Display color calibration (OSX)

Question

At the office, I've inherited a second monitor to go with my MacBook Air. This monitor is an LG W2252TQ-TF; I believe it's 22 inches.

While this monitor is recognized by OSX just fine, I'm having the worst time with the color profile on it. When I compare it to the MBA, there are many grays that are invisible (for example, the border around the search form on google.com); everything is a bit washed out. I've tried going through the ColorUtility to recalibrate, but it certainly didn't get any better (Edit: I suspect this is because I don't know what I'm doing with color calibration).

This monitor does have a menu at the bottom. It has options for Picture, Color, Tracking, and Setup. Under Picture, there is Brightness (100%), Contrast (83%), and Gamma (it's in the middle, basically). Under Color, there is Preset (6500k), Red (50), Green (50), and Blue (50). Tracking just has Horizontal and Vertical, and they seem fine as they are. Setup has Language.

Anyway I'd love it if between the OS settings and these settings, I could get a usable monitor, but I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I'd start with a colorimeter - but I'll probably get down-voted for the suggestion ;-)

Personally, I cannot stand colour variation between screens, yet I don't have the need or wallet for a full-blown professional setup, so my compromise is the ColorMunki Smile, at about 70 quid/bucks/shekels.

Answer 2

Indeed, to equal these monitors as good as possible, a colorimeter is the only tool therefore.

Furthermore, the different display technologies (backlight type, panel type, color gamut.)

If you want to go deeper into color management, I suggest you this eBook with a quick overview: https://de.scribd.com/doc/235151897/Color-Management-All-About