Color Consistency between Different Monitors

[David Eichler]

I have an NEC PA241W, a recent MacBook Pro with a Retina screen and an I1 Display Pro. Been using the the I1 hardware to profile
the NEC with their Spectraview II software. Used the the xRite software to profile the MBP. I have used the same white point
and brightness level for profiling both, yet the color balance between the two is too different for my liking and the NEC seems
to be giving me good results for printing. Not expecting the two screens to match, but is there anything I can do to get the MBP
closer to the NEC? I know, no way for me to show you exactly what I am seeing on the Web. Is there some convenient way I can provide a graphic
representation for comparison?

[Tim Lookingbill]

The MBP doesn't have OSD menu buttons to visually adjust each RGB channel in order to get its white balance/color temp to match the NEC's so you'll have to use the calibration software to do this through the MBP's video card.

Don't be concerned about matching Kelvin numbers to the NEC's according to what the i1 software/hardware tells you.

Getting a visual match with the white balance is the only option you have for a visual match on the MBP which can survive inaccurate Kelvin numbers or numbers that don't match to the NEC's measured Kelvin.

[digitaldog]

It's to be expected to need two differing calibration settings to produce the match you desire. You'll have to attempt to dumb down in some cases, the better display such it matches the lesser which isn't always ideal. Try getting backlight visually to match first, then futz with the white point.

[Tim Lookingbill]

Something else I just remembered since I haven't had to calibrate two displays connected to the same video card in that if you are going the video card RGB gain WB adjust route through software with the MBP, you might end up changing the NEC's WB because on the last system I had (G5 iMac OS X Tiger) only one RGB gain WB curve can occupy the video card.

Since the NEC doesn't establish WB through the video card and uses its internal hardware LUTs, you may have to figure out how to make the NEC loaded profile the main (dominant) display profile and not the MBP's profile.

You may not run into this but thought I'ld just mention it as FYI for others.

[David Eichler]

Something else I just remembered since I haven't had to calibrate two displays connected to the same video card in that if you are going the video card RGB gain WB adjust route through software with the MBP, you might end up changing the NEC's WB because on the last system I had (G5 iMac OS X Tiger) only one RGB gain WB curve can occupy the video card.

Since the NEC doesn't establish WB through the video card and uses its internal hardware LUTs, you may have to figure out how to make the NEC loaded profile the main (dominant) display profile and not the MBP's profile.

You may not run into this but thought I'ld just mention it as FYI for others.

Tim, to be clear, in my case, I am talking about two discrete systems: a MBP with its Retina Screen and a Mac Mini with the NEC monitor.

Of course, at some point, I will probably want/need to use the MBP with the NEC monitor, which I guess would lead to another question that I should probably address in a different post.

Comparing the calibrated MBP/Retina view with that of the calibrated Mini/NEC, the Retina view is a bit cooler, with possibly a slight purplish tint (although I have always thought the calibrated NEC had a very slight greenish tint).

[Tim Lookingbill]

Check hue/saturation in yellows, skin and beige tones between the two displays. They're the canary in the coal mine for checking WB influenced color errors but it can be subtle and quite a bit can be on account from staring at one cool/warm or red/green display and switching to the other affecting the eye's adaptive nature even when those white hues aren't as pronounced.

With all these influences skewing perception it's best just to roll with it because you'll never get it split hair perfect. It's one of the main reasons I stopped using two screens. I just use one big 27" LED ISP display which serves my purposes as a hobbyist photographer.