Why no iPad color calibration setting?

[cinca]

Does anyone have any good ideas as to why Apple would not include a user configurable color calibration tool for the iPad?

Does it have something to do with the specific technology of the screen they use? On my MacBook in the color setting I can slide some settings and adjust the monitor color "temperature" such that it matches my needs and/or preferences. I can make it warm and yellow or cool and blue or somewhere in between.

While this is obviously super important to professionals dealing with images and print jobs that require screens to be calibrated to reflect an accurate sense of color – it's also nice for average users like myself because we can get a monitor whose color profile matches our sensibilities of what I nice white should look like. And, in fact, before I discovered this I thought my screen looks great – but once I discovered it I adjusted some settings to give my screen a much more bright, cheery "blue white". Out of curiosity I clicked it back to the original settings and it instantly became a muddy yellow mess that looks like a lot of the reported new iPad screens.

It would seem to me a very logical feature (assuming the iPad and iPhone screen technology support it) given all the discussions on this forum and even in broader news websites about screens that don't meet user color expectations.

I know it might feel "clumsy" for an Apple product not be "perfect out-of-the-box" and require/allow the user to adjust its screen color settings – but even a cheap $250 HDTV now gives users that ability... and I think most purchasers of that TV appreciate the option.

So does anyone out there have any knowledge or guesses on why such a feature is not a part of iOS?

 

[Le Buzz]

Because Apple, as awesome as it is, always manages to break our hearts by omitting some really great features that would be a cinch to implement.

It harkens back to when the iPhone didn't have copy and paste.

I just bought two LG monitors for my desktop mini. I noticed that one was warmer than the other, and all I had to do was adjust the color settings and now they are both identical. They are both nice and cool, and I am a happy camper. Problem solved, I can't imagine how many of these yellow tint issues with the iPad and iPhone would be solved simply by including a feature such as this.

Alas, I don't see it happening anytime soon as like I said Apple has a way of breaking our hearts by omitting the simplest features.

 

[Jarland]

I think the reason is because they want a controlled user experience and to limit the ways a user can accidentally exempt themselves from a unified experience by messing up settings. Justified or not, I would place a bet on it.

 

[nutmac]

One of the reasons could be to keep things simple.

But I think larger reason could be how inadequate OS X Calibrate tool is. An average Mac user would never tinker with Calibrate. And those that would are better off with hardware based calibration tool.

I personally would love display profile support, and letting companies like Datacolor and X-Rite create apps to measure and create profile.

 

[catalyst6]

I've had a feature request in for this at Apple Bug Reporter since the days of the iPhone 3G (see attached)....

Sad Apple doesn't listen, the iPad is truly an electronic portfolio now...I want my work to look like it should. Such a painfully easy fix, I'm praying the retina display makes them wake up and realize they need this feature!

 

[cinca]

I can definitely see the benefit of (and often sing the praises of) keeping the user experience simple.

But how about this for a brilliant idea?

Have a backdoor app or technique for an Apple Genuis to be able to adjust the color temp so people don't go through this iPad/iPhone Apple Store swap routine every time they upgrade and aren't happy with the color temperature of the screen?

It seems so obvious it makes me wonder if there's literally not some technical limitation that flat-out wouldn't allow that.

 

[WalledMacGarden]

So does anyone out there have any knowledge or guesses on why such a feature is not a part of iOS?

It wasn't needed since content creation was not a big deal, but now it is starting to be. Also the screen now has a much wider spectrum.

I would love it...need more request for this.

Let them know everyone

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

 

[nutmac]

Datacolor has an app called SpyderGallery that uses Spyder3 colorimeter (not sure if Spyder4 works) to create color profile then show photos using calibrated profile. Unfortunately, since iOS does not support custom color profile, it works only within the app.

 

[Kavik]

There's already a tool (Color Profiles) available via jailbreak, so it's not a limitation of iOS.

http://rpetrich.com/cydia/colorprofiles/

 

[iohass]

It's definitely for universal user experience.

Imagine you change your colour settings and then go to edit a picture in iphoto. Once you achieve the result you wanted, you send it to a friend and when they open it on their ipad, the picture will look different from what you think it looks because of different colour settings..

 

[whtrbt7]

Great thread. Someone already posted the Spydergallery app I was going to mention. Color calibration is tricky because it partially depends on the environment you are using the iPad in. The existing color calibration is already good enough but I think there is a plist or menu somewhere in the system to tweak the color calibration. Apple's primary concern is unified user experience so it's a little dangerous allowing users to tweak colors by themselves.

 

[fat jez]

Datacolor has an app called SpyderGallery that uses Spyder3 colorimeter (not sure if Spyder4 works)

Spyder 4 does work, I tried it last night. However, I found little difference between the calibrated and uncalibrated screens, suggesting that Apple have it pretty spot on (in my case at least). That's not to say that the iPad screen is not set to a warm temperature though.