Color is off on my MBP 17" display - cool/purple bias won't go away

Well I just got my new mid-2009 17" MacBook Pro and I can report that the colours are normal! The whites are definitely very white and the overall quality is good. I haven't tried to calibrate it yet so of course there will be further improvements, but anyone concerned that the display is defective needn't worry.

Interestingly in the Color Profile manager, there is a profile called "Adobe RGB 1998" and when I select it it displays the strong blue bias that many people were worrying about. The default colour profile is simply called "Color LCD".

I can't believe how fast this thing feels compared to my previous 2.16 Core Duo MBP! Definitely much faster than the megahertz alone would indicate. Obviously the faster ram and bigger cache and faster graphics cards all contribute to a big leap in performance from my previous laptop.

Hello,

Got my replacement and the colour looks good, but it has other issues. This is just getting really sad. Anyway the replacement has to go in and be looked at. Maybe I can actually get someone to give me a working one this time or actually fix this one.

Regards,

PoliSciGuy

What are you issues this time? Also, can you quote display codes (manufactuer, date etc)?

hello,

i will look up the data for you and post back. don't want to hijack the thread with other issues so i will just say that there are multiple component failures – and this is out of the box.

it is really not a good sign that a computer in this price bracket has such a high number of issues.
i am very, very unhappy with this computer, as well as the level of service that i am getting.

regards,

polisciguy

I never thought about the possibility to calibrate my monitor, but after having read this post I all the sudden realised how bad were colours on my brand new UMBP 17" (replacing a 2.1 MBP 17" which never had such a problem) and at the end I bought a Colorimeter (Huey Pro) and........ a new world is now in front of me !! Very satisfied with the results (at least based on my personal point of view) but very dissatisfied for being obliged to spend 150,00€ to buy something I didn't expect to buy and that I'll probably use no more than once a year. Not sure how to post the profile file I've got, if can be of any interest.

Ciao.

Just purchased a colormunki PHOTO and re-calibrated all my displays: DELL 2405FPW, MacBook Pro 5.2 (i.e., early 2009 17" unibody 2.93 GHz), Samsung SyncMaster 193T, MacBook 2.1 (i.e., black, Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz). I am flabbergasted! Up until now I had been using a Gretag Macbeth i1 Display 2. There is just no comparison. The slight purplish tinge on the MBP unibody is gone, and the displays are all much more consistent with one another. The next step will be to calibrate my Significant Other's MacBook Pro 2.2 (15" Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz). That will allow a comparison among the following Apple laptop dispays: glossy (MBP unibody, MB) vs. non-glossy (MBP 15"), LED backlit (MBP unibody) vs. CCFL (MB). The colormunki costs almost twice the price of the i1 Display 2 (CHF 650 vs. CHF 350 here in Switzerland), but anybody deciding between them should consider that the colormunki supports printer calibration, whereas the i1 Display 2 does not.

hi

so the display on my computer is a 9CAC, made by samsung.

a few interesting points when using the 9600M GT the login screen still has that purple/blue tint. when i use the 9400, the log in screen looks normal.

i am still not that thrilled with the colour on this display considering how apple markets it. the defective audio and defective superdrive are a major letdown. i will do some more comparisons and calibrating and post back with what i find.

regards,

polisciguy

Have you profiled the 9600M GT as well? It needs a different profile than the 9400. Also, I think the profiles only kick in after you login ... somebody correct me here if I'm wrong.

hi,

yes, both chips have been profiled. interesting that the issue still happens at the login screen with the 9600M GT.

regards,

polisciguy

But once you've logged in, does the profile "take" and the cool bias disappear?

Like people have said, color profiles will only initialize after login, which is why you still see the issue at the login screen.

this was the case with the previous generation of MBPs too

hi,

ya the screen seems to warm up once i login. oddly, when using the 9400 that issue does not happen at all.

ranger, you had a valid comment. some of these guys get overly protective of their possible "solved" status they might get, they will knock yea down even if it is over the internet. A dude on here "Eww" is a master at this...the exact same approach--he even did it to my comment about my friend's 15" display that I took i to the park right from the Apple Store to do some basic teaching and I could not beleive the display--right out of the box, and how carried away they have gotten with the "gloss."

I could not beleive the color(s) and the intense gloss difference between my 2.5 yr 15" MBP with the same settings present out of the box. the colors reminded me of the grand winner for the best cinematography on a notebook display LCD and not the best dispaly conducive to using multiple programs on a notebook--meaning just a bit more subtly please so I can crunch some numbers and make a video for my mom's funeral or focus on another program. Hi color scheme for the desktop carried over to every program we opened up

If it takes as long as the EFI Firmware update 1.7 seems to be taking, I will be waiting too.

One last words of advice for the overly anxious "Eww" followers. This is a place to help, show what you know if you really have something helpful to share. it is not a race to the grave, so take a deep breath, let others vent their opinion and tactfully disagree if you really feel it needs to be done. I would guess to say most here are not as stupid as I am when it comes to this stuff but that does not mean you have any right to treat others like you would not want to be treated. Practice and you will get better

Just a follow-up to my posting above ( http://discussions.apple.com/mailpost.jspa?messageID=9919148) regarding ColorMunki. In addition to the displays mentioned above, i.e., MBP 17" Unibody glossy 1st generation, Dell 2405FPW 24", MB Black 2nd generation, Samsung SyncMaster 19", I profiled an MBP 15" Aluminum 2nd generation. The consistency among the displays is remarkable despite the fact that two displays are glossy (MBP 17" Unibody and MB) and three are not, one is LED-backlit and the others are not. Nevertheless, the same photo on the MBP 17" Unibody seems to have a bit more impact than on the other displays, but not at the expense of color accuracy.

Unfortunately, the reflection of the MBP 17" Unibody's display can be very annoying in less than ideal lighting.

Derth Adams wrote:
I'm disappointed in the color setup of my new MBP 17" Unibody display, compared with the original (2006) MBP 17" that it's replacing. That old machine looked great right out of the box, but on the new one colors tend towards the cool, with a purple tinge in the highlights. Fleshtones look completely wrong, and the contrast is milky, with lifted blacks.

Er, I think that's the problem with the Matt screen.

I actually have the 15" glossy - and I put a matt screen sticker on - and I have this same problem.