Mac Book Calibrating Screen

[Hugh Sakols]

How's the Mac Book (not Mac Book Pro) for image editing? Is it possible to get a decent screen calibration using something like a Color Vision Spyder? I need something smaller than my 24 inch Imac for traveling. All of my printing and final proofs would be made on the imac.

[vinny]

Useless compared to my imac. I'm typing this on mine now and i only use it for resizing files, never for judging levels or color. When you tilt the screen up or down, the apparent brightness changes and i don't know how you could position your screen and eyes the same every time to get accurate results. Newer macs have less of an issue with that.

[Marko]

The MacBook screen is not as good as the iMac's, but it should calibrate just fine, as long you don't depend on it for final proofing. You will find it great as a secondary computer for location/traveling.

If you want to speed things up a bit, max it out on memory.

[John Sarsgard]

I have a MacBook Pro, which I found frustrating to calibrate. I think part of the problem is that the brightness drifts so much. I use the MacBook for image editing, but depend on an attached Apple Cinema display for critical image editing...it is almost magically easier.

[Terence Patrick]

I've got a Macbook, an iMac (newer 20" model with glossy screen), and a G5 tower with Cinema Displays and think the Cinema Displays are really the only way to go in the Apple lineup. I calibrated the displays using a Monaco X-Rite system. I can get the colors in the same ballpark if I keep the computers in similar environments & lighting, but once the Macbook goes out into the world, the colors are more difficult to judge.

The Macbook's screen isn't great and really acts like an enlarged LCD screen on the back of a digital camera. The iMac's screen is basically a larger version of the Macbook, so I think it's crappy too. Color & brightness shift a lot when viewing off-axis and the glossy screen will pick up reflections if you have any light in your room, which includes the display itself. Even with the lights off and my windows covered with blackout material, I can see my face and shirt (primarily if wearing a lighter color) if there are any bright areas on the screen, like any shots with a daytime sky. The iMac works best as a web/office doc sort of workstation, when most of the screen will have white backgrounds and thus, be less likely to see reflections on screen.

[neil poulsen]

I calibrate my Powerbook, but for some reason, the images tend a little towards yellow. They also appear a little overbright. So, I tilt my screen back a little and get a better similation of my CRT graphics monitor.

Again, OK for a start, but do the critical work on a graphics quality monitor.

[bsimison]

I'll echo what everyone else has said here: the MacBook's display isn't great for image editing. The optimal angle of view is extremely narrow, causing brightness and color shifts depending upon your head location.

That being said, it's a great, portable machine for working on the road. I use it for tethered shooting with my digitals on location, quick "preview" editing, and image archiving. More intensive editing is possible, as long as you do it non-destructively with Lightroom, Aperture, or Photoshop adjustment layers. You can always go back and tweak your edits on a calibrated monitor later.

If it's going to be your main machine, get an external monitor that you can calibrate.