I have been told that the best way to profile my monitor is with Spyder Pro/Greteg Macbeth. From what I have seen of these, they use RGB sliders on screen to change the colours.I am using an Imac 2GHz IntelCore Duo and 20in screen and I’m not aware that these sliders are available in the system preferences, displays. If any one is using any of the above third party software I would be extremely greatful if they could point me in the right direction as to the correct method.
Somewhere along the line you got information that managed to confuse you.
Hardware calibration pucks come with their own calibration pucks. They do not rely on any "sliders" in System Preferences. They just ask you to set the brightness and contrast using the physical knobs on the outside of your monitor, so far as they exist.
Then you attach the hardware puck to the monitor screen (or drape it over if it’s an LCD) and the hardware puck goes to work, creating the profile for you, which you then save as with a unique name and use this as your monitor profile.
That said, I can’t give you any specific advice because I’m not familiar with the monitors on current iMacs with Intel CPUs.
We use the Eye-One puck with the Eye-One software or ColourEyes. Both work great on both our Power PC’s and Intel based Macs. ColourEyes does the entire calibration for you, no need to change any brightness or anything on your monitor. Eye-One is a little more complex, and you will ask you to adjust your brightness a bit to get it within parameters (the software works you through it). I am not using a iMac however, but I am using a cinema display so I assume it would be the same, unlock your brightness buttons in your display preferences (make sure you disable them afterwards, any movement of the brightness after you profile will throw everything out the window). Your brightness buttons should be on the right side of your monitor. I have tried the Spyder and wasn’t too happy with it, it lacked consistency, and could take me quite a few tries to get a decent profile. I recommend profiling at 120 Luminance, Gamma L* and White Point D65. Good Luck
The "RGB sliders" he’s talking about may be referring to the individual RGB controls typically found on better CRT monitors. (these are adjusted from the monitor – not from software)
I use the Eye-One Display2 system with such a screen and the RGB controls from the monitor allow a much better and more thorough calibration than LCD screens, which don’t have the controls. (Most don’t anyway, I think some very high end LCDs do but they’re very expensive – Cinema displays or iMacs don’t qualify.) Despite that limitation with LCDs, I’d still recommend the Eyo-One – it will get you closer than anything else.
(this is one of the reasons many pros still prefer CRT screens)
Thanks all, Phil was correct about the RGB sliders. sorry if I didn’t make my self clear in the first place. I’ve recently changed from the PC to the Mac and on my pc monitor , an lcd, I could change the individual RGB chanels. I no longer have this monitor. The only thing that I can change on my new iMac monitor is the brightness via the "system preferences"/ display. There are no external hardware push buttons only the on/off switch at the back of the monitor. I could calibrate through the "Apple Display Calibration Assistant" but again I have been told that it is better to use a third party software like Eye-One.
Β to the individual RGB controls typically found on better CRT monitors. (these are adjusted from the monitor – not from software)
In the case of the Spyder puck, you run an additional program called "PreCal" first in order to adjust the red, green and blue guns individually by means of the buttons or knobs on the outside of the monitor while you look at three bars displayed by the software on screen.
Once that’s done, you launch the OptiCal software to calibrate and profile the monitor.
The instructions clearly tell you to bypass the PreCal preliminary procedure if your monitor lacks individual rgb controls, and go directly to OptiCal.
Even the cheapest calibrator puck will do a better job than eyeball calibrators such as the "Apple Display Calibration Assistant". However, if you insist on eyeball calibration instead of a puck, SuperCal from bergdesign.com easily beats the Apple built-in calibrator. [It’s free.]
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