Calibrating iMac Retina 5K 27-inch

Question

Level 1

2 points

Calibrating iMac Retina 5K 27-inch

I have my new iMac Retina 5K up and running. However out of the box the display badly needs to be calibrated for use with photography.

I have a Datacolor Spyder 4Elite, which probably isn't ideal. But it is what I have at the moment. Probably this display isn't ideal for photography work either but who can afford those many thousand Dollar pro displays.

Initial calibration was a disaster like it tends to be with the Spyder. After that you get to choose more parameters for a new calibration, such as turning the ambient light function off.

Calibrating in a dark room has always given me the best results. But what to set this calibration for? There are no screen choices in the Spyder Utility that directly matches this display. I tried choosing laptop since at least they exist with some sort of Retina display. This gives the choice of a LED display which I believe is more correct than say LCD? Certainly better than CRT.

Or not? What to set all of these parameters at? Any ideas?

My current calibration is fair but seems a bit blue to me. (I have the old calibrated computer standing next to it with a calibrated Wide Gamut display that I know to be pretty accurate for prints although that display is old and a bit uneven across.) And the calibration results in the utility's charts are miles off both decent Adobe RGB and sRGB proximity.

All input appreciated! 🙂

iPad 2

Posted on Apr 18, 2015 9:12 AM

Reply

Answer 1

poikkeus1

Level 4

2,454 points

Apr 18, 2015 11:15 AM in response to Stormpad

You probably want Adobe Lightroom to help configure your 5k iMac, which at least offers state-of-the-art control. But you don't want to pay the price.

You have two options:

1. Get Lightroom on a one-month free trial. I don't know what limitations the software has, but you will be able to derive some value from the information.

2. Purchase Lightroom through Adobe. There's some special pricing that might be appealing. Or you can buy it on a monthly basis, depending on your requirements.

Reply

Answer 2

Apr 23, 2015 12:59 PM in response to Stormpad

These are the settings to go (Doing it on my iMac too):

1. Try to keep your ambient light stable

2. Select Normal Gamut and RGB LED

3. Choose Gamma 2.2 and 6500K and suddenly accept the suggested settings from the ambient light reading

4. Turn on the Iterative Grey Balance in the Advanced Calibration Settings

5. Calibrate

Reply

Answer 3

Stormpad Author

Level 1

2 points

Apr 23, 2015 1:15 PM in response to ruben.carmona

Thanks a lot, Ruben!

I believe these are the same settings that I have already used. I think. Still confused about the layout of this app. For instance if I go to display type in the shortcut menu, the entire menu disappears. I guess the idea is that this is a base setting and you have to do everything from there. So I still don't know what to choose here or if it matters: LCD, CRT, Laptop or Projector.

Don't see anything saying neither Normal Gamut or RGB LED as you mention. But I have Gamma 2.2 and 6500K in my previous calibration. And Gray Balance Calibration on.

Everything still confuses me about this. The manual seems to say that 6500K isn't usable for a low ambiance setting? I'm in a fairly dark room. And when I was working for an image editing company, they were very firm in their belief that Ambiance measurements must be bypassed at all cost. Also that a display must be calibrated in a completely dark room, which I have read elsewhere as well. I don't see the logic in that since I don't actually work in a completely dark room, but one that is dimply lit by two halogen desk lamps turned down and away from me and the display.

In any case I have gotten more used to the new display now. I think this calibration will have to be good enough.

Reply

Answer 4

Jun 9, 2015 8:45 AM in response to Stormpad

Dear Stormpad

Sorry for my late reply.

Your Retina display is nothing else than a normal LCD display illuminated by white LEDs. So set your Spyder software to LCD with white LED (I was confused myself, so RGB LED was a wrong suggestion from my side 😝).

I always tend to calibrate in a dark room to avoid any stray light reading. This ensures the shadows to be neutral in the end. Besides all that I recommend to work in a very dim light condition to not influent the eye color perception. I prefer to calibrate to Gamma 2.2, 6.500k white point and 120 cd/m2. If you feel that the color temperature is too bluish with that luminance of 120 cd/m2 (human eye tend to see neutral color bluish if it's not that bright), then try to calibrate to 5.800k white point, like the ambient light reading should suggest. I'm sure you will find the right procedure this way for you.

Reply

Answer 5

mfasy

Level 1

13 points

Apr 30, 2016 3:59 PM in response to ruben.carmona

I am using the Spyder Pro 4 and I cannot seem to find how to open the advance calibration settings in order to Turn on the Iterative Grey Balance. Could you please tell me how to get there while in the setup?

Thanks so much,

Marcia

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 2, 2017 10:10 AM in response to ruben.carmona

Hi, why do we calibrate at 120cd/m2 and not brighter ? it's less than half brightness in the 5k display. Is there a specific reason ?

Thanks

Reply