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Tips on calibrating a Dell LCD monitor?

R

riddle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
7
0
Austin, TX
I'm having a terrible time adjusting the colors on Dell LCD monitors that I use with my MacBook Pro. The latest is a Dell 1905FP that is driving me nuts.

I started by following the instructions in Mac OS X's Display Calibrator Assistant (under System Preferences > Displays > Color > Calibrate). The result is that pale grays (eg #eeeeee) are washed out to look completely white (#ffffff).

Here's a test page - I can see the gray vs white distinction clearly on my MacBook Pro, not on the Dell:

http://prentissriddle.com/tmp/contrast-test.html

If I randomly muck with the monitor's hardware color adjustment and/or the options in the Calibrator Assistant I can get #eeeeee to stop looking white, but only by skewing the whole display in the direction of blue or yellow.

Is there a dummy's guide to calibrating cheap monitors on a Mac? Thanks.
 
"I'm having a terrible time adjusting the colors on Dell LCD monitors that I use with my MacBook Pro. The latest is a Dell 1905FP that is driving me nuts."

I have a Dell Ultrasharp 1905FP - best monitor I've ever used.

When I was first connecting it, I had it connected via the digital input. The problem was, some of the choices in the monitor's menu screens were "dimmed out" - not "choosable".

I then tried connecting it using the VGA analog input. Suddenly, ALL the menu choices became available.

As the "out-of-the-box" settings seemed too bright to me, one of the first things I did was go into the monitor's "color settings" and set all three values (red, green, blue) down to 81%. Things started looking much better. I then used the "Displays" panel in System Preferences to set up the monitor the way I liked it.
(NOTE: I believe you have access to the color settings ONLY when connecting via VGA.)

I got it set the way I liked it and it's been beautiful for several years now.

Here's the calibration profile that I like:
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211052&stc=1&d=1263654195
(first-time file upload here, not sure if I did it correctly)

- John
 

Attachments

  • DELL 1905FP Calibrated.icc.zip
    986 bytes · Views: 1,669
Fishrrman, thank you thank you thank you!

Your 1905FP profile is much better than anything I've been able to come up with myself.

On my monitor it was still a little dim and a little green, so I set the hardware RGB to 90/81/90 rather than 81/81/81. Images are now dark and supersaturated, but at least the gray is gray, not green or white.

I appreciate your help.
 
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