Gamut Range/Saturation Of Apple Cinema Displays

[Jack Battiste]

I have a cmyk color test proof which was output from a kodak approval from a local area pre-press shop. This model proofing device has been the workhorse of the industry for over a decade and costs between 5-6 figures. Point is it's a contract quality proof. None of the apple cinema displays in my life, the two at home, and the four at work are capable of accurately soft proofing the extremely saturated colors, Ie, bright reds, greens and blues. I regularly calibrate my monitors using EyeOne Display 2 Hardware. I do not have possession of the icc profile of the device which created the proof.

Question : Is the problem a function of the missing device profile, or related to the limitations of the monitor hardware itself?

Some RGB spaces are larger than other rgb sapces, and some monitors have larger gamuts than other monitors. BUT all RGB is larger than SWOP cmyk isn't it? Seems to me I should have the opposite problem. The high end Eizo displays advertise that they are closer to Adobe RGB which is a bigger space than the more common displys based on sRGB. But SWOP cmyk is smaller than both of those. I'm looking at a CMYK proof, my doc is CMYK, and the print is more saturated than my display. Can't wrap my head around that.

Thanks,

Jack

[pixelzombie]

Re: Gamut Range/Saturation Of Apple Cinema Display

not all, RGB can't display certain shades of cyan...we had the opposite problem at a previous job, the monitors had more "snap" than the proofs and the newer cinema display used for the MVP matched the approvals much closer...

[TommyO]

Re: Gamut Range/Saturation Of Apple Cinema Display

Jack,
I don't have the answer but do offer a few observations below. I think it is probably a combination of several items, (1) the missing ICC, (2) the flat panel limitations, (3) the way the proof was printed.
- without the ICC profile, you are not accurately soft proofing;
- however, your monitors color space should be able to closely reproduce the colors from a CMYK print, with some exceptions;
- if the pre-press shops output device had been calibrated to over-saturate certain hues (basically lay down more ink), then they could look more saturated to the eye than your flat panel display, especially under certain light conditions;
- flat panels have more limitations than CRT's in displaying certain heavily saturated hues; this is a limitation of underlying technology, but they are getting better.
- I have seen/read that the Apple displays are not as good as one may think, and share many of the limitations of other comparably priced flat panels;
- we don't know under what light conditions you are comparing the two. The proof could look wonderful under a 5000K light source. Whereas, the flat panel cannot benefit from the light source, and is only influenced from it's internal fluorescent tubes.
Good luck and please post your final findings.
Tommy