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Monitor calibration using EyeOne Display 2
Some time ago I gave up on hardware calibration of my Apple 30" display (latest model) using the Eye One Monitor hardware puck because the results appeared inferior to those obtainable with the mode calibration in Apple’s built-in control panel (using the button).
I recently purchased the EyeOne Display 2 (about $200), hoping that a few years would bring significant improvements of the problems I found. Unfortunately, this appears to not be the case. Shown below are crops (at JPEG Maximum quality) of a section of a grayscale gradient created in 16-bit Lab in Photoshop. They are more easily viewed on a black background, and you can view the full grayscale ramps also.
Manual
calibration, native white point, native gamma (2.2) (crop)
Observations—
- The hardware calibration using EyeOne Display 2 appears to produce more of a color cast in the gray steps than manual calibration using the Display control panel.
- The EyeOne D65 result produces a much more neutral gray ramp (be sure to examine the entire ramp, not just the crops below). Both the manual and EyeOne “Native” white point ramps do not seem neutral across the ramp. However, the EyeOne D65 profile seems harsh and overly bright in the whites—odd since the gamma ought to be the same.
- Apple’s Display control panel claims that the native white point is D65. The native gamma is claimed to be 2.2. But this seems to disagree with the luminance of the grayscale ramp produced using the EyeOne Display 2.
Most disappointing, none of the calibration approaches produces a neutral gray ramp; all of them have significant color casts. This is probably a limitation of the Apple 30" display. I don’t know if there are superior alternatives except high-end (expensive) systems like the Eizo ColorEdge CG241W. But a 24" screen is a far cry from a 30" screen, which I am loathe to give up, not to mention the expense.
I’m not sure where to go from here; perhaps what I’m seeing is the best possible from the Apple 30" Cinema Display. It’s rather disappointing.