Can somebody tell me what settings I need to use to do this? I've searched high and low on the net for the information without success. I need to know the Gamut and Backlight types. Is the Gamut normal or wide? Is the Backlight florescent CCFL, white LED or RGB LED? Are there any other settings that I should be aware of? Thanks!
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Calibrating mid 2010 27in iMac with Spyder 4 elite
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iMacs/Cinema Displays are pre-calibrated at the factory.. Anandtech wasn't able to squeeze much more out of these displays after a calibration. .I believe the words "Almost perfect" out of the box was what they used. So, why bother? And i'm not sure on the 2010 but I would say CCFL.. Not sure if they went to LED until the Thunderbolt Cinema Display came out.
If you don't know the answer, you don't have to say anything. Just sayin'. Thanks!
Factory calibration doesn't last a lifetime. The colors will drift over time. Hence any display needs to be calibrated more than once. The OP's display is 3 years old. It isn't surprising it may need to be re-calibrated.
The LCD itself won't change or shouldn't change but a CCFL can change the color temps over time.
The 27' iMac screen for 2010 is an LCD, IPS display with a white LED as the illumination source, it is not "wide gamut" which usually refers to the ability to display the full (or close to full) Adobe RGB standard gamut, it is "sRGB" in response. The Gamma should be set to 2.2 on your Spyder calibration program.
See this link for more info on the 2010 iMac 27' display.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...e-i3-3.2-27-inch-aluminum-mid-2010-specs.html
The reference is for the i3 model, however, the displays used are the same for all 27" models in that year.
I have not used a Spyder to calibrate my screen(s), but I do use the X-Rite Display Pro 2 and i1 Photo spectrophotometer and associated software, so the device is different, but the principal is the same. You want to set 2.2 Gamma, Color temperature to 6500K (unless you have special lighting requirements, if you do, you know what I mean already by this) and luminance I set is 90-100 cd/m2, so as to closely match maximum paper white from the printer, so prints do not appear too dark relative to the screen. The recommended setting for luminance from most publication writers is 120 cd/m2, which is too bright in my opinion to match print output, however, that is your personal choice to make based on your preferences for a bright or accurate screen display.
You do not have the capability to adjust RGB levels on a iMac screen, the controls to do so are just not there. The changes are made to the graphics card lookup tables to compensate, as opposed to adjusting the RGB levels manually.
I hope this is of some help, I'll clarify something if it is still unclear. Color Management is an extremely complex subject, and I tried to keep it to simple to understand terms in this reply.
And despite what others may say, the screen is not calibrated almost exact in color match to neutral inherently in the default profile (yes, I know Apple claims this for the 2013 iMac screen, but still the displays vary), color balance can vary greatly from display to display as the default profile is a generic one, and calibration does benefit in most, if not all cases. This can be confirmed by flipping between the generated calibrated profile and the default Apple RGB profile in Preferences-Display-Color and comparing the output. In any event, it cannot hurt if done properly, and will provide a base setting to use as a reference. If you don't like the result, you can always re-select the default factory profile.
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Right, not only with CCFLs but also LEDs. Many pro photographers calibrate their monitors regularly, as often as every month. So why did your reply to the OP imply he needn't bother to since the iMac was factory calibrated?
@bobtennis, that was a good summary and explanation. I hope the OP found it useful.
3 years isn't long enough for CCFL/LEDs to decay but whatever you guys are obviously experts.