Regardless of what you use your computer for, there’s one thing that’s in common with all set ups: a display. There are tons of different display manufacturers to choose from with varying standards of quality, and because of this, each of your displays may not have the exact same color accuracy. There is a remedy however: your Mac's built-in Display Calibrator Assistant. Read on and we’ll show you how to ensure you’ll always see the most vivid, true color on your display.
Navigate your way to System Preferences > Displays. Once there, click on the color tab.
This will open a listing of the display profiles on your system. Typically if you have an Apple display, there will automatically be a profile associated with this display.
To calibrate your display, click on the “Calibrate...” button in the Color tab of the Display preferences. A new application will open up to guide you through the calibration process.
This process will:
- Adjust the display’s brightness and contrast
- Determine the display’s native luminance response curve
- Choose a desired responsive curve gamma
- Choose a desired white point (warmth or coolness of white)
Keep in mind that some of these adjustment items may not be available for every display type and model.
The terms may seem daunting at first, but this assistant will tell you what each of the items means as you go through the different steps. For a beginner running this calibration for the first time, we recommend unchecking the box labeled “Expert Mode”.
When you’re ready, press the continue button to finish the calibration process.
After going through the steps to calibrate your display, you will come to a dialog window asking what you’d like to name the calibration profile you just created. Give it a name, then click the Continue button.
Your display profile will be saved in the Color tab of the Display preferences. You can delete the calibration profile that you just created by selecting it from the list and clicking the “Delete Profile” button. To revert back to another profile, simply click it’s name in the display profile listing.
If your display still doesn't look as sharp as it should after the initial calibration process, go back through the Display Calibrator Assistant, and turn on the Expert Mode to get additional options. Remember that if you mess up during the calibration process, you can always go back to a previous step, or delete the calibration profile once you've finished.
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