As some of you know, my old Titanium PowerBook G4 (an ancient relic of 2002), died back in April. It gave me a solid 6 years before giving up the ghost, but, thankfully, I had heard that Apple was just about to release a new laptop with a completely new design. So I waited. And waited. I finally got the new MacBook (Late 2008 model) in October, and the 13" aluminum unibody construction is incredible! I love every aspect of it except for the glossy screen, which I am surprised to report that I have gotten used to it very quickly and I usually don't even notice it now.

However, the screen contrast on the new MacBook left something to be desired (as has been reported elsewhere). After some searching, I found that (Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-,) and (Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-.) will decrease and increase the contrast, respectively. That made it a little better, but I still yearned for blacker blacks and richer dark colors... perhaps I was spoiled because I use the 23" Cinema Display on a PowerMac in lab.

It seems obvious now, but the solution was to calibrate the LCD display. Under System Preferences, go to "Displays" and click the "Color" tab. Select "Calibrate," and then check "Expert mode." This will allow you to really calibrate the gamma and color temperature of the display. If it sounds scary, no worries, because it only involves you adjusting two knobs until the color and contrast of your screen looks right. You do this a few times and then save the results. It's very easy, and if you aren't happy, you can always go back to the factory defaults!

When it arrived from the factory, my LCD display had less contrast and had lower color temperature. By comparison, grays were more yellow-red, and are now more blue, which seems to me truer color. The contrast is also much better. Give it a try if you think your display could be improved.