Another Mac Mini Owner with Display Issues

That-Guy · Nov 5, 2012

Well my Mini turned up today and everything is working fine apart from the colours awful on the monitor.

Especially with the lighter colours (they simply don't show up) like light grey borders and things like that.

I know its not a monitor issue as it looks amazing on my Hackintosh with Intel 3000 Graphics using the same connection (HDMI to HDMI).

I have tried using the calibration wizard in the display preferences but does not really make a difference.

So has apple acknowledged this as an actual problem or bug? Do we think these issues will be fixed in 10.8.3?

I am tempted to send the Mini back as with problems like this it seems to be a downgrade considering I live in packages like Photoshop and Fireworks

Im gutted, not the experience I was hoping for with my first real (non-hackintosh) Mac.

k.alexander · Nov 5, 2012

Try the calibration utility but go through Expert Mode. Pay attention to the Native Gama settings (hint the box on the left, you're going to want to move that slider towards the bottom of the box). Then set/keep Target Gama at 2.20. Come back and tell us if that helps you. Did that this morning, huge difference.

That-Guy · Nov 5, 2012

k.alexander said:
Try the calibration utility but go through Expert Mode. Pay attention to the Native Gama settings (hint the box on the left, you're going to want to move that slider towards the bottom of the box). Then set/keep Target Gama at 2.20. Come back and tell us if that helps you. Did that this morning, huge difference.

I LOVE YOU!!!

That has made so much difference! I didn't even see the Expert Mode tick box!

Thank you again

k.alexander · Nov 5, 2012

I guess, I should probably repost this for everyone. Did it in about 2 min this morning before running out to work.

pollaxe · Nov 5, 2012

Make that two of us - I've just run through the calibration wizard myself after reading this thread and it's really improved the picture quality.

I've just moved from a 30" monitor via MDP to DVI-D (whilst setting up my new Mini) onto HDMI on a Samsung LED HDTV where it's going to be staying (I hope) and it's made one hell of a difference to the quality of the display.

I've not yet seen any black screens/snow issues that others are reporting but I'll be watching closely over the coming days, just in case.

eklof · Nov 7, 2012

Indeed this is working like a charm. After going through the advanced calibration I managed to get back my 2007 mac mini display settings! :=)

koyeung · Nov 7, 2012

similar to this one: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1482487/

That-Guy said:
Well my Mini turned up today and everything is working fine apart from the colours awful on the monitor.

Especially with the lighter colours (they simply don't show up) like light grey borders and things like that.

I know its not a monitor issue as it looks amazing on my Hackintosh with Intel 3000 Graphics using the same connection (HDMI to HDMI).

I have tried using the calibration wizard in the display preferences but does not really make a difference.

So has apple acknowledged this as an actual problem or bug? Do we think these issues will be fixed in 10.8.3?

I am tempted to send the Mini back as with problems like this it seems to be a downgrade considering I live in packages like Photoshop and Fireworks

Im gutted, not the experience I was hoping for with my first real (non-hackintosh) Mac.

GR33NIE · Nov 7, 2012

Worked a charm for me too, has really improved picture quality! Always wondered why it didn't look quite right..now I know

sno1man · Nov 7, 2012

This is MUCH easier

with two big if's

If #1- You need to have one of the monitors they have tested and created a profile for,

If #2- You are ok with the inevitable manufacturing variations that can occur from unit to unit.

That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

In my specific case, the provided profile was still a bit cool but well within tolerable for anything except perhaps Photoshop

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

Negritude · Nov 7, 2012

And make sure your monitors are in PC/Computer mode and/or that overscan is disabled when connecting via HDMI.

Snowcake · Nov 7, 2012

So the gamma setting is different.

Could someone post the auto gamma setting that works with a non affected Mac and
the auto gamma setting from the affected 2012 Mac Mini?

I suspect something...

RG129 · Nov 11, 2012

sno1man said:
with two big if's

If #1- You need to have one of the monitors they have tested and created a profile for,

If #2- You are ok with the inevitable manufacturing variations that can occur from unit to unit.

That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

In my specific case, the provided profile was still a bit cool but well within tolerable for anything except perhaps Photoshop

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

Thank you! I have the 23" version of your monitor and loaded this profile in. Much better colors than the profile Mac OS X provided with my monitor's model, and infinite times better than what I was able to produce going through expert mode calibration!

Now I'm just waiting form my miniDP-DVI-D cable to arrive so I can end these annoying black screens and snow!!

Sir Ruben · Nov 12, 2012

sno1man said:
with two big if's

If #1- You need to have one of the monitors they have tested and created a profile for,

If #2- You are ok with the inevitable manufacturing variations that can occur from unit to unit.

That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

In my specific case, the provided profile was still a bit cool but well within tolerable for anything except perhaps Photoshop

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

I'd like to give this a try, just so that I am clear is it just a simple case of downloading the profile for my monitor and saving it to:

/Library/Colorsync/Profiles (System wide)
~/Library/Colorsync/Profiles (User folder)

How do I then select the profile? Via the Display options in System Preferences?

sno1man · Nov 12, 2012

Sir Ruben said:
I'd like to give this a try, just so that I am clear is it just a simple case of downloading the profile for my monitor and saving it to:

/Library/Colorsync/Profiles (System wide)
~/Library/Colorsync/Profiles (User folder)

How do I then select the profile? Via the Display options in System Preferences?

yes under the color settings in the display control panel, make sure you uncheck "show profiles for this display only"

Sir Ruben · Nov 12, 2012

sno1man said:
yes under the color settings in the display control panel, make sure you uncheck "show profiles for this display only"

Wonderful, thanks for the advice, I was planning on calibrating my new monitor soon, but using a profile sounds better than creating my own.

One other thing, the site lists mine twice:

Dell U2312HM (Standard)
Dell U2312HM (Custom)

Any idea on what the difference may be?

MrXiro · Nov 12, 2012

sno1man said:
with two big if's

If #1- You need to have one of the monitors they have tested and created a profile for,

If #2- You are ok with the inevitable manufacturing variations that can occur from unit to unit.

That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

In my specific case, the provided profile was still a bit cool but well within tolerable for anything except perhaps Photoshop

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

Thanks for this! I just bought the S2440L! This will make my life much easier. I have been setting and resetting the color profile every day since I got it!

How do you like the monitor?

sno1man · Nov 12, 2012

Sir Ruben said:
Wonderful, thanks for the advice, I was planning on calibrating my new monitor soon, but using a profile sounds better than creating my own.

One other thing, the site lists mine twice:

Dell U2312HM (Standard)
Dell U2312HM (Custom)

Any idea on what the difference may be?

I'm guessing a bit, but there are probably some customer color configuration options on the monitor (like white point). If you aren't using those, I'd start with standard

----------

MrXiro said:
Thanks for this! I just bought the S2440L! This will make my life much easier. I have been setting and resetting the color profile every day since I got it!

How do you like the monitor?

Mixed feelings. I'm spoiled by the Thunderbolt and iMac displays I use at work.

However, in terms of bang for the buck (and now that I've a got a decent calibration) I'm quite pleased. I like the brightness and the all glass (plastic) front covering. I know many here prefer matte displays but not me.

MrXiro · Nov 12, 2012

sno1man said:
I'm guessing a bit, but there are probably some customer color configuration options on the monitor (like white point). If you aren't using those, I'd start with standard

----------

Mixed feelings. I'm spoiled by the Thunderbolt and iMac displays I use at work.

However, in terms of bang for the buck (and now that I've a got a decent calibration) I'm quite pleased. I like the brightness and the all glass (plastic) front covering. I know many here prefer matte displays but not me.

I like gloss better myself too. I just got rid of my 27 inch iMac... ok I installed my the color profile from the website... but I'm not loving the look... what are your settings? Brightness, Contrast and RGB colors on the monitor itself? I can't seem to find something I'm happy with.

albert1028 · Nov 12, 2012

I didn't like the original colors. I have gotten use to calibrating using my spyder4 calibration system. I wondering if the Colorsync utility is as good as calibrating to the average user?

From this exercise, I realize I will never buy cheap lowcost monitors for everyday use. I hooked up the mini to one of wife's Dell U3001 monitors and wow, the colors are much better on that than my AOC cheap IPS monitors.

Any thoughts?

thekev · Nov 12, 2012

sno1man said:
That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

I've said it before, that thing has no place in OSX. Apple has been going toward an appliance like package. It doesn't fit with that. It doesn't offer any improvement over stock profiles or measurements taken via colorimeter.

albert1028 said:
I didn't like the original colors. I have gotten use to calibrating using my spyder4 calibration system. I wondering if the Colorsync utility is as good as calibrating to the average user?

From this exercise, I realize I will never buy cheap lowcost monitors for everyday use. I hooked up the mini to one of wife's Dell U3001 monitors and wow, the colors are much better on that than my AOC cheap IPS monitors.

Any thoughts?

Well displays are more than just their panel number. As for the colorsync utility, I've said for years that it has no place in OSX. It just confuses people. They have a problem. They look at that expecting it will help, and the results are often worse. It's just a very silly utility.

MrXiro · Nov 13, 2012

thekev said:
I've said it before, that thing has no place in OSX. Apple has been going toward an appliance like package. It doesn't fit with that. It doesn't offer any improvement over stock profiles or measurements taken via colorimeter.

Well displays are more than just their panel number. As for the colorsync utility, I've said for years that it has no place in OSX. It just confuses people. They have a problem. They look at that expecting it will help, and the results are often worse. It's just a very silly utility.

I've gone back to the color profile I created with ColorSync vs the one I downloaded from the link above. It's very similar but the profile I made has sharper contrast more akin to my old iMac monitor. The only thing I feel is that the reds don't pop in the same way.

Sir Ruben · Nov 13, 2012

Ive also gone back to the stock colour profile, I didnt like the one I downloaded as it seems to dull everything down quite a bit. Right or wrong I set it back to default.

Im wondering if Id get better results just tweaking the settings on the monitor itself?

MrXiro · Nov 13, 2012

Sir Ruben said:
Ive also gone back to the stock colour profile, I didnt like the one I downloaded as it seems to dull everything down quite a bit. Right or wrong I set it back to default.

Im wondering if Id get better results just tweaking the settings on the monitor itself?

I uploaded my profile that I think works much better on the Dell S2440L. If anyone wants it.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/y8wnkq

sno1man · Nov 13, 2012

MrXiro said:
I've gone back to the color profile I created with ColorSync vs the one I downloaded from the link above. It's very similar but the profile I made has sharper contrast more akin to my old iMac monitor. The only thing I feel is that the reds don't pop in the same way.

I had to adjust the display significantly in addition to using the color profile that I linked to.

Specifically, the contrast and sharpness settings are both jacked way too high by default. Mine ended up at 30 for contrast and 10 for sharpness.

The profile fixes the color balance issues and the contrast and sharpness adjustments addressed the washed out look.

It's still not to the level of the TB display, but then again I paid less for the mini and the dell display combined than I did for a TB display.

PS: you would not think so, but small viewing angle adjustments make a big difference. I got the best results accidentally by putting the display on top of the mini. That results in an almost perfect 90 degree angle with my eyes and the center of the screen

chuckd83 · Nov 13, 2012

sno1man said:
with two big if's

If #1- You need to have one of the monitors they have tested and created a profile for,

If #2- You are ok with the inevitable manufacturing variations that can occur from unit to unit.

That being said, I found the profile for my dell S2440L monitor and the results were MUCH better than either the default profile or even going through the error prone and imperfect manual "expert" calibration process.

In my specific case, the provided profile was still a bit cool but well within tolerable for anything except perhaps Photoshop

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

will this work for a S2340L?

Another Mac Mini Owner with Display Issues

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