How to Accurately Change Color Space Settings on Mac Monitors

Recently, while writing a review of the BenQ PD2725U monitor, I realized that I have described how to change color space settings on external monitors incorrectly for years.

Here’s what you need to know.

THE KEY RULE

Never change color settings on the computer.
Change color settings on the monitor.

• If you are editing photos, set the display to sRGB
• If you are editing SDR video, set the display to Rec. 709
• If you are emulating a Mac monitor, set the display to Display P3

TWO TYPES OF MONITORS

NOTE: I am indebted to Art Suwansang, BenQ Global Ambassador, for providing the technical background I relied on for this article.

There are two ways to calibrate colors on a monitor: hardware and software. High-end monitors such as Sony, Flanders Scientific, Azio and others use hardware calibration. This requires a chip inside the monitor that specifically handles color calibration and display. These monitors are priced in the thousands of dollars.

Software calibration handles calibration in software, where color changes are made on the video card. (All Apple monitors, including the Pro XDR HDR display, use software calibration.)

Also, there is a YouTube video featuring a BenQ color expert talking about the “danger” of connecting computer monitors using HDMI cables causing inaccurate color. While this is a true statement, it only applies to hardware-calibrated monitors. For software-calibrated monitors, how you connect the monitor is unimportant and yields the same results.

ACCURATELY CHANGE COLOR SPACE SETTINGS

We  use the Apple Display Settings to set the Color Profile of the computer to match the profile of the monitor. It will have the monitor name in the profile name.

• Go to: Apple menu > Settings (Preferences) > Display.
• Select the external monitor you want to adjust from the icons at the top.
• Click the Color Profile menu. The option with the name of the monitor, generally at the top of the list, is the profile optimized for that monitor.
• Select it.
• Close the Display window.

The easiest way to think about what’s happening behind the scenes is this analogy: The computer feeds a high-quality “raw” image to the monitor, defined by the monitor profile. The monitor then takes that feed and applies a LUT to it so that the image then conforms to a specific setting; for example Rec. 709, sRGB, P3, and so on.

In other words, we change settings on the monitor, not the computer.

BRIGHTNESS SETTINGS

Setting correct brightness levels requires a display calibration tool from Calibright/Xrite or DataColor.

• If you need accurate brightness settings for a Rec. 709 display, set brightness  between 80 – 160 nits.
• If you need accurate brightness settings for an sRGB display, set the brightness between 80 – 120 nits.

Since SDR video only displays from 0 to 100 nits (which equals 100 IRE), I set my monitor brightness to 120 nits, which covers both sRGB and Rec. 709.

EXAMPLE ON-SCREEN DISPLAYS

Monitor color space settings are controlled using an On-Screen Display (OSD).

For example, these are some of the color spaces BenQ monitors support.

These illustrate the color settings of an LG HDR 4K monitor. Notice that, with the exception of Rec. 709, SMPTE-C and, maybe, EBU, the rest of the settings are descriptions, not specs.

NOTE: I was surprised to see that sRGB was not one of the options on the LG monitor.

CONFIGURE A MAC DISPLAY

The default setting for Mac laptop and iMac monitors is fine for most general office work. However, the Display settings panel does provide specialized presets for specific tasks, as shown in the screen shot above.

These are Apple Support notes for the four settings for Apple silicon systems that are most common for video workflows:

• Apple Display XDR (P3-1600 nits): Configures the display for general use in office and home environments. This mode is based on the wide color P3 color primaries used by Apple displays, automatically adjusts to varying lighting conditions, and includes Extreme Dynamic Range support up to 1600 nits (peak).
• Apple Display (P3-500 nits): Configures the display for general use in office and home environments. This mode is based on the wide color P3 color primaries, automatically adjusts to varying lighting conditions, and supports a brightness range of up to 500 nits, typical of Apple built-in displays.
• HDR Video (P3-ST 2084): Configures the display for use in 4K or ultra high-definition video production workflows up to 1000 nits (full-screen sustained) using the wide color P3 primaries and the high dynamic range SMPTE ST-2084­ EOTF. This mode is for use in a controlled viewing environment set up per ITU-R BT.2100.
• HDTV Video (BT.709-BT.1886): Configures the display for use in high-definition video production workflows targeting the ITU­-R BT.709­ and BT.1886 recommendations. This mode is for use in a controlled viewing environment set up per ITU-R BT.2035.

NOTE: Here’s a link that describes all the Display settings

To be truthful, I’m still unclear on whether we need to set the Mac monitor’s specs to match, say Rec. 709, or whether Premiere and Final Cut set the color space for the monitor automatically. I’ve reached out to both Apple and Adobe for clarification and will share it when I learn more.

For now, I set the color space of my external monitors as I wrote in this article. I set the MacBook Pro monitor to Apple Display (P3 – 500 nits) because I don’t need the brightness of HDR for my work.

SUMMARY

In the past, I thought we needed to configure monitor color space using settings in the macOS. Instead, that task is best handled by the monitor itself. Once you understand that shift in thinking, configuring the color space of any monitor becomes a lot easier.

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