

SittingElf wrote:

I think there is a very lucrative business opportunity in this area... a niche market unmet to this point...

"Monitor/printer calibration service". Someone with high end instruments and a huge amount of experience to do custom, precise calibration on-site or off-site.

Unless you get caught as its not legal (read the EULA with the product).