On Jun 2, 2004, at 5:37 AM, Simon Leibowitz wrote:
I run a calibrated CRT from a Powerbook and it seems plain to me that
neither Safari nor IE (with ColorSync ON) can deal with the second monitor.
the problem with these and really most programs is that they only deal with one color managed screen... the one set as the default. I have PowerBook and use an external Cinema Display as well. The problem is that the PowerBook almost seems to pick at random which one it wants to be the default on any given day. If it sets itself so that the LCD is considered default, then color management in programs like Safari looks like hell on the Cinema Display. It wasn't like this when I first started using this setup (Nov '03 with early 10.3). It used to always know that if the Cinema Display was plugged in, it was the default and all color management (for programs that only color manage one screen) would happen on that display. Now it switches routinely back and forth between which is considered the default display. I can't figure out a logical reason why it switches. It just does. I've taken to putting the ColorSync Utility in the dock and check it at the beginning of any session where color management is critical. I also have Safari set to show a well known image as its home page. Its very obvious when it launches and hits that page if its monitor is not properly set. Look under the Devices tab of the ColorSync utility for Displays and make sure to set your primary display (presumably your external monitor) as the default. Check it again after rebooting, waking from sleep or reconfiguring monitors.
One other gotcha with color management on Powerbooks. You can hot connect a display and the Powerbook will automatically reconfigure itself for the two display system. The ColorSync preferences pane will even show that the correct profile for each display is selected. However the profile on the external display won't really be performing correctly until you do something to force the video card to reload its video look up table (LUT). You can do this one of two ways. Open the ColorSync preferences pane from the System Prefs and go the color tab. Select some other profile and then re-select the one you really want. That forces the LUT to reload. You can also force them to reload by simply logging out and then back in.
Both of these two oddities can drive a PowerBook user insane until you figure them out. Without understanding them, it appears that your monitor calibration is drifting wildly and completely unpredictable. If you understand both of the above paragraphs you're color managed PowerBook life will be much less stressful.
Bob Smith
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