Colour Management Issues with 27" iMac+Mountain Lion

[timballic]

On old 27" iMac, if I open three windows and view the same photo side by side in my photo editor, Safari and Firefox, the same picture appears very close in colour in each window, ie, as they should.

On the new (Dec'12) 27" iMac, all three are widely different, in the Photo Processor the original looks slightly more saturated and warmer colours than on the old, in Safari much more so, ie garish, in Firefox colourless and muted.

Whilst changing the profile might get rid of the basic warm caste, it would affect each browser equally. (I've tried and it does!) ie Safari remains garish and Ffox very muted.

Is this a known colour management issue with 10.8.3?

 

[Skyjamma]

I'd suggest performing a display calibration on your iMac, using a colorimeter such as the Spyder4 Pro or Elite.

 

[timballic]

Thanks Skyjamma. I sorted the issue, after hours of trial and error and searches, by doing a simple P-R-Cmd-Alt restart. Cleared everything!
However I may still need a calibration as the native white balance is still too warm for my liking.

 

[Skyjamma]

Thanks Skyjamma. I sorted the issue, after hours of trial and error and searches, by doing a simple P-R-Cmd-Alt restart. Cleared everything!
However I may still need a calibration as the native white balance is still too warm for my liking.

Sounds like a plan. I recently bought a Spyder4Elite and calibrated my iMac with it, and I'm quite pleased with the results thus far, as I use my iMac for photography, and need my color rendition to be spot-on.

 

[timballic]

Sounds like a plan. I recently calibrated my iMac with a Spyder4Elite, and I'm quite pleased with the results thus far, as I use my iMac for photography, and need my color rendition to be spot-on.

Ditto.
95% of what I do on mine is photography.

The question now is which calibrator: Spyder4Elite, ColorMunki, Colorimeter X-rite or Color Eyes Display Pro? They all have their fans and their detractors.
More forum searching!

 

[flynz4]

Ditto.
95% of what I do on mine is photography.

The question now is which calibrator: Spyder4Elite, ColorMunki, Colorimeter X-rite or Color Eyes Display Pro? They all have their fans and their detractors.
More forum searching!

This is my next purchase as well. I just upgraded to a new 2012 iMac (i7, 32GB, 768GB SSD, 680mx), 8TB Pegasus R4 & ATD. My iMac and ATD have slightly different color profiles which I want to correct. I also primarily use my setup for photography.

So... my requirement is good dual screen calibration. Without a lot of analysis, I was leaning toward the Spyder4Elite... but I still need to read reviews and user opinions.

Please report back what you conclude.

/Jim

 

[timballic]

Jim, the more I research these Colour Calibrators and read reviews, the more I realise they are mainly for people who print their photos and not so much for web use. I am tempted to try downloading some different iMac colour profiles before I fork out on one.
On the old iMac, the iMac profile really suited me, the new one doesn't.
From what I did find, the i1 calibrator is less good than the ones I mention above. I also didn't realise that Colormunki also make the X-rite..
Someone I came across recommended the best value was to get the cheaper Spyder Express Colorimeter"puck" and use it with Coloreyes Display software.

 

[flynz4]

Jim, the more I research these Colour Calibrators and read reviews, the more I realise they are mainly for people who print their photos and not so much for web use. I am tempted to try downloading some different iMac colour profiles before I fork out on one.
On the old iMac, the iMac profile really suited me, the new one doesn't.
From what I did find, the i1 calibrator is less good than the ones I mention above. I also didn't realise that Colormunki also make the X-rite..
Someone I came across recommended the best value was to get the cheaper Spyder Express Colorimeter"puck" and use it with Coloreyes Display software.

Looking at the Color Eyes software (thanks for the tip)... lots of people seem to like it better than the software that is included with the colorimeter hardware. This is especially true for older reviews (Spyder 2 & 3)... 2006 - 2011. I'm having a harder time getting a good comparison between the Sypder 4 elite and Color Eyes software comparison.

Color Eyes sells their software for $200... and their Color Eyes/Spyder 4 bundle for $325. This is similar in price to Spyder 4 with their own software.

So... my question that I will need to answer is which software is better... color eyes or Sypder 4. It seems like I can have either for about the same price.

I have a lot of trips for the next couple of months. I'll probably not dig into it until then because I just dont have the time.

/Jim

 

[dandrewk]

When I got the new iMac, I couldn't wait to calibrate it. Out of the box, it was too yellow with a bit of a greenish tint. Ten minutes with Spyder4 and that problem was solved.

Jim, the more I research these Colour Calibrators and read reviews, the more I realise they are mainly for people who print their photos and not so much for web use.

I think once you do the calibration, you'll change your mind about that. Even web browsing, you will appreciate the true colors and clean whites that will pop out on web pages. Even as I sit here typing this on the MacRumors website, 50% of the screen is white. It would drive me a bit nuts if that white was yellow/green.

 

[FreemanW]

A discussion such as this is nothing more than opinions until calibration hardware and software are utilized.

Additionally, there is monitor calibration and printer calibration.