Calibrating an Apple Cinema Display

ive just bought the 23-inch apple cinema display monitor and the Gretag Eye-One Display callibrator.

ive done the callibration and followed all directions - but no where in the process was i asked to use the

small black eyeball that came with it - am i missing something? nor the white plastic cap type thing.

 

also, what is the IDEAL monitor resolution setting for the 23-inch monitor? i currently have it set at

1344*840 ... is this right? should it be at a stretched setting as well?

ive also just checked the Before & After settings that took place after callibration - all exactly

the same - is this because the monitor is new and settings are fine - or am i doing

something wrong?

 

i did it all using the Easy Mode set-up rather than Advanced Mode

Standard native setting for a 23inch Cinema Display is at 1920x1200.

You really need to read the manual. The black eyeball is a counter weight you put on the USB cable. It allows you to hang and balance your Eye One calibrator on the monitor front, the black eyeball is placed on the back of the monitor, with the USB cable going over the monitor. The advance setting allows you to specify white point and gamma, try it out to see if there is a difference.

thank you michael, but the Eye One Calibrator just sticks on to the monitor wihtout needing

any counterweight... it has the sticky tag like things that allow it to attach to the monitor.

correct?

The software for monitor calibration does not change the display resolution. To do that, you

need to go into the display control panel (windows) or system preferences (mac). The white

plastic cap thing is to get a measure of ambient light. I'm not sure exactly how it changes the

calibration settings, but I never use it.

<p><i>> the Eye One Calibrator just sticks on to the monitor wihtout needing any

counterweight... it has the sticky tag like things that allow it to attach to the monitor.

correct?</i></p>

 

<p>These stickers are supposed to be used with CRT monitors only, not with LCD panels.

LCD panels may change color significantly when pressure is applied to them, which results

in a wrong calibration. The correct way to use a colorimeter with an LCD panel is to tilt the

LCD backwards so that the colorimeter just "sits" at an angle on top of it. You must never

press the colorimeter against the panel too strongly!</p>

I have both that monitor and that calibrator. The proper screen resolution is 1920x1200. It is an unusual resolution and you might have to download new drivers for your graphics card to support it (and some older card will not support it). I have an Nvidia GeForce 6600 and although it can support that resolution I had to download an updated driver set and install the new drivers in order to select it.

 

Also, Eugene is right, the suction cups are only for CRT monitors. That is why they provide your the counter weight and tray in order to suspend the device just in front of the screen.

 

The white cap allows an ambient light reading. That reading doesn't actually effect the calibration of the monitor and only provides you with information about the quality of your ambient light. I have never bothered with it.

 

Make sure you select gamma 2.2. That is the Windows standard and also the standard for most calibrators and output devices. Mac used to use a 1.8 gamma. I don't know if that is still the default on Macs or not. If it is change it.

 

Make sure you select a 6500K white point. That is also the accepted standard.

 

Lastly, don't expect too much of a change in the before and after screen. My Apple Cinema Display was VERY similar before and after calibrating -- only a slight warming of the white point.

NEVER use the suction cups on an LCD; it may influence the calibration but it may also permanently damage your LCD panel.

 

I don't know about today's ACD's but earlier versions could not be calibrated to anything else than 6500K.

 

What color temperature to calibrate your monitor to depends greatly on the color temperature of your digital darkroom lighting; they should match. Most lighting doesn't go beyond 5000K and many are far lower in color temperature.

i've used the suction cups already! :( twice! have i totally damaged my LCD? or am i still safe

and just need to make sure never to do it again?! how do i know if there has been damage?

If your screen looks fine you just lucked out. Don't worry about it but don't do it again.

phew thanks for that fran - yes the screen looks the same!

 

so how far do i have to tilt it back to allow the eye-one to rest on it? 45degree angle?

Tilt it only back a bit so the "spyder" rests flat against it.

Unless you have a bizarre workspace setup, whatever angle the monitor's already at will

probably be fine for profiling with the Eye-One. The counterweight does its job well, and the

combination of the bracket and spectrophotometer is massive enough it'll generally sit flat

without any coaxing.

Stick to native resolution, as said above, and when you calibrate your monitor, make sure you

set the monitor profile setting to default (on the Mac, it's under Display Preferences, Color

tab, "Cinema" profile). When I calibrated my 20" ACD, I found that the white point went

warmer and the blacks a bit deeper. For calibration, I use an X-Rite i1Display LT. Gamma

settings are always 2.2 with the white point at 6500K. I usually set my Brightness to about

50% to achieve a more consistent result, every two weeks that I calibrate.