A few color management questions

[kkamin]

1. I have a macbook and have decided to use sRGB for while until I learn more about
color management. Can macbook display the full gamut of sRGB on screen? (If
not, can Photoshop tell you if something falls out of the monitors display
capability?)

2. I want to calibrate my laptop screen the best I can. What I understand is that I
am not calibrating it to a color profile, but am just calibrating so it is
accurate piece of hardware, right?

3. How good is the calibration utility that comes with OSX? I'm going to get the
X-Rite i1 Display, is it worth it?

Is there anything else I need to know to get started. I want to keep things simple, use sRGB for now, have the things on my laptop look close to what my pro printer will give me.

 

[jampat]

1. I don't think so. I don't know

2. Correct

3. I have not used that calibrator. I have used a Monaco Optix XR and Pantone Eye One LT and they are both a noticeable improvement over uncalibrated. Each one produced slightly different results though. Personally I prefer the Pantone so I sold the Monaco. OSX shows you the color space that your monitor is capable of displaying (once it is calibrated).

If you really care you can get a calibrator that will scan your printed document and generate a profile for your printer too. This ensures (as much as possible) that what you take in your camera is what you see on your screen is what you see on paper. Some profiles are available online for printers, that is obviously not as good as your own profile, but a lot cheaper.

 

[ChrisA]

1) sRGB is a color space not a device. You LCD monitor is a device, not a color space. The monitor calibration file maps the color space onto the device.

Likely when all is done the device well show multiple colors in sRGB space is the same color on the screen. This goes double if the LCD screen is a notebook display as they just don't have so many colors on their pallet.


3) Apples' color ultility is as good as your eye. How well is your eye trained to see color? Any hardware colorimeter is many times better.
That said the default calibration files I've seen are not bad so your screen might already be close. But the hardware devices are not expensive, under $100.

 

[kkamin]

1) sRGB is a color space not a device. You LCD monitor is a device, not a color space. The monitor calibration file maps the color space onto the device.

Likely when all is done the device well show multiple colors in sRGB space is the same color on the screen. This goes double if the LCD screen is a notebook display as they just don't have so many colors on their pallet.

1) I don't understand. I think I'm going to go with the Pantone Huey color meter. So when I use that to calibrate my monitor, am I setting my monitor to sRGB specifically? Or am I calibrating my monitor in general so that it can accurately display any color space a program can support?

2) Since my Macbook screen is limited in its gamut and cannot display the entire range of sRGB colors, is it still acceptable enough to use? What kind of displays can show the full gamut of sRGB?

Thanks!