Gamma 1.8 is a leftover from the old, old, old b&w LaserWriter printers and monochrome monitor days. It had absolutely nothing to do with color monitors.
As Buko said, Apple has been recommending 2.2 for years now.
As Buko said, Apple has been recommending 2.2 for years now.
I am not sure that they have.
Macs may come pre-configured with their Monitors set for 1.8 gamma; and I think that 1.8 comes up as the recommended setting if someone uses Apple’s Display/Color/Calibration tool.
Even some monitor calibration software suggests that 1.8 is a proper setting for Macs! Although, other options, including 2.2 are still available options.
And that’s why it’s still an option. Whatever works in your workflow. That said, it’s probably safest for most of the rest of us to use the general standard: 2.2.
2.2 originated in the mythical world of Mictosoft, and was only a very rough approximation of real CRT monitors which have different gammas for each gun, and at that time the monitors of the world were 95% incalibrated. In this era, where LCDs are software adjusted to BE 2.2, there is an argument for it certainly, but since the eye does not have a specific gamma and varies with coditions, I wonder if the new wide gamut LED backlit LCDs shouldn’t have serious testing to determine what the real color fidelity is under varying conditions of viewing, brightness, contrast, etc.
I like 1.8 on my LCD when printing to both copy paper and Photo Matte.
If you’re using profiles for everything, including a monitor profile, it makes very little if any difference what the screen gamma is (within reasonable limits), certainly in the range being discussed here. For very high end critical use there are minor advantages to using something very close to the screens native gamma. Of course, if you’re not using profiles or calibrating your screen, then gamma makes a bigger difference.
My scanner, my printer and my LCD are all profiled.
Even cheapo LCDs are software corrected to be native 2.2, but 1.8 and 9300 is a better match on my setup. It’s probably because i just like cooler colors.
If you’re adjusting your colors on a 9300K monitor, you’re more likely to overcompensate making them look neutral on screen and have them print out slightly warmer than expected.
If you’re using profiles for everything, including a monitor profile, it makes very little if any difference what the screen gamma is (within reasonable limits),.
If everything is a closed loop on your system only, this is true. As soon as you start creating images for the web, the 1.8 gamma starts biting you big time.
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