Calibrating my Apple display

S

super_plus

Active member
I'm not really sure where I should post this so here goes....

Does anyone know a good way to calibrate the colors on a Macbook Pro display? I recently picked up a nice 17" CRT monitor to assist in color correction and have noticed a huge difference in the saturation levels of the two monitors.
The colors on my MBP are quite muted and flat in comparison to the CRT. I've calibrated both monitors using the tools provided in OSX and I'm still not getting good results.
I've also tried adjusting the display according to the smpte bars in FCP and can't seem to get anywhere with it.

Any suggestions???
 
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You need to get a quality monitor calibrator for the Mac. For the CRT, You need to learn how to calibrate a broadcast CRT with color bars. Hopefully the CRT you got has a "blue only" mode? Color Bars do serve a purpose besides being a placeholder for "off air" use. you can generate the baseline signal to sync to from within FCP.

For the Macbook Pro, I'd recommend Xrite i1. i use it and it works great. Also works with multi monitor hookups. But any quality calibrator should work for you. Thy run about a few hundred bucks average.
 
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I guess I should have asked the question how you're hooking up to that CRT? I assumed you would be running FCP through a DV deck then to the ( broadcast ) CRT?? or have you bought a computer style CRT, connecting via DVI/VGA and using as a extended desktop?
 
It's a consumer CRT connected via DVI. It does have a blue mode, so I've calibrated it to bars as close as I can. I mainly picked it up so I can double check my work because I've noticed that my colors are often over saturated when viewed on CRT displays, since my apple display is so dull. I'm a poor film student so any low cost or free solution would be ideal.
 
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Depending on what model Pro you have, It's good to note that laptop monitors don't always have the most accurate color reproduction. I have a Core 2.2 with the first 15" LED screen ( matte finish ). Its a great screen, but it doesn't show as many or as rich color(s) as the 24" 2407 Dell LCD i have. I keep both of them calibrated with the i1. For the most part they match pretty well, but I do see differences to the naked eye. Even after re-calibrating at the same time. Going from LCD/LED to CRT, is a whole different ballgame itself.

The viewer/canvas in FCP are known not to be super accurate anyway. That's why you need the external. FCP is going to look darker then the CRT. And I wouldn't be surprised to find your laptop's screen just doesn't have the same saturation output abilities as the CRT.

You could burn a test DVD "reel" of footage to play on various TV's you have access too to get a feel for what your getting, I think you'd find that your CRT is pretty much on the ball if you are sure you got it calibrated right. Then you just have to keep in mind that FCP, and your laptop's screen are more likely the limitations / differences.
 
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Thanks for the help. I think I've tweaked both monitors the best I can. Now it's all about finding a happy median between the two.
 
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