Calibrating for Glossy Glass Screens

[jvora]

I am troubled that Apple as no options for matte screens and am wondering if anyone has experience calibrating gloss glass screens ?

Once calibrated, how do they compares to matte screens in terms of the image on the screen and on paper ? Are they comparable ?

Do the current calibrations tools work well for the glossy glass screens or does one need to purchase new tools made for glossy glass screens?

Is is even possible to consider a glossy glass screen for critical color correction ?

I ask I as "only" have experience with matte screens and practically no experience using glossy glass screens.


Thanks,

Jai

[jerryrock]

Apple still offers the 17" MacBook Pro with a matte finish screen.  The 20", 23" and 30 " Apple Cinema Displays are still matte finish screens.

[JessicaLuchesi]

I assume ( assume, I may be very wrong ) that the software/system you use will be able to calibrate regardless of that, since the glossy finish should impact on how your screen behaves towards incident light from outside, but not how the light that comes from within the monitor travels or works. Also, the calibrator I use, Spyder 3, works based on colors, so, it should set the colors you see correctly.

It's like when you make lenses to your glass ( an experience I have ). Gloss or mate coverings on the glass affect how people seeing your eyes see reflexes of surrounding lights. But it doesn't affect your sight or how you see things.

So, my guess is, it should work, but glossy/matte is a matter of personal preference. All in all, I learned to work with the shiny finish, and right now, I learned to work around facts that bother me ( such as reflections from windows and so on ).

[Mark F]

I have had a difficult time calibrating my iMac, which also has a glossy screen, and recently got some good advice here.  You may want to check out the thread "Can't get luminance down on iMac".

[jvora]

Apple still offers the 17" MacBook Pro with a matte finish screen.  The 20", 23" and 30 " Apple Cinema Displays are still matte finish screens.

Apple still offers the 17" MacBook Pro with a matte finish screen.  The 20", 23" and 30 " Apple Cinema Displays are still matte finish screens.

Hello Jerry :

True, the current 17" and the 20, 23 and 30 are still available with the matte screen, but according to the Keynote Presentation from Oct 14th, the 17' too is to be updated in the very near future.. The type of screen the new version of the 17" was not specified, but I would wager that when it is updated it will follow the new 15" MBP.

Purchasing either the current model of the 17" and the non glossy Cinema Displays today will help for the short run, but in the long run its quite likely that "all" apple screens ( laptops and desktop displays ) will be the glossy type.

Apple most likely will not provide an option ( matte screens ) so I am trying to figure out how I can incorporate and adjust to this new curved ball !


Thanks.


Jai

[jvora]

I assume ( assume, I may be very wrong ) that the software/system you use will be able to calibrate regardless of that, since the glossy finish should impact on how your screen behaves towards incident light from outside, but not how the light that comes from within the monitor travels or works. Also, the calibrator I use, Spyder 3, works based on colors, so, it should set the colors you see correctly.

It's like when you make lenses to your glass ( an experience I have ). Gloss or mate coverings on the glass affect how people seeing your eyes see reflexes of surrounding lights. But it doesn't affect your sight or how you see things.

So, my guess is, it should work, but glossy/matte is a matter of personal preference. All in all, I learned to work with the shiny finish, and right now, I learned to work around facts that bother me ( such as reflections from windows and so on ).

Hello Jessica :

Thanks for contributing - I appreciate your approach where you mention that you "... have learnt to work with shiny finish ... " - I just hope I can do the same when the time comes OR as I was joking with a friend, I might just have to switch to an XP machine  

What has your experience been once you have calibrated your glossy screen with Spyder 3 - Do the colors "look" at the correct saturation level ?


Thanks,

Jai

[JessicaLuchesi]

Hi Jai,

My experience is, after calibrating with Spyder, it looked "right". Also comparing to other apple displays ( macbook pro and iMac ) also calibrated with the same system ( Spyder ).

On the new notebook screems, I guess the biggest difference for me will be the fact the displays are LED backlit screens, since my current notebook ( white macbook ) came with the glossy finish, but it's a regular TFT notebook. On the current screen, after calibration on spyder, it looked normal, provided I positioned myself somewhere reflections didn't pose a threat. I didn't notice oversaturation or weird colors comparing my glossy macbook and a friend's matte macbook pro. But again, I'm on a white macbook with regular TFT screen. Regarding the glossy feature, I had no problems. Talking about the diference between glossy and matte finish alone. It also looked the same compared to the recent iMacs, also calibrated with Spyder.  But I'm not 100% sure the new iMacs use the same screen technology. So, regarding the LED technology itself, no idea, but my guess is that the software will be able to provide a proper profile, as far as colors and brightness go.

[dchew]

I have a Sony Vaio with a glossy screen.  No problems calibrating with a Spyder.

Dave Chew