Calibrated MacBook Pro display for softproofing??

[bjornaagedk]

How good are the new macbook Pro displays (when calibrated) in terms of color accuracy? Can they be used for softproofing in the right viewing conditions?
I need to travel with as little equipment as possible and can't bring my Eizo with me on the job.

[Mark D Segal]

How good are the new macbook Pro displays (when calibrated) in terms of color accuracy? Can they be used for softproofing in the right viewing conditions?
I need to travel with as little equipment as possible and can't bring my Eizo with me on the job.

Do you keep the angle between your head and the display constant at all times and use it under standard environmental luminance conditions at all times? If the answer to either question is "NO", that tells you in a nutshell a lot about the usefulness of devoting a lot of time and energy to calibrating and characterizing a laptop display - any of them. That said you can't lose anything but a bit of time doing it. Just be aware that it won't buy you the reliability of working with your Eizo under controlled, repeatable conditions.

[howardm]

here's an interesting little device

http://acratech.net/product.php?productid=70

[rasworth]

Here's the game - in order to be useful for Photographic use the laptop should have an IPS screen.  AFAIK the only Apple "laptop" with such is the iPad.  Google on "ips laptops", I did and found that HP may have one.

And also be aware that if one decides to use a laptop with the much more common TN screen it will still probably be inferior to similar desktop monitors, because the backlight has a limited spectrum due to power consumption factors.  I've calibrated/profiled several over the years and have never seen one that was other than marginally useful.

Richard Southworth

[Mark D Segal]

here's an interesting little device

http://acratech.net/product.php?productid=70

(a) I'd need to drag that around with my laptop and (b), it doesn't anchor my head. So is it interesting? Not so sure; maybe some would find it so.

[bjornaagedk]

Thank you for the answers. I think I Will need to bring with mé a small monitor.

[shewhorn]

If you need portability consider a Wacom Cintiq.

[dc]

now that's funny 

[shewhorn]

now that's funny 

Funny? Why? 12" monitor, definitely better than the 6 bit TN panels that the MacBook Pros and most other laptops have (unless they've changed something recently... I haven't looked at them in a while but if memory serves me correctly there were using IPS panels) and you get a snazzy little tablet to boot!

[PhilipCummins]

Funny? Why? 12" monitor, definitely better than the 6 bit TN panels that the MacBook Pros and most other laptops have

It's an a-SI TN panel so looking at the specs it's OK, just not fantastic (as compared to a good IPS one). 170/170 viewing angle isn't the best in that range. Probably better off getting a good quality 24" Eizo or NEC or smaller for portability if you want to do serious colour work?

[shewhorn]

It's an a-SI TN panel

Enough said. Yeah, TN=blech and I think a 170º viewing angle is a bit optimistic for a TN panel. I've yet to see a TN panel that doesn't exhibit some gamma and color shift towards the top and bottom even when your viewing angle is perfectly perpendicular. At one point they were using IPS panels:

http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2365

[PhilipCummins]

Enough said. Yeah, TN=blech and I think a 170º viewing angle is a bit optimistic for a TN panel. I've yet to see a TN panel that doesn't exhibit some gamma and color shift towards the top and bottom even when your viewing angle is perfectly perpendicular.

From memory when I saw a few Wacom Cintiq 12"ers recently the digitiser/layers on top added quite a bit of grain to the image (much more noticable over an anti-glare/matte screen) so I can't really recommend it for high quality colour work. Best to check it out for yourself if you're considering it even with a TN panel.