MacBook Pro Calibration / Brightness for Image Editing

[Rokkor]

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Hi,

 

I used to work on an external screen with a calibrated monitor using Spyder pro. As my Spyder does not work software wise with the newest MacOS I found a third party tool that works but takes ages.

My fine art printer recommended setting the MacBook brightness to 50% as a rule of thumb. Indeed using a higher brightness one time led to a rather dark print.

Do you work on a MacBook Pro for editing and have you calibrated it?

 

[LocalHero1953]

As a Windows user, FWIW my calibrated screen is set at Brightness=22 (out of 100), for 120Cd/m2. My printed images are looking OK for brightness.

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[jaapv]

Yes I do and have no problem calibrating using i1Profiler. I am not sure  whether the software will accept a ColorSpyder, I use a i1Display pro. The Macbook runs on the latest version of Catalina. I have not yet downloaded Big Sur.

[pgk]

As a 'rule of thumb' I set brightness to match screen white with a white sheet of paper next to the monitor. 

[rob_w]

I asked about Spyder 4 software alternatives before upgrading to Catalina and someone on this forum recommended https://displaycal.net/

I only upgraded recently and have not tried it yet, so cannot confirm it works with Spyder 4 myself.

On a 2019 iMac 27 I have found level 7 out of 16 steps works best, just by trial and error.  Near enough to 50% as others have said.

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by rob_w

[Rokkor]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb rob_w:

I asked about Spyder 4 software alternatives before upgrading to Catalina and someone on this forum recommended https://displaycal.net/

I only upgraded recently and have not tried it yet, so cannot confirm it works with Spyder 4 myself.

On a 2019 iMac 27 I have found level 7 out of 16 steps works best, just by trial and error.  Near enough to 50% as others have said.

 

Thanks. I have tried this one with the Spyder 4. Unfortunately with a fast run through it creates a magenta color cast in the whites and with more  time black becomes a dark olive green. That is a shame as I had hopes into this software.

if I select the uncalibrated screen black is black and white is white. At least more than with the calibration. Need to see to get another calibration tool that manages a neutral calibration.

[jaapv]

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On 11/14/2020 at 1:27 PM, pgk said:

As a 'rule of thumb' I set brightness to match screen white with a white sheet of paper next to the monitor. 

That I find very hard to do; I have trouble comparing emitted light with reflected light - and everything changes with the ambient light intensity...

[pgk]

56 minutes ago, jaapv said:

That I find very hard to do; I have trouble comparing emitted light with reflected light - and everything changes with the ambient light intensity...

Interesting. Even when not photo editing, I am forever adjusting screen brightness as ambient light varies. My computer is usually set to much lower screen brightness levels that most that I see. I find that using too bright a screen becomes more tiring than one which is adjusted so that it doesn't require constant light level adaption of the eyes. I also see a lot of dark images posted which makes me think that many people edit on screens which are set to be too bright.

One problem though is 'white' which, depending on viewing conditions can mean that ambient light may look cooler or warmer than the screen.

Edited November 19, 2020 by pgk

[jaapv]

Very true - that i why I have my i1Display Pro  hooked up permanently and i1Profiler will adjust the screens according to the ambient light every 10 minutes

[Rokkor]

Thanks again for all your comments. I decided to go the xRite i1Display Studio - now colors look great on the MBP 13" screen and it is fast and adjusts the brightness automatically. I hope xrite supports the software longer than Spyder did.