MacBook Air colour calibration profiles thread

[kabunaru]

I'm new in the MacWorld

I personally like this profile the best on my MBA 1.6/HDD rev.B
The Yellow is once restored as yellow and the screen is not as bright&bleaking


one thing that raise my awareness is,
with all the calibration profiles, all seems to have a 'darker tone' then the factory profile,
and this means the screen will have to turn up its brightness
just a little worry about the battery time

Tofupancake's profile is prbly a little bit too 'darkened' on my MBA rev.B scrn,
turn up to full brightness is not my thing as I need the battery time as well

And I had another report where somebody had said tofupancake's profile is too yellow.
I don't see too yellow anything about it on my Macs.

 

[tsubikiddo]

And I had another report where somebody had said tofupancake's profile is too yellow.
I don't see too yellow anything about it on my Macs.

it's not, it's too 'dark'
I think the contrast must be tuned to its lowest...

however, I do experience problem with others' color profile,
being too yellow
for example, I am dead sure Finder's edges are Silver,
some of the profiles gave me 'yellow-ish green' instead of 'white-silver'

 

[dudeitsjay]

I finally got around to doing the hardware calibration, I've tried to attach the file here (first time attacher alert).
1. Unzip the attachment to Library/ColorSync/Profiles
2. Select the new profile '20080216' in System Preferences > Displays > Color
It is safe to do this, you won't overwrite anything and can easily go back to system default with a click of the button at any time. It's also easy to compare the effect while you have a photo onscreen. It's best to do this inside photoshop, which is much more color profile aware than say a web browser. We're not talking about making nice web pics here, but accurate rendition for repro.

Profile made with ColorEyes Display Pro and xrite dtp 24 colorimeter. It's good software with a demo available, I'd recommend it if color accuracy is important to you. At $300+ including hardware it isn't cheap but has saved me a lot of time in not having to mess with reprints. (I'm not affiliated in any way, I'm just a customer). Profile made with screen at maximum brightness. I may try again at 12/16 brightness. Profiled at D65 white point and L* colorspace (Lab based but software proprietary). I have to try profiling under various light sources and environments and then choose appropriately.

Personally, I find the difference excellent. Much better contrast. The washed out yellows gone, and more vibrant blues and reds. It better matches my 23" ACD which matches my prints (I'm a photographer). Interestingly, for B&W the difference is even more pronounced. The default profile was squelching blacks and pushing whites, there is a much more gradual range now, with details coming back from my blacks and highlights.

note: each and every manufactured display is slightly different, and changes over time. The only real way to accurately profile your display is to do it yourself, and do it regularly.

I'd be interested in any feedback others have.

Awesome! I'm so glad I stumbled into this, because I would actually feel the tension in my eyes after reading on my air. With your settings that tension went away and my eyes feel much less tired =D.

 

[StephanBer1]

Another Profile up for your consideration

I have a 13" MacBook Air Rev A and have used this calibration for some time now on all of my Mac laptop LCD backlit screens, excluding MacBook Pros as they tend to run slightly different.

Make no mistake, this is NOT designed for super accurate color printing and reproduction, but is designed to give us everyday folks a screen that we can look at without wanting to commit sepuku with a butter knife.

If there's anything I don't like about LCD backlit screens, it's the blueish tinge you pick up from them. I like my whites white and my blues blue, not interbreeding with each other. You may even find this is reminiscent of your older PowerBook?

I tried all of the ones throughout this post and while the 'Spyder' one wasn't bad, it still had a hint of blue in the whites and greys.

Please note: I (like many other people in this post) also hardly EVER use my Macs with the brightness turned all the way up (sunglasses, anyone?!) so this calibration works best when they are set from about halfway to three quarters.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

 

[Corax]

I have a 13" MacBook Air Rev A and have used this calibration for some time now on all of my Mac laptop LCD backlit screens, excluding MacBook Pros as they tend to run slightly different.

Make no mistake, this is NOT designed for super accurate color printing and reproduction, but is designed to give us everyday folks a screen that we can look at without wanting to commit sepuku with a butter knife.

If there's anything I don't like about LCD backlit screens, it's the blueish tinge you pick up from them. I like my whites white and my blues blue, not interbreeding with each other. You may even find this is reminiscent of your older PowerBook?

I tried all of the ones throughout this post and while the 'Spyder' one wasn't bad, it still had a hint of blue in the whites and greys.

Please note: I (like many other people in this post) also hardly EVER use my Macs with the brightness turned all the way up (sunglasses, anyone?!) so this calibration works best when they are set from about halfway to three quarters.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Really, it was terrible! Honest. On what kind of MBA was this made? It was so far off, that I wonder if it's really made on a recent MBA.
I have a new late 2010 MBA 13". But maybe it's just the difference between display's, but so much difference?
Tofupancake's profile looks great by the way, even though it's an "old" profile, not made on my MBA.

 

[StephanBer1]

Really, it was terrible! Honest. On what kind of MBA was this made? It was so far off, that I wonder if it's really made on a recent MBA.
I have a new late 2010 MBA 13". But maybe it's just the difference between display's, but so much difference?
Tofupancake's profile looks great by the way, even though it's an "old" profile, not made on my MBA.

Hey Corax;

I suspected that it wouldn't fair well with the brand new MBA - and I agree; it will look absolutely terrible on the 'wrong' display. I have another profile that I have to use for an external monitor, and then an entirely different one when I have it hooked up to my 1080p LCD TV.

It is entirely possible that my MBA display is on it's way out, and it's just one of the many reasons why none of us should just assume that we've made the best profile for everyone.

So... Corax. Not to get off subject (I'm SURE there's another topic for it, but this one was pretty much dead before I jumped in) but how do you like your new MBA? I desperately tried to love it, I went in with the full intention walking out with one and I was quite sad when I didn't. The most notable deletion for me was the backlit keyboard, and the fact that they should have already come with 4GB of ram with an option to further upgrade to 8GB. Being a 'professional' first gen shopper, I know know KNOW that there's something better just around the corner, but it's all I can do from stopping myself.

I'd bet there's a third party already working on a 4GB and maybe even a 8GB memory chip for the new MBA (both of which will likely void your Apple warranty like no one has before) but I'll be curious to see the results and if they bring them to market. Sure, there's the option to buy the 4GB right now, but there's a LOT of people just going out the door with the 2GB... I see them all on eBay just as soon as Lion 10.7 hits next year.

As for me, I love that the new MBA's don't throttle down the second you throw some heat at them, and getting that big upgrade in the GPU department... But wow. Take out the backlit keyboard, then make me buy yet another MBA six months down the road just so I can get the 8GB of ram into it? I gotta hold firm and take a pass on this latest revision. Me and my first gen 1.6Ghz with my 64GB SSD are gonna make it... I just know it... Just as long as I remember NOT to post that color profile anywhere else.

 

[Corax]

I wasn't making fun of you, it just really looked awful!
But I checked your profile out, because it was posted now, in a time where people buy the new Air, just to try it out, if it was made for a new one.

I really like the new Air! It's amazingly fast, did not expect so fast.
It is overall much faster than my MacBook alu Unibody 2,4GHz with 4GB (2008, high end with backlit keyboard) it replaced.
Also I just love the Air's display, sweet high resolution.
I'm amazed how it runs 1080p HD video content so smooth, better than the MacBook did.
2GB is enough for me, I'm not using it as a pro, just for internet, email, videoplayer (connected to my 42" full HD TV) and occasionally iLife 11 apps.
At first my wife was a little disappointed when I told her there was no backlit keyboard, but after using it for half an hour she didn't really mind anymore, because of the performance advantages (and the nice screen).

 

[StephanBer1]

I wasn't making fun of you, it just really looked awful!

No worries! I might be a newbie on MacRumors, but my skin has grown thick here in the land of Internet. I built and ran a forums board a couple of years ago, so as an Admin, not to mention a user, you learn to take NOTHING personally.

I fully understand why Steve Jobs took out the keyboard. It seems that everyone is convinced that it was to get that extra ten minutes out of the new MBA, and others are convinced that it was to get it just that much thinner. Me? I see it as a way to get it further away from the MBP's and develop it closer in line with the regular MacBooks, if not develop a distinct third (forth, if you count the iPad?) identity for their portable line. I also can't think of any other reason why he'd want to release it by limiting the ram to 4GB, unless he wanted to signal that, "Look. It's a great machine. But by no means is it a MBP".

There's also that desire to keep it under the $999 price point, but heck. It could always be an option. I'd gladly pay $100 for an upgraded keyboard and $100 for the 4GB memory upgrade. It's not like I didn't just pay $1799 plus $999 for the SSD a couple of years ago? As far as I'm concerned, $1199 for an 11" MacBook Air with a backlit keyboard and 4GB of ram would be a downright gift from the mind of Steve Jobs.

It's good to hear that an end-user such as yourself has similar findings inline with most of the formal reviews that have been drawn up on it, and it does make me reconsider (re-reconsider?) purchasing one. Keep me posted, and let me know once you get a fairly graphics-intensive game running on that little guy.

Thanks for the input on the color profile, and I'm sure I'll bump into you in other MacRumor topics. Take care and enjoy!

 

[Corax]

I fully understand why Steve Jobs took out the keyboard. It seems that everyone is convinced that it was to get that extra ten minutes out of the new MBA, and others are convinced that it was to get it just that much thinner. Me? I see it as a way to get it further away from the MBP's and develop it closer in line with the regular MacBooks, if not develop a distinct third (forth, if you count the iPad?) identity for their portable line. I also can't think of any other reason why he'd want to release it by limiting the ram to 4GB, unless he wanted to signal that, "Look. It's a great machine. But by no means is it a MBP".

There's also that desire to keep it under the $999 price point, but heck. It could always be an option. I'd gladly pay $100 for an upgraded keyboard and $100 for the 4GB memory upgrade. It's not like I didn't just pay $1799 plus $999 for the SSD a couple of years ago? As far as I'm concerned, $1199 for an 11" MacBook Air with a backlit keyboard and 4GB of ram would be a downright gift from the mind of Steve Jobs.

I really agree, in both the points you're making.

The backlit keyboard, is collateral because of the advantages of the new Air, but still it would have been a bonus. Loved it on the MacBook I sold 4 this Air.

Indeed it's not a MBP replacement, well for a lot of people it could be, but for the people/pro's who actually make intensive use of the resources from the MBP it's not an option, and shouldn't be.
But sometimes I really laugh (in myself) because some people "think" they have to buy the fastest and end op with a MBP, but they only use 10% of it's capacity, resources and aren't really pro users.
Those people should consider the Air.

Still I most say that the Air turns out to be much faster than I thought. Due to the SSD-card, but definitely also the upgraded GPU.
128GB is enough for me cause large files, like movies etc. are kept on a external disk. 64GB is not an option for me, only for the programs alone it would be cramped. Plus for my use I really prefer the 13" screen's workspace for office, when working with photo's, but again also movies on a trip.
1440x900 is the same resolution as the basic MPB 15" has!

 

[tmoerel]

My Profile for Macbook Air 13.3 9C8F

Here is my profile made with a Huey Pro on a Macbook Air 13.3 with a 9C8F screen.

It is for 65K, gamma 2.2

Good luck with it. I hope it can help some of you.

 

[Corax]

This profile works really great on my 13" 9CDF.

 

[verity]

This profile works really great on my 13" 9CDF.

Just wanted to say a quick thanks for the profile. I like it a lot on my 13'' 9CF0. I'm no pro, but yours looks the best for me so far.

 

[Raejin]

This profile works really great on my 13" 9CDF.

Just want to step by and thank you for your excellent profile. I am really in love with it Great contrast.

 

[rsaravanan]

My attempt at calibration - 2012 Air 11" LG display

Hi,

Background Story: I bought a 11" Air (2012) model (Core i7, 8GB version) recently, and by chance ended up with an LG display (LP116WH4-TJA3).. I could visibly see that the color calibration was 'way off', but needed something that I could use in both office and home (lighting levels vary).. And believe me, the built in color calibration sucked.

That started a 3-4 week long obsession with what is the ideal profile that I could use for an LG display.. I played around with SuperCal, Apple's calibration assistant, downloaded about 25-30 profiles from online forums, tried out all the downloaded ones and finally ended up with one created by myself using Apple's calibration assistant (expert mode)..

Here are my observations on color calibration per se:

• There is a difference between the LG display and the Samsung/AU Optronics displays (I am not bothered about what AnandTech says, I am not bothered about technical results - I trust my eyes, I trust what I see before me)
• The way the display 'feels' is affected by various factors - the viewing angle (mainly vertical), amount of surrounding light, direction of surrounding light, brightness of the display, font anti-aliasing settings, whether you have a screen protector, the distance between your eyes and the display, etc.
• You will need to arrive at an appropriate combination of the color profile, anti-aliasing settings and font choice to make the display reach a good-enough level..
• What 'feels good' will vary by user also - some may like strong anti-aliasing, some may prefer a bluish tint, etc.

What I've attached with this post is the final .icc profile I am using now.. I have strong anti-aliasing turned on, I generally find Trebuchet MS and Gill Sans MT as fonts that appear reasonable for documents.. [All of you may not like the settings I am using - pls feel free to experiment, and post your results..]

Thought I'll submit this here in case it helps someone else who is thinking about returning the Air just because of the LG display..

Have fun, and hope this helps,

Rgds,

R. Saravanan

---
Update:

I upgraded to Mountain Lion a couple of days back, and noticed a few differences in the way the color/profile is used/fonts are rendered (possibly due to its support for the Retina display).. Took another shot at calibration - this time I'm using one created using SuperCal.. File attached.

---
Update:
Adding another - my current profile (attempt to increase contrast and make the colors richer than the other two). Have actually removed all other profiles from my machine as of now - have stayed with SC13.

 

[RodPinto]

Hi,

Background Story: I bought a 11" Air (2012) model (Core i7, 8GB version) recently, and by chance ended up with an LG display (LP116WH4-TJA3).. I could visibly see that the color calibration was 'way off', but needed something that I could use in both office and home (lighting levels vary).. And believe me, the built in color calibration sucked.

That started a 3-4 week long obsession with what is the ideal profile that I could use for an LG display.. I played around with SuperCal, Apple's calibration assistant, downloaded about 25-30 profiles from online forums, tried out all the downloaded ones and finally ended up with one created by myself using Apple's calibration assistant (expert mode)..

Here are my observations on color calibration per se:

• There is a difference between the LG display and the Samsung/AU Optronics displays (I am not bothered about what AnandTech says, I am not bothered about technical results - I trust my eyes, I trust what I see before me)
• The way the display 'feels' is affected by various factors - the viewing angle (mainly vertical), amount of surrounding light, direction of surrounding light, brightness of the display, font anti-aliasing settings, whether you have a screen protector, the distance between your eyes and the display, etc.
• You will need to arrive at an appropriate combination of the color profile, anti-aliasing settings and font choice to make the display reach a good-enough level..
• What 'feels good' will vary by user also - some may like strong anti-aliasing, some may prefer a bluish tint, etc.

What I've attached with this post is the final .icc profile I am using now.. I have strong anti-aliasing turned on, I generally find Trebuchet MS and Gill Sans MT as fonts that appear reasonable for documents.. [All of you may not like the settings I am using - pls feel free to experiment, and post your results..]

Thought I'll submit this here in case it helps someone else who is thinking about returning the Air just because of the LG display..

Have fun, and hope this helps,

Rgds,

R. Saravanan

Great profile man! I have the same 11 Air... Thanks for sharing!

 

[rmastbro]

Hi,

Background Story: I bought a 11" Air (2012) model (Core i7, 8GB version) recently, and by chance ended up with an LG display (LP116WH4-TJA3).. I could visibly see that the color calibration was 'way off', but needed something that I could use in both office and home (lighting levels vary).. And believe me, the built in color calibration sucked.

That started a 3-4 week long obsession with what is the ideal profile that I could use for an LG display.. I played around with SuperCal, Apple's calibration assistant, downloaded about 25-30 profiles from online forums, tried out all the downloaded ones and finally ended up with one created by myself using Apple's calibration assistant (expert mode)..

Here are my observations on color calibration per se:

• There is a difference between the LG display and the Samsung/AU Optronics displays (I am not bothered about what AnandTech says, I am not bothered about technical results - I trust my eyes, I trust what I see before me)
• The way the display 'feels' is affected by various factors - the viewing angle (mainly vertical), amount of surrounding light, direction of surrounding light, brightness of the display, font anti-aliasing settings, whether you have a screen protector, the distance between your eyes and the display, etc.
• You will need to arrive at an appropriate combination of the color profile, anti-aliasing settings and font choice to make the display reach a good-enough level..
• What 'feels good' will vary by user also - some may like strong anti-aliasing, some may prefer a bluish tint, etc.

What I've attached with this post is the final .icc profile I am using now.. I have strong anti-aliasing turned on, I generally find Trebuchet MS and Gill Sans MT as fonts that appear reasonable for documents.. [All of you may not like the settings I am using - pls feel free to experiment, and post your results..]

Thought I'll submit this here in case it helps someone else who is thinking about returning the Air just because of the LG display..

Have fun, and hope this helps,

Rgds,

R. Saravanan

Agreed ... The best profile I have used on my 2012 11" Air (LG). Great job !!!!

 

[rsaravanan]

Thanks

Thanks Pinto, rmastbro.. Glad that it helped.

 

[Daginator]

Thanks Pinto, rmastbro.. Glad that it helped.

I am using your profile as we speak on my 13 inch LG display (2012), great contrast but it´s a bit blue on my screen. Any advantages with more blue-tone then let´s say Anandtech´s profile?

 

[rsaravanan]

My attempt at calibration - 2012 Air 11" LG display

I am using your profile as we speak on my 13 inch LG display (2012), great contrast but it´s a bit blue on my screen. Any advantages with more blue-tone then let´s say Anandtech´s profile?

Hi, the profile is not meant to be bluish.. ..I think the profile is very specific to the device it was created on.. I've created the profile on a 11" LG Air (2012) - LP116WH4-TJA3.. I think it would not fit other models (you may find it bluish/reddish, for example).. I noticed similar behaviour when I tried the profile from my old 13" Unibody MacBook on the 11" Air..

Hope that helps..

 

[rsaravanan]

Update: Moved back to Lion

Hi,

Background Story: I bought a 11" Air (2012) model (Core i7, 8GB version) recently, and by chance ended up with an LG display (LP116WH4-TJA3).. I could visibly see that the color calibration was 'way off', but needed something that I could use in both office and home (lighting levels vary).. And believe me, the built in color calibration sucked.

That started a 3-4 week long obsession with what is the ideal profile that I could use for an LG display.. I played around with SuperCal, Apple's calibration assistant, downloaded about 25-30 profiles from online forums, tried out all the downloaded ones and finally ended up with one created by myself using Apple's calibration assistant (expert mode)..

Here are my observations on color calibration per se:

• There is a difference between the LG display and the Samsung/AU Optronics displays (I am not bothered about what AnandTech says, I am not bothered about technical results - I trust my eyes, I trust what I see before me)
• The way the display 'feels' is affected by various factors - the viewing angle (mainly vertical), amount of surrounding light, direction of surrounding light, brightness of the display, font anti-aliasing settings, whether you have a screen protector, the distance between your eyes and the display, etc.
• You will need to arrive at an appropriate combination of the color profile, anti-aliasing settings and font choice to make the display reach a good-enough level..
• What 'feels good' will vary by user also - some may like strong anti-aliasing, some may prefer a bluish tint, etc.

What I've attached with this post is the final .icc profile I am using now.. I have strong anti-aliasing turned on, I generally find Trebuchet MS and Gill Sans MT as fonts that appear reasonable for documents.. [All of you may not like the settings I am using - pls feel free to experiment, and post your results..]

Thought I'll submit this here in case it helps someone else who is thinking about returning the Air just because of the LG display..

Have fun, and hope this helps,

Rgds,

R. Saravanan

---
Update:

I upgraded to Mountain Lion a couple of days back, and noticed a few differences in the way the color/profile is used/fonts are rendered (possibly due to its support for the Retina display).. Took another shot at calibration - this time I'm using one created using SuperCal.. File attached.

---
Update:
Adding another - my current profile (attempt to increase contrast and make the colors richer than the other two). Have actually removed all other profiles from my machine as of now - have stayed with SC13.

---
Further Update:
I spent about 6 weeks breaking my head since I couldnt get the display with Mountain Lion to the same quality as I'd seen with the AC15 proile and Lion.. Could get the colors correct, but I could never settle down with ML's font rendering..

Finally mustered the courage yesterday to try a restore (from Time Machine) back to Lion - and Wow! Was I surprised at the difference.. Tried a restore back to ML - using exactly the same profile, and believe me, I am a lot happier with the way Lion handles fonts.. Did some Googling and realized that the font rendering on ML is so optimized for Retina displays that non-retina displays dont look good at all..

Have gone back to Lion and stayed there.. [If the rumor turns out to be true, and Apple releases a 13" MacBook, I think I'll go to the Retina display with ML later..]

Attaching the profile I am using right now.. (..all profiles with the SC prefix were created with SuperCal..)

Have fun!

 

[itsamacthing]

Thank you

Hi, Please take a moment to read and sign our petition to Apple:

http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-computer-use-the-same-quality-lcd-in-all-their-computers

 

[rsaravanan]

Inner peace at last..

---
Further Update:
I spent about 6 weeks breaking my head since I couldnt get the display with Mountain Lion to the same quality as I'd seen with the AC15 proile and Lion.. Could get the colors correct, but I could never settle down with ML's font rendering..

Finally mustered the courage yesterday to try a restore (from Time Machine) back to Lion - and Wow! Was I surprised at the difference.. Tried a restore back to ML - using exactly the same profile, and believe me, I am a lot happier with the way Lion handles fonts.. Did some Googling and realized that the font rendering on ML is so optimized for Retina displays that non-retina displays dont look good at all..

Have gone back to Lion and stayed there.. [If the rumor turns out to be true, and Apple releases a 13" MacBook, I think I'll go to the Retina display with ML later..]

Attaching the profile I am using right now.. (..all profiles with the SC prefix were created with SuperCal..)

Have fun!

A week back, decided to get a Spyder and calibrate the screen using the device.. Adjusted the white point slightly after the calibration finished, and ended up with the profile attached here. Waited a week before posting - still on this profile, so I think it should help.. Compared to this, you'll find the SC24 profile slightly bluish..

Hope this helps,

 

[rsaravanan]

Final, final, final version

A week back, decided to get a Spyder and calibrate the screen using the device.. Adjusted the white point slightly after the calibration finished, and ended up with the profile attached here. Waited a week before posting - still on this profile, so I think it should help.. Compared to this, you'll find the SC24 profile slightly bluish..

Hope this helps,

Realized one more thing - that setting the brightness level in the color profile to max when calibrating causes the white to appear more yellowish.. Fixed in the attached version. Perfect now as far as my 'eyes' certify.. [I think I might be annoying the team here by posting so much, so will stop with this version.. ] Have fun.

[Ironically I reach a stage where I am beginning to like the display, and if the rumors are true, next week Apple is going to release a 13" Pro with a Retina display.. ** Sigh **]

 

[rsaravanan]

Update (no new profile being attached)

Realized one more thing - that setting the brightness level in the color profile to max when calibrating causes the white to appear more yellowish.. Fixed in the attached version. Perfect now as far as my 'eyes' certify.. [I think I might be annoying the team here by posting so much, so will stop with this version.. ] Have fun.

[Ironically I reach a stage where I am beginning to like the display, and if the rumors are true, next week Apple is going to release a 13" Pro with a Retina display.. ** Sigh **]

Hi all,

I think I have posted some 5-6 profiles here, and while these have evolved as I was learning, I realized a little while back that I had never actually got to comparing them against each other..

Did this a couple of days back, and was surprised to find that I liked the 'LG Color LCD - 4' version the most.. Have switched to this for now - thought I'll post the update..

[If I were in your position (with a 2012 Macbook Air 11" and an LG LCD and wondering which profile to try out), I would probably go with the 'LG Color LCD - 4'.. ..your preference may vary though..]

Hope that helps,

R. Saravanan

 

[rsaravanan]

Try both out and decide

Hi all,

I think I have posted some 5-6 profiles here, and while these have evolved as I was learning, I realized a little while back that I had never actually got to comparing them against each other..

Did this a couple of days back, and was surprised to find that I liked the 'LG Color LCD - 4' version the most.. Have switched to this for now - thought I'll post the update..

[If I were in your position (with a 2012 Macbook Air 11" and an LG LCD and wondering which profile to try out), I would probably go with the 'LG Color LCD - 4'.. ..your preference may vary though..]

Hope that helps,

R. Saravanan

To add to the above - try both 'LG Color LCD - 4' and 'LG Color LCD - 12' and decide.