MacBook Pro :: Dell Monitor Not Calibrating Properly / Colors Seems To Be Washed Out
Feb 8, 2010
I usually use my 2209WA connected to my Desktop running Windows 7, but sometimes I'll connect it to my MBP. Windows seems to have found a color profile that works very well, which it got from Windows Update, created by Dell, presumably.It might not be good enough for someone who needs 100% accurate color, but it's good enough for me.
I tried two different profiles for this monitor connected to my MBP. The first was one I downloaded from a forum somewhere, and the second was the one Windows is using, copied over. The display looks OK with both, but the color depth isn't nearly as good as it is on Windows. Connected to my MBP, the colors look washed out and flat, while the same colors are much richer when the monitor is connected to my PC. For example, pure blue (#0000FF) looks faded when the monitor is on my MBP, and much deeper when it is on my PC. I tried changing the gamma setting under OS X (manual calibration), but it didn't have much effect. It is set at 2.2 for both 2209 profiles and for my MBP LCD's profile.
How can I make my monitor properly calibrated when it is hooked up to my Mac?
In both cases I am connecting the monitor with DVI (just moving the cable since I'm too cheap to buy a switch), and both OSes have it set at native resolution. The settings on the monitor (color, brightness, contrast, etc) do not change when I switch computers.
I bought a new unibody Macbook pro in December and have had it linked to a Dell 2408WFP for 4 months now (dell monitor as primary monitor, macbook as slave via apple mini displayport to DVI adapter) and I am also using the dell USB ports to hook up my apple wired keyboard and logitech revolution MX mouse. Problems occurring ever since the beginning include: Occasionally the computer refuses to wake up either screen. It may flash blue and look like its going to come out of sleep (or monitor shut off) with no problems but then hangs. This is intermittent and I cant seem to trouble shoot what causes it. On top of that, more frequently, the Macbook screen looks washed out (loss of colour depth). It doesnt flash and there are no blank/white areas of screen, just very poor colour depth. This can occur even coming out of screen saver mode. It seems to correct itself with time or disconnecting the dell monitor. Main programs I always leave open are Firefox +/- Transmission. Seems to happen regardless of programs being open or not. Have updated everything that Software Update can find to update. Anyone else having these problems or have any ideas how to fix?
i have recently spent several evenings re-calibrating my Dell U2711 display and have finally come up with a fantastic image so I thought I'd share my results for those having trouble calibrating this display (given the low quality AG coating this display comes with, calibration can be quite tough). Plus, during my Google search, trying to find some calibration tips, I was surprised at how little I found. Most of the forums I went to are discussions about the AG coating with hardly any talk about calibration. So, because of that, I figured I should share my calibration steps.
I edit video so I managed to come up with a calibration that shows great shadow detail (without crushing the blacks) yet still gives a deep, rich look for the graphics as well. Everything from the highs to the lows look great! And parts of the screen such as the dock look so vivid it's hard to distinguish from an Apple Display in terms of richness and clarity (without the shine, of course). You can still see the grain of the AG coating on bright areas of the screen but it's hardly distracting at all. On a side note: this is a great display for editing video even with the AG coating but if you edit still photography I would stay away from the U2711 entirely: still image + still grain = disaster!
Unfortunately I don't know much about internal computer system settings or if all displays that Dell ships are identical, so I can't say for sure that the calibration I did will work for everyone. However, if all Dell Displays and Apple computers (I use a 2010 MacPro) are 100% identical when shipped, then, if you follow my steps exactly, you should be able to come up with something similar to what I got. But I can't say for sure:
Step 1: Setting up the display.
Set the contrast to 100% and the brightness to 80%. Set the Gamma to (Mac), the Mode Selection to (Graphics), and the Preset Mode to (Custom Color). Now, in custom color leave the green at 100% and set both the Red and Blue to 98%.
Step 2: Setting up the Mac.
Run your Mac's Display Calibration Assistant (located in the Display section of System Preferences). Select the checkbox for Expert Mode and keep clicking continue till you get to the section with the lined boxes with the Apple logo in the middle.
Now, for all 5 'lined box' steps, make the Apple logo disappear using only the left slider (do not touch the right slider at all). To make the Apple logo disappear (blend into the box) you must squint your eyes until the lines that make up the box itself become one solid color (my eyes were about 75% closed). Take your time and make sure you are confident that the Logo is gone.
Then, when you come to the gamma screen either select 2.2 or 2.15 - the proper setting should be 2.2, however, I found the blacks to be not as deep as I'd like them to be (most likely because of the AG coating) so I choose 2.15 which I found to be the key to giving the display the richness it needs to look great.
When you get to the 'Target White Point' screen, select the checkbox 'use native white point'.
Then save you calibration profile and exit the assistant. Now go back to your Dell display settings and set the brightness to 100% and you should be good to go! Note: if you find your screen to be a little too dark, re-calibrate but try selecting 70% or 60% for the brightness during step one. That way, when you raise the brightness to 100% at the end, it should be somewhat brighter.
I hope this works as great for you as it did me! And even if it doesn't, hopefully you will end up with something half decent. But either way, please do share your results - I know there are a lot of people out there struggling with this display because of it's AG coating and some are even attempting to remove the AG coating with bad results. I even considered removing mine but now I am glad I didn't take the risk (I suck at doing those type of mods, haha). Now, my display looks almost as good as an Apple display (and without any glare!
I recently got the Dell U2410 and I felt like out of the box the color and everything was way off, and certainly no where near matching how things looked on my MBP screen. I went through the little calibration process in the system preferences (with the advanced options) and it's somewhat better (I don't think the gamma was at 2.2 before), but it still doesn't seem so great. The brights look kind of blown out, the shadows are a bit too black, and some of the colors look off. Also, if I look at a solid color I can see moving lines (almost like a much more mild version of when you record a computer screen with a camera running at a different refresh rate).
Did I get a crappy one, or do I need to do something different? I had heard so many good things about this monitor and now I'm considering returning it for a 24" ACD.
I was surprised one day to find an inch of white line running from top to bottom on my screen. Then after a week it expanded to two inches white line, then suddenly it turned all black and I can't see two inches of my screen from the right edge. I was reading some forums and found out that I can use a dell monitor as a secondary monitor, but is it possible to use the dell monitor as the primary monitor in case the black line will spread throughout the entire iMac screen? so the iMac would serve as a stand alone processor like a regular desktop?
I am trying to connect my Macbook Pro (bought Fall 2009) to a external monitor - an Asus VW222. I use a VGA converter which I bought together with the mac, I plug a VGA cable in the converter and then I plug it into the display port of the mac.
I do get an image on the Asus monitor, but it is not very useful. It is flickering between a yellowish color everywhere and normal colors. Moreover I cannot change the resolution. If I set the resolution to 1680*1050 (the Asus' native res) then the image still looks scaled/grainy and it doesn't fit on the monitor. The top menu for example is outside of the screen and the whole image is slightly moved to the right so I have a black bar to the left. If I set the resolution to the mac screens native res, 1440*900, the image fits on the Asus but is of course scaled. I tried go to system preferences and calibrate, but it did not help.
So a couple days of ago, I noticed my MacBook Pro's monitor would cut in and out rapidly for a couple seconds when I adjusted it.Today, my hand grazed the top of the monitor, and it the colors became inverted momentarily. So I decided to touch the top of the monitor again, and my screen became inverted permanently until I tapped it again.
I have an 15" Macbook Pro (Lion) with external HP monitor, which has been working fine. It is connected to Thunderbolt port via DVI.Today I connected the MBP to a Sony TV using Thunderbolt port via HDMI, which worked. When I switched back to the external HP monitor, colors were reversed on the HP monitor (you can read the contents but the colors are mostly green and pink). The MBP internal monitor displays correctly. I've tried rebooting the computer, resetting the HP monitor to factory settings, and deleting the HP monitor profile. No change.
The text looks a lot different from the Macbook's display. I got it to 1080p and stuff - and yes, it's showing the full 1080p. But how do I get the text to look more like the Mac's text? My Macbook display looks so much sharper. The text on the Dell looks very not anti-aliased...it isn't thick, etc.
I've been searching for a vertical laptop stand for awhile now, since I use my MacBook Pro and my Dell Inspiron both in clamshell mode and connected to the same monitor. There were some pricy options out there ranging from $40 to $300, and then I found the perfect solution at the thrift store today for $1.50: a napkin holder.I bought one very similar to the one pictured here, and will be sanding it down and painting it black. It works extremely well as a vertical stand, and I'm getting a second for the Dell. Forget overpriced stands and repurpose something
I recently bought a couple-year-old Dell 22 inch monitor (model SP2208WFP) and I'm having trouble figuring out the best connection to use. I have a early/mid 2010 MacBook Pro and the monitor can connect via VGA, DVI, or HDMI. Connecting via VGA is terrible - text is incredibly unclear and hard to read on the external monitor. Connecting via HDMI is much better in text clarity, but the colors are weird such that I can't see most pictures because they're too dark. Connecting via DVI seems to be the best option - colors are the correct color and the text clarity is fine, but still a little jagged with smaller text. I've tried using the calibrationg assistant in System Preferences on my Mac, but that seems to make things worse.
Info: MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
I have a MacBook Pro 13 for portability to my classes at the university and a Dell 2209WA as an external monitor. One of the few good IPS monitors I could find around for cheap.
The monitor works fine in mirror mode with the MacBook Pro, but as an external display only it does not work. It attempts to wake up and then you see power savings mode again and the screen goes black as if there was no connection. Not sure what exactly the problem here is. Drivers?
The monitor works great with a Mac Mini I have and it works great in mirror but not in external display mode(the lid of the MacBook Pro closed). Anybody know of this issue? The cable is good and the MacBook Pro is not that old(a few weeks).
It started on one side and has gotten worst to the point of filling the screen with hundreds of lines. Can hardly see screen. Now theres a big black lined rectangular shaped box on the center right screen... Would like to plug in another monitor and see if I can operate this G 5 off another monitor.
Complete Apple newbie actually. Just recently bought a MBP and want to get a large independent monitor while im using it at home. As much as I love the Apple display, I cant afford it at this time. I found a really nice Dell LED monitor that has DVI, VGA, HDMI outputs.
How can I hook it up to my MBP? What connectors must I purchase to make it work?
If I connect a external monitor and keyboard to my late 2011 Macbook Pro (running Lion) it starts up just fine. But if I try to start it up without these (or any other devices) attached, I get no display on the internal screen and the internal keyboard is ignored (the caps lock light doesn't light up when the key is pressed). However, I don't think it's a hardware issue, as a PRAM reset seems to work (I get the second chime) indicating that the keyboard is OK. And I get a second or so of grey screen before the screen goes black. I've tried resetting my SMC and my PRAM. The latter seemed to fix the problem once - but then it came back, and won't go away again this time. I've also tried starting in safe, single user, and verbose mode, but none of these seem to make any difference. I've been having some issues installing Windows (under both BootCamp and Parallels) but wouldn't have thought that these were related.
Info: MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 2.5 GHz i7 4GB 750GB 7200RPM Matte
Recently my job gave me this laptop that I think from what teh net says is a Titanium model. They told me it was dropped and the screen never worked. The thing is the screen kinda works, well the top 1/3 Horizontally of the screen shows the desktop and what not. The 2/3 of the monitor shoes a vertical pinstripe randome colors. The thing is I dont have the charger and I cant take a photo of it. I am wondering if its worth putting money in this laptop. I did while it worked hooked it up on external monitor, overall it works fine. My brother told me to ebay it and use the money for a Mac book. I just want opinions to what to do. I feel since theres still image showing on the screen may be just a broken cable or loose.
I use an HP 17 inch laptop as well. Set up Airport Extreme and everything seems to be working. Is there a way to use my iMac as a monitor for the Dell computer?
I really love this monitor so much I hate to hook the Dell up to my Dell 24 inch monitor and would rather give up that monitor and gain desk space. The only other option is to use a Samsung 40 inch LED TV as my Dell's monitor.
I use the iMac for video, pictures and music. I have Windows 7 running via Parallels but would rather just use the new Dell as a Windows computer and the iMac for personal use.
I used to have a mac Mini that connected so effortlessly to the monitor and allowed the full resolution (1920x1080). But I'm trying to do that with my MacBook (as I recently sold my Mini) and I'm unable to get it to do what I want to. I have Snow Leopard. It would not allow me to do anything until I updated the OS. The monitor was not recognized at all. Except I noticed when I plugged it in, the macbook screen would flash...so I figure it's recognizing something. But in display settings, detect display wouldn't show anything, neither would restarting. That is, until I updated Snow Leopard.... Anyone know why this might be? And now that I've been able to get something on the display, I'm still not at all satisfied. The resolution is terrible. It will not allow me to choose anything other than the resolution on my macbook screen, but over 23" it just looks terrible. Not only that, but the Macbook screen stays on. I want the mb screen to go off, and full resolution be on the external monitor. I can choose another option for an extended desktop but that's just ridiculous. I have no desire for anything like that.
Have a brand new MBP 13" using Thunderbolt-DVI adapter with my old Dell 2405 LCD. Have an interesting scenario ... when the display goes to "sleep" there is still some type of signal coming out of the display port. The monitor will stay on and just blink "NO SIGNAL DETECTED ON INPUT 2". But the monitor actually still stays on.When I put the entire laptop to sleep them the monitor will properly power down to sleep mode.
I don't think its the monitor because I've used this monitor with a number of different machines and graphics cards, in every scenario when I had the display set to sleep it powered off just fine.
I am in the market for a new display. I was thinking about getting a new dell one, but then again I love the looks of the Apple studio and cinema displays. Do you think it would be a mistake to buy a used Apple display, so long as it is in good condition? I have about $150-200 to spend
I purchased a dell monitor a few weeks ago (s2409w), but returned it because it had a defect. I was thinking about buying a new monitor, the Dell ST2310, but I recall that on the old monitor text didn't seem as sharp as it did on my PC. It almost seemed a bit blurry.
I had it hooked up to my MacBook Pro via DVI as the main display, running at its native resolution of 1920x1080.
I read somewhere that it may have to do with the monitor's ppi, vs the MacBook's ppi, or something like that. Is there any way to remedy this problem before I buy this new monitor because I'm fearing that it will have the same problem as my old one.
I bought a Dell SX2210T touchscreen for use with my MacBook Pro, hoping I'd be able to find drivers for it. OS X 10.6 has API for tablets and multi-touch, so, I'm hoping to use this monitor for dev work until Apple releases their tablet and touchscreen iMacs.
I haven't been able to find drivers for the touch screen at all -- no multi-touch, not even drivers to emulate mouse clicks.
Touch-base is working on updating their Mac drivers to a new version that will support multi-touch with the touch screen in the SX2210T, but they won't be released for "several weeks". I'm hoping to find an interim solution.
Driver info for the touch screen:
Touchscreen:
Product ID:0x0064 Vendor ID:0x1926 Version: 0.01 Speed:Up to 12 Mb/sec Manufacturer:NextWindow Location ID:0x24121000 Current Available (mA):500 Current Required (mA):100
I got my Dell sp2309w monitor a few months ago, and everything worked right out of the box (a lot of reviews said that the webcam and microphone don't work, but they do!). Today I tried hooking up headphones to the line-out at the bottom of the monitor, but my macbook doesn't seem to recognize them.
I have a situation with a new iMac where the external display, which is connected via mini display port --> DVI adapter, is being detected by the computer but not displaying anything. I have restarted the computer, changed through all of the resolutions and done just about everything else I can think of.
I did just a bit of searching and found some cable answers but none that I thought fully answers my question, which is two-fold:
1. I am ordering a new 27" iMac but want to connect my Dell 30" monitor as a second monitor. I assume the iMac does not come with the necessary cable, but I'm not sure which one to buy. The Dell monitor is digital with a 2560x1600 resolution.
2. Would that same cable be able to connect a 2010 model Macbook Pro to the new iMac and/or the Dell?
The one area I feel Apple needs help is the multiple monitor situation. For years I have run laptops with 2-3 external monitors... I find myself having to go back to 2 monitors with either setup unless I buy some 3rd party hardware or shell out for a Mac Pro.
