Color calibration issues - blue tint w/ sRGB

Question

Need some help getting this issue resolved & wondering if there is a problem with my LCD.
I do a lot of web and video work and recently moved from a 17" Powerbook G4 to a 17" MacBook Pro. Both used with a 20" Apple Cinema display. The color temperature (tint) between the Powerbook and the new MacBook Pro are drastically different - especially when using sRGB calibration which is recommended by Adobe for this type of work. The cinema display seems correct and closely matches my Powerbook when using sRGB, but the Macbook Pro is very blue. The Macbook Pro displays more warm grays vs. the cinema display when using the default calibration settings.
Using sRGB for both displays:
http://idisk.mac.com/edgedesign-Public/Calibration/photo_sRBG.jpg
Using default calibration for both displays:
http://idisk.mac.com/edgedesign-Public/Calibration/photo_default.jpg
*Notice the 20" cinema hardly changes in either of these shots which make me think there's a problem with the MacBook Pro display.
- Are all the new MacBook Pros like this?
- Why so different than the Powerbook display and Cinema displays?
- Any calibration suggestions for Adobe CS3 and screen work?

Answer 1

Brief intro before I pontificate: I have a degree in imaging and used to be one of the guys you talked to at Eastman Kodak about monitor color calibration (before Kodak drove me crazy).
A few points:
First, sRGB is a needlessly small gamut color space invented by Microsoft. In the professional imaging field it is looked at with great disdain because it is imposing a needless crushing of your monitor's color profile. I've talked to one of the color experts at Adobe and he completely agrees. I don't know who at Adobe is recommending sRGB, but they are W R O N G. I personally call sRGB 'StupidRGB' in order to remind myself exactly what it is worth.
Second, the field of color calibration, color matching and color correction is complicated and requires considerable understanding to perform correctly. There are entire books on the subject, well worth reading. You can even take classes on the subject, such as at Rochester Institute of Technology (plugging my Alma matter). If you have shopped around for color calibration devices you will find they are incredibly expensive, and there is a reason for that.
Third, LCD screens generally SUCK for color matching. Here are a few reasons why:
(A) The viewing angle of most LCD screens is so small that if you tilt your head up, down, right or left you end up with a shift in color balance and contrast. Result: no way can you accurately color match. This is most certainly the case with ALL MacBooks, MacBook Pros and iMacs. The Cinema displays are vastly better. You can check this out yourself at your local Apple Store.
(B) In case you had not heard, none of the MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops are capable of showing all colors to which the human eye is sensitive. They don't do 'millions of colors' despite advertising you have read. They do about 260,000 colors and dither the rest. Dithering does NOT create colors that are not there. It just fakes them. The result again is that it is impossible to use these LCDs for accurate color matching. I have no knowledge about whether this color problem is the case with iMacs, but refer to the paragraph above regarding their viewing angle problem.
(C) The color gamut on even the very best LCD display is at the mercy of the fluorescent light bulbs inside the displays. The massive problem with fluorescent lights is that they do not have a continuous color spectrum. What you get are specific wavelength peaks with complete dropouts of other colors. Ye old CRTs with electron guns and glowing phosphors were/are not perfect either, but they were/are MUCH better at representing the full spectrum of light. Their gamut is much larger and more accurate than any LCD display. CRTs remain THE professional display for color calibration and color matching, even today.
I could rant on, but I think you get the message: Color matching on LCDs is a lousy idea, and on MacBooks and MacBook Pros it is essentially an impossible idea. The colors you need are not there on the screen. What you see is not what you get in terms of color. Give up.
That having been said, you can optimize your results for guestimation purposes. The very first thing I do with ANY display, including on Mac laptops, is go into the 'Displays' preference pane, hit the 'Color' tab and 'Calibrate...' the display. You MUST use 'Expert Mode'. Don't bother with mickey mouse mode. Fiddling with the settings will drive you nuts at first. But practice makes perfect. As long as you are not color blind you WILL get the hang of it, even if you don't understand what it is doing. Don't get psyched out. It works rather well.
When you get to 'Gamma' (you can look these terms up on Wikipedia) you want to use the same Gamma number as the other monitor you will be using for viewing. 1.8 is fine for Macs. Beats me why the 'PC' standard is 2.2. It is essentially a harsher contrast, but try it and use it if you like it, on BOTH monitors. Do NOT use 'native gamma' as it is rare that two displays have identical native gammas.
Next up is your 'white point'. Again, you want both your displays to have the same white point. D50 is the standard for viewing images in daylight. D65 is a bluer 'white point'. 9300 is the bluest of all. These numbers represent 'color temperature' as it is called. The sun has a color temperature hovering around 5000º Kelvin, thus D50 where D = Display. D65 = 6500º Kelvin, etc. Again, there is lots to read about in this field. Do NOT use 'native white point' on your displays if you are color matching because again, they won't be the same on each display.
When you get to the point of naming your color calibration profile you MUST include in the name the gamma number you used and the white point number you used. You will want to know, believe me. Here is why: You are going to want to make further color calibration profiles for different situations either now or in the future. Here's one example:
Lighting environment: Are you working on your MacBook Pro in the dark? Are the walls in the room a neutral color? Or are the walls colored? What kind of light is being used in the room? Fluorescent? Incandescent? Daylight? Details in the lighting environment in which you are working will affect how you perceive color on your display! You may want a morning color profile, an afternoon sun profile, and a night profile. If you have windows near you, these different times of day will affect the light in your work area and how you perceive color on your display. Again, go find a good book if you really want to understand this stuff.
A good basic calibration for plain old every day work, useless for color matching but nice to look at: I go through the calibration process for my lighting environment then use a gamma of 1.8 and I check off 'Use native white point'. Why? LCDs look their best at their native white point. You get good contrast with optimum color. Try it, you'll like it.
:-Derek