[rx1559]

Hello,


I've been reading up on these threads the past few days and have a question I hope is appropriate for this forum. My video source is a Mac Mini, and my display is an older projector.


I sort of understand the first steps, which are echoed in numerous calibration threads, FAQs, and guides both here and elsewhere on the 'net. Most converge upon grayscale calibration and setting blacks/whites correctly as their first steps. Great, so I've got DVE and I'm eager to get started.


But what is not clear to me is what the initial settings on my source should be, before I start playing around with the brightness / contrast / etc on my projector. For example, I've set my Mac Mini up to have its Target Gamma of 2.2, which is what the wizard recommended for TV viewing; and to have a target white point of D65, which seems correct from reading these threads. The defaults for both of these are "use display native" but I don't trust the Mac to ascertain these values magically from my projector, especially since it's an older model projector.


I don't see any setting on the mac to output using 'Video' rather than 'Computer' color range, so there is not much I can do here; nor do I see such a setting on my Projector.


Can someone please help me understand whether these source settings should work as a basis for doing calibrations on my display, or if I need to revisit one or all of them before I start working on the display's setting?


Thank you,

-Jeff

 

[Michael TLV]

greetings


The usual approach is to start from the projector and work backwards to the sources. If the base contrast and brightness are set wrong from the projector end, you may not be able to recover from it from the computer end.


(I'm not a mac person.)


Regards

 

[rx1559]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael TLV /forum/post/18160303


greetings


The usual approach is to start from the projector and work backwards to the sources.

Thanks for your help! I'll just leave the Mac set up as indicated above, then, and start from the projector.


-Jeff

 

[sotti]

With a PC you actually have to work from the source forward.


The first thing you need to figure out, are the files/discs you watching being display on youre display at PC or video levels. IE are you reproducing BTB or is video 16 being expanded to desktop black 0.


The next thing you need to figure out is if the output from the HDMI port (mac mini's have HDMI right?). Sometimes a PC will output Desktop black 0, at 16 othertimes they output desktop black 0 at 0.


There is also the problem do all the video files you want to watch agree? Do the DVD's output with BTB and black at 16, but the itunes TV shows output with black at 0? Then you're just screwed.


Once you can figure out your levels, then the rest of the calibration is pretty straight forward.

 

[sotti]

Although as adjustments go, Micheal is absolutely correct.


Make sure the projector is as absolutely as accurate as possible before you change any sort of color or gamma settings in your mac (Beyond moving the mac to gamma 2.2 from it's print industry originated 1.8), make sure the projector is accurate.


Then if your Mac doesn't agree with what a pattern gen would put up on the projector, then you can adjust a color/gamma setting on the mac (or compensate for what you can't do in the projector).

 

[bodosom]

Not be overly pessimistic but Apple makes it very difficult to use their non-AppleTV (ATV) products as an ATV. I think you'll need to load a calibration LUT into the Mac using a standard tool (e.g. X-Rite). I believe there are some third-party products that expose some of the video controls Apple carefully hides. I gave up on using any of my Macs as a calibrated source.


I think the assumption is that people that care about calibration aren't going down this road and that you'll just use the Apple provided "calibration" preference control to get in the right visual ballpark.


By the way, I may revisit this just to see if my external LUT box can correct a Mac.