Noticeable Color shift when using dual displays on Quadro 4000

[Micah Brown]

I am working on a Late 2011 MacPro with Quadro 4000 Mac. I have dual Dell U2711 27" Monitors. I am noticing a pretty serious color shift between the two monitors and can't seem to figure it out. They have both been calibrated multiple times using X-rite Eye Display 1 calibrator.

The facts I know:
Each monitor is running through a different connection (due to the limitations of the card) one is Display Port the other is DVI
Because each monitor has a different connection, each has to run on a different color space. One is RGB one is YPbPR

All other settings are identical.

Is it feasible to run both monitors via DVI with a Dual link? Would that fix the problem? Would the card even support that? or is there a way to covert DVI to Display Port or vice versa without a crazy expensive box of some kind or do I just have to deal with the shift and be happy?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

First of all, swap the monitors and see if the color cast follows the displays. I run dual Dell displays on a couple of my workstations, as well as some workstations with other brands, and it's not unusual for the displays to differ in color.

Both should be running via RGB, YPbPr should not enter into the equation.

It takes a displayport or dual-link DVI port to run these 27" displays at their native resolution. So you can't split out the dual-link to run two of them unless you're running 1080p or lower resolution and use a DVI separator adapter.

This may sound a bit odd, but how do you know your Eye1 is properly calibrated? I have had so much trouble with low-cost, off the shelf colorimeters, I don't bother with them anymore. The last one I dealt with was the Eye1 -- tried 3 of them, all of them gave different results and gave differing results between different similar displays, even displays of the same make/model at times.

Of my 30" Dell monitors, one of them has a noticeable yellow cast, more so than the other couple. I have two U2711 27" displays, one of them looks great, the other has a slight hint of pink/magenta. You would never notice it on its own, but sitting next to the other 27" or other calibrated displays, you see it and can't calibrate it out as it's a color cast in the screen or backlight system itself.

 

[Micah Brown]

First of all, thanks for the response!

I swapped the cable and it does indeed follow. Here is the fun part, when I switch the monitor that is running through Displayport from YPbPr (which it defaults to) to RGB this happens the screen goes wildly green, saturated, crushes black and boosts magenta through the roof.

I routed the Displayport through a Displayport to DVI connector and that was a bad idea because it downgrades the signal to 1080p and won't let you go any higher, so that's not an option.

I have one other thing I am going to try which is swapping that monitor with one of the same make and model we have in our office and see if that does anything. At the end of the day it is something that I can live/deal with. Like you said your monitor has a bit of a shift to it. But the thing is if I can't fix it I at least want to understand the problem and what is making it happen. So I may be able to prevent/fix it in the future.

 

[Brandon Barnard]

I am running a new mac pro with the 27" cinema display as well as a secondary panasonic BT-L2150 display. I also have the quadro 4000 and have not found a solution to correcting this panasonic monitor. It is way off and I cannot get it anywhere close to the cinema display. I understand it is lower res but it is really far off. I was under the impression that you shouldn't use a color device like the Eye1 because they are made for print and not grading.

Any ideas or could you point me in the direction of a tutorial/solution/product to help?