On the subject of monitor calibration, I've run into an interesting if annoying
issue.
For more than a year, I've been using a NEC PA271w attached to an elderly Mac
Pro tower. Love it. The profile sets 'em up near perfect for my printers.
Couldn't be happier. You have to spend a whole lot more money to see any
improvement over the NEC.
Just recently, I acquired a refurbished-but-latest-model 17" MacBook Pro with
all bells and whistles, including the matte screen. The NEC connects through
Apple's new Thunderbolt technology, and again, it's pretty much spot on as far
as output of prints.
For calibration, I use NEC's Spectraview II system, which comes with a
specially designed x-rite i1 puck.
For the MacBook's monitor, however, I use x-rite's i1 Profiler D2 Lion Edition.
The calibration is nowhere near as accurate as the Spectraview on the NEC. I
know that a laptop's monitor is not going to equal the dedicated NEC, but it
seems like I ought to be able to get them a lot closer than they are. And yes,
the MacBook supports dual monitors and dual .icc profiles. I've even
disconnected the NEC to profile the MacBook and used the MacBook in clamshell
(closed) mode to profile the NEC.
Asked the question elsewhere, and someone said in order to get them closer, I
would have to mess with the CIE x,y values, which I notice is possible in the
i1 Lion software. But I haven't a clue as how to do it or exactly what I'm
doing. Before I tuck in to another unwanted education module, I thought I'd ask
here and see if there's a down and dirty answer or workaround to get the
MacBook in shape. (I did try Apple's eyeball calibration and that _really_
sucked.)
At home, it's not a problem, I use the NEC with the MBP is clamshell and it's
all good. But if I'm away from the NEC, I'd like to think I'm not straying too
far in post processing. I know in recent years monitor manufacturers including
Apple have been more interested in multimedia applications such as video and
gaming and such, which is the only reason I can think of that Apple would make
glossy screens standard. I had to pay extra for the matte screen on the MBP.
The MBP's screen is also inordinately bright, which is fine for watching movies
or stupid stuff on youtube, but not so much for editing photos. X-rite says it
adjusts the luminance of the monitor during profiling, but when I reprofile the
luminance shows up in the 160 range instead of the 120 range where I want it.
So, any thoughts? What is the whole CIE x,y thing anyway? <g>
--Perplexed and annoyed in Round Pond
--
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