Images Look Different on Mac Than On PC

[steve2310]

Hi all

I'm hopng somone can point me in the direction with regard to this display problem.....

Images that I have uploaded onto Flickr (and put together on my Win 7 Laptop) look very different (and a lot darker) when I view them on my Apple Mac Pro.  I have adjusted the Mac display settings to those recommended to match Windows but they still seem very dark. 

Anybody else come across this problem?  How do I know which device is showing the true brightness of the image?

Any help or thoughts would be really appreciated. 

[knobby]

I think the mac display is probably more accurate ... But most people use pcs ( maybe) so stick with the PC version... Perplexing though

[steve2310]

Thanks for the reply.  Having done some quick googling I'm wondering if the Spyder device might help? 

Anybody else use one of these?

Many thanks,

Steve

[oldpink]

it will be the difference in the screens or graphics card
I use a dual monitor system from one graphics card and even with the same manufacturer

but two different models I get a difference between the screens despite both having the same colour profiles set

[steve2310]

I see what you mean ooldpink and that makes sense.  However, the differences between the two devices is quite marked.  Really not sure how to progress forward.

[Photosbykev]

Look at the histogram of the image to check it covers the full colour gamut it might actually be dark.

The calibration image on this page http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/tips-and-trick/digital-workflow/ should give you a good idea of the brightness and contrast settings and some other tips

[Dubhar]

I see what you mean ooldpink and that makes sense.  However, the differences between the two devices is quite marked.  Really not sure how to progress forward.

Colours can differ a lot across screen types. Its not just the screen calibration that can make a difference but the type of screen as well. Mac screens are higher end, IPS high resolution displays, usually glossy displays. laptops, if its not an expensive laptop probably isnt even an IPS display so colours may not be perfect and you probably cant replicate them across screens perfectly. 

[steve2310]

Thanks for the link Kev, really useful and really appreciated!! It looks like it might have some answers.

[steve2310]

Anybody use the Spyder devices for calibration of monitors/screen etc??

[lensman57]

Hi all

I'm hopng somone can point me in the direction with regard to this display problem.....

Images that I have uploaded onto Flickr (and put together on my Win 7 Laptop) look very different (and a lot darker) when I view them on my Apple Mac Pro.  I have adjusted the Mac display settings to those recommended to match Windows but they still seem very dark. 

Anybody else come across this problem?  How do I know which device is showing the true brightness of the image?

Any help or thoughts would be really appreciated. 

Your captures look different because the screens are different with different calibration targets. Using a Spider screen calibrator will help to display the image more correctly by building an ICC profile matched to your  display but these are not transportable across platforms unless the display is of the highest photographic calibre such as NEC SpectraView or Eizo colour edge series, these cost an arm an a leg and are not usually found outside of professional printing houses. You could try and get the black points close to each other and match the midpoint to some extent by playing around with ICC profiles.

Regards,

A.G

[steve2310]

Thanks AG - that's really helpful.

[lensman57]

Thanks AG - that's really helpful.

You are welcome, may I just add that if you wish to use a calibrated work flow then every piece of software and hardware in the imaging train should follow the same protocol.

A.G

[sandyshaw]

Unless you paid near 1 grand for a screen, it is unlikely to be calibrated well enough for professional imaging of any kind that covers a lot of Adobe RGB (most claim to be 99% of Adobe RGB colour gamut at just sub grand priced monitors - Dell UltraSharp for example).

On monitors that only have sRGB or some of that colour gamut I would not pay any more money for clibration equipment and stick to the softwre guided calibration, that money would be better put for a professional monitor.

you also want IPS screens.

[Tiny Small]

Calibration always helps, even on cheap monitors. Something like the Pantone Huey Pro can be had cheap and do a decent job. Mac's are designed to be print optimized and as such, will be darker even when calibrated. They are more accurate for print and the big print houses, for for Joe Bloggs in the street, a PC and screen calibrator will do you well. You can always get a custom ink and paper profile for your printer for about £30 and whilst this won't be an exact match to your calibrated screen, it will be close.

[billhinge]

Unless you paid near 1 grand for a screen, it is unlikely to be calibrated well enough for professional imaging of any kind that covers a lot of Adobe RGB (most claim to be 99% of Adobe RGB colour gamut at just sub grand priced monitors - Dell UltraSharp for example).

On monitors that only have sRGB or some of that colour gamut I would not pay any more money for clibration equipment and stick to the softwre guided calibration, that money would be better put for a professional monitor.

you also want IPS screens.

I picked up a second hand HP Dreamcolor (10 bit) display on ebay for £499, normally ~ £2k ;-) (only a couple of years old with low mileage)

I had a Gretag Mcbeth calibrator for my last couple of monitors but it doesn't work with current version of OS X or the Dreamcolor which has its own dedicated calibrator which virtually impossible to buy for love or money (you can use a cheaper generic calibrator but you lose the benefit of the dreamcolor). The auto profile is pretty good, much better that my previously calibrated formac monitor (which itself was pretty good), however looking at 10 bit test ramp images it needs a slight tweak

stonking image with good material, I actually enjoy looking at the screensaver !