Calibration tools for iMac 24''

[AlphaMac]

Hello.
I have read that you David have a white iMac 24 for your stock-work. I have just now just purchased an older 24 iMac for this work. But I find that the screen is diffcult to calibrate. I have no hardware calibrator yet, and I need that.

I have read up on some solutions and wonder if one of these is the right one, or if there are other better total pacakages for calibration:
- Spyder3 Elite
- ColorEyes with EyeOne hardware
- ColorEyes with Spyder2 hardware

I get that Gamma should be 2.2, Temp 6500 and Luminance 120. But my main focus is to get the right hardware/software. I consistently work in AdobeRGB, and I want my screen to be as "bullet-proof" as possible to real values so that I don't sell defaulty calibrated images. I now read my RGB values manually off in Lightroom, and that is too tedious for each picture, but better than nothing.

Any suggestions? How do you solve this with your 24'' iMac?

Merry Christmas from Norway.

[David Kilpatrick]

I just use visual calibration - the built in Apple sequence. It's dead accurate with my eyesight, results may vary for other users. I have a Spyder Pro 2 and a Huey Pro. They are both just a waste of time, you end up with a dim monitor and peculiar colour instead of perfectly natural looking colour and good brightness as produced by manual calibration. I have tested dozens of these hardware calibrators, first used them in 1990 with a Barco Calibrator and then Radius system. They always caused more problems than they solved. The only time they have a practical use is when you have six different screens in a row in a darkened, grey-room controlled enviroment and are willing to work with very low screen brightness, and need perfect visual matching between totally different types of screen. Otherwise, your own eyes have enough adaptive ability to cope with native white points and brightness changes, and the rest is done by using the software sequence 'Calibrate'. I always use native white point and native gamma. This ensures the maximum possible gradation performance of a TFT screen - they are only barely 8 bit and calibration really screws up, with banding and tone breaks etc. Just calibrate the first stages of the software sequence (the cross graph settings) and create the profile based on native white point and gamma.

Gammas between 1.7 and 2.4 are acceptable as long as the profile reflects them, and white points anywhere round 6500. The 24 inch screen is a native D6500 anyway, and native 1.9-ish gamma. Lumen values are irrelevant as they are cited for typical California conditions where AdobeRGB was set to run. In practice, you can edit images on laptops which have no chance of matching a 24 inch iMac. Your calibration has no effect at all on RGB values. The colour space does, but you can use a totally different screen profile, and the RGB values won't change.

David

[AlphaMac]

Thank you for your reply in this holiday season.

It seems that we are in sync. I have been persuaded to think that these calibrators are a must, but my eyes have always worked so far. I just wanted to make sure that a sold product was 100% up-to-par and that clients would get their moneys worth. Hopefully they will get this also in the future.

I will drop a hardware calibrator and follow your suggestions. Thank you for all you do to help us all.

[marktuma]

Sorry to drag an old thread back from the dead, but does anyone have hints for manually (i.e. without buying hardware) calibrating a screen on a PC please? We don't get the benefit of a built in calibration sequence as DK talks about with the Mac, and I can't quite bring myself to spend another £100 on a Huey when I've just bought a new screen...

[Dusty]

Mark,

For PCs try Calibrize or Monitor Calibration Wizard. Both should get you into the ball-park.

Dusty