Snow Leopard changes default gamma

I touched upon this issue in a post about “Save For Web” colour discrepancies so it seemed fitting to remark on a bit of Apple news that caught my eye.

According to AppleInsider, the next version of Mac OS X (dubbed “Snow Leopard”) will default to 2.2 gamma. This small change will please many, myself included.

In a nutshell, this means that Mac OS X will display colour in a manner that is more consistent with other systems like Windows and TVs. This is generally beneficial to end users and designers of screen-based media like websites, DVDs etc.

As observed in my other post, print designers may argue that this is detrimental. That the darker, higher-contrast image represents Apple pandering to the mass market.

… Which of course they are. Apple are in business to sell product. Designers are an important part of the Mac market, but the best selling Mac by far is the MacBook.

Any self-respecting print pro should know how to calibrate their colour settings to suit their needs. The rest of us have one less headache.

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