What calibration is
Calibrating a display means making it reproduce a known standard. The workflow is a loop: pick a target (a standard like BT.709 or sRGB), measure what the display currently does, correct it, and verify by measuring again. PatternSpace does not measure or auto-correct your display — it provides the precise, GPU-rendered patches the rest of the chain depends on.
Where PatternSpace fits
A full calibration bench has three parts: a pattern source (PatternSpace), a meter (a colorimeter or spectrophotometer), and calibration software — such as ColourSpace or CalMAN — that reads the meter and computes a correction. That software drives PatternSpace over a pattern-generator protocol (ColourSpace's Network Protocol, CalMAN's UPGCI, the PGenerator UDP command set, or the first-party PatternSpace Remote), and PatternSpace renders each requested patch on the target display so the meter reads exactly the color the software asked for. See Connecting Calibration Software for each protocol. You can also use PatternSpace on its own to verify a display by eye or with a meter against an SDR Reference standard.
Getting it right
- Match the target. Choose the Output Color preset for the standard you are measuring — an SDR Reference preset for verification, or Device Native when the software owns the transform.
- Turn HDR off for SDR work. Before an SDR measurement, disable HDR for the target display in macOS Display Settings — the app layer can't confirm the system HDR state for you, and leaving it on invalidates the result. See display setup.
- Don't double-encode range. Set Full or Legal range in one place only — either your calibration software or PatternSpace, never both.
- Turn corrections into a profile. A gamma correction can be exported as an ICC profile with a VCGT via the ICC profile tools, or applied live while you iterate — both require Pro.
- SDR first. This workflow targets SDR standards; HDR measurement uses dedicated Output Color presets covered in Display Setup.
Start calibrating
PatternSpace is a free download on the Mac App Store; network automation and advanced HDR output are PatternSpace Pro.
FAQ
Do I need a meter to calibrate?
To build a measured correction, yes — a colorimeter or spectrophotometer, read by calibration software. PatternSpace supplies the patches; it does not measure the display itself.
Can I use PatternSpace without extra software?
Yes, for verification: render SDR Reference patterns and check the display against a standard, or apply a calibration LUT you already have as a live VCGT (Pro).
Does this cover HDR calibration?
This guide focuses on SDR. HDR measurement uses dedicated Output Color presets (HDR PQ, Linear HDR) described in the Display Setup guide.