iMac 27-inch display at brightest is darker than MacBook Pro

Question

iMac 27-inch display at brightest is darker than MacBook Pro

I'm using Photoshop to create illustations for a marketing video, shifting the work between a 27-inch 2012 iMac and a 15-inch 2009/2010 MacBook Pro. When I move the work from the IMac to the MacBook, the images are way too bright. Conversely, from the MacBook Pro to the iMac, they appear way too dark. I have set the iMac display to its maximum brightness and dimmed the MacBook Pro almost to the level where it loses contrast. I have a Huey calibration system, but it's no help in this situation. Ambient light does not affect the general appearance on the 15-incn screen, with automatic adjustment off.

My illutrations will be included in an iMovie HD video for use on the Internet. I need a brightness and contrast combination that will look good on YouTube and various websites. Previous videos were okay, using illustrations from the MacBook Pro and an older Mac Pro with 23-inch Cinema Display (no longer in service). This suggests I should trust the laptop as the final setting rather than the iMac. If so, does that render the iMac defective for this kind of work?

I did try various display settimgs under System Preferences, but it's a question of what matches best with YouTube and other websites.

Suggestions anyone?

Thank you!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 20, 2013 10:43 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 21, 2013 5:01 AM in response to David Henderson7

At the risk of asking too obvious a question, when you adjust the display Brightness on the iMac in System Preferences by moving the slider to the right, do you by any chance accidentally also have the box checked for "Automatically Adjust Brightness"? I thought not. Oh well, it was a possibility.

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Answer 2

Apr 22, 2013 1:06 PM in response to Radiation Mac

You're correct to ask, but yes, I did confirm that automatic brightness was unchecked.

My crucial concern here is whether the iMac display can produce results that look good on other computers connected to the Internet. I know the MacBook Pro videos look fine on YouTube, but if the iMac display causes the videos to appear overly bright, the project results will be unacceptable.

The amount of real estate on a 27-inch display is a great benefit when editing, but the advantage is lost if its brightness is substandard.

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Answer 3

sparky96

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2013 3:14 PM in response to David Henderson7

I am experciencing the very same issue. Have you found a solution or work around to this?

Thank you

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Answer 4

Aug 13, 2013 6:57 PM in response to sparky96

Hi, sparky96,

I do not have a satisfactory solution. The best I can do, as a work-around, is adjusting the iMac to its brightest setting, moving the MacBook Pro brightness several notches darker, and then aiming for a compromise in the image I'm working on.

As a result, I have no idea what someone else sees on his or her computer. However, that might be the case even if I could match the images on my two Macs. Others might have PCs that display reds as browns, for all I know. I do know that when I view a video on YouTube, it looks more or less the same on each of my computers. The human eye seems to make its own interpretive adjustments.

I have similar problems preparing artwork for printing. No matter what I do to calibrate the displays, the output from my various printers never looks right, and when I get back a book cover that's been printed on an offset press, I'm happy if it's reasonably close to what I get from my desktop printers.

I wish Apple, and Adobe, and Hewlett-Packard, and commercial printers and the whole industry would devise some kind of universal standards -- but I doubt that will ever happen.

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Answer 5

sparky96

Level 1

0 points

Aug 18, 2013 1:39 PM in response to David Henderson7

Thank you for the reply, David.

I feel your pain. Very frustrating....

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Answer 6

Aug 18, 2013 2:25 PM in response to sparky96

Likewise, sparky96

Thanks.

-DH

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