Color with Apple Studio Display

Hi everyone,

I a have color workstation at the moment composed just with the Apple Studio Display.
Of course I know that it’s not the best solution for the color grading but I use it for low budget jobs.

I would like to know from you all the best advices to set it, from display profile (I have also i1profiler) to davinci settings, as close as possible to a good video reference.

Then I would like to know if is it always suggested to set Rec 709-A as gamma tag or not, because for example, I edited and colored a short film, then I made DCP but at the theatre the gamma was a little bit different. I think probably because DCP wants gamma 2.6. How can I solve this case?

Is it better maybe work with gamma 2.4 and add a node at the end of the tree like "Rec 709->Rec 709-A", just for the view on the Apple monitor and then disable before the final export? Or it's useless because when you set Rec 709-A gamma tag it's just a tag and not real change of gamma?

Thank you so much for every your advice to work at the best with Apple Studio Display.

Just my opinion: I think the Apple Studio displays are not good enough for judging color from a mastering point of view. It's widely known that even Apple does not use their own displays for making their commercials, TV shows, and presentations (though I'm sure many of their computer systems use them).

For judging color from Resolve, you need a display connected to a Blackmagic display adapter like an UltraStudio, and then the display has to be calibrated with an external probe and software like Calman or Light Illusion.

Read these two articles by Light Illusion's Steve Shaw:

Why Calibrate?
http://www.lightillusion.com/why_calibrate.html

Why Master on a Calibrated Display?
https://www.lightillusion.com/grading_displays.html

The point is that whatever flaws are built into a computer display will affect your work: if it's too blue, you'll go in the opposite direction and make it too warm; if it's too dark, you'll overcompensate and make it too bright.

Also, read page 2890 of the Resolve 20 manual, "Limitations When Grading With the Viewer on a Computer Display." This explains why it's unwise to try to use a computer display for final color correction, even a computer monitor as costly as Apple's. The same problem also exists with the "Clean Feed" output, since it's not color managed.

You can't get any better advice than Marc's!
Grading fore cinema is usually done with a calibrated projector.
But if you are looking for low-cost solutions to grade correctly in Rec. 709, my three-part series may be helpful:
https://digitalproduction.com/2025/03/0 ... tespart-1/

Thank you Marc, I am reading your links but at the moment I am working just with Apple Studio Display and I appreciate if you have some advice to make it as close as possible, with settings, way to calibrate it, etc., to a good starting point.

For example, I have i1profiler but I have seen today that doesn't exist more the free software CalMan for the calibration and make a LUT for the viewer in the Resolve.

Then, Do I have to set Rec 709-A, etc. or just 2.2?

Thank you so much!

Just my opinion: I think the Apple Studio displays are not good enough for judging color from a mastering point of view. It's widely known that even Apple does not use their own displays for making their commercials, TV shows, and presentations (though I'm sure many of their computer systems use them).

For judging color from Resolve, you need a display connected to a Blackmagic display adapter like an UltraStudio, and then the display has to be calibrated with an external probe and software like Calman or Light Illusion.

Read these two articles by Light Illusion's Steve Shaw:

Why Calibrate?
http://www.lightillusion.com/why_calibrate.html

Why Master on a Calibrated Display?
https://www.lightillusion.com/grading_displays.html

The point is that whatever flaws are built into a computer display will affect your work: if it's too blue, you'll go in the opposite direction and make it too warm; if it's too dark, you'll overcompensate and make it too bright.

Also, read page 2890 of the Resolve 20 manual, "Limitations When Grading With the Viewer on a Computer Display." This explains why it's unwise to try to use a computer display for final color correction, even a computer monitor as costly as Apple's. The same problem also exists with the "Clean Feed" output, since it's not color managed.

Thank you Marc, I am reading your links but at the moment I am working just with Apple Studio Display and I appreciate if you have some advice to make it as close as possible, with settings, way to calibrate it, etc., to a good starting point.

For me, I don't think the Apple Studio Display can be calibrated very well.

There are those who disagree:

The most important question will be: is your probe ready for it?
Recently I tested an OLED to be calibrated, and my trusty old X-rite probe failed with very bad results.
Got a Spyder Pro for testing, and the results were much better. The Calibrite devices suggested by ArtIsRight are also made for recent screen technologies.
That said, the large Studio Displays are not as good as the screens of current MBPs.