Snow Leopard: Color Profile issues?

Many users are noticing an issue with the color profiles in Snow Leopard not providing proper calibration for their Macs. Users are unable to create custom calibration settings--the profile will reset itself just before the calibration finishes or the profile is reset after a reboot.

Apple Support Discussions user "S. P. Cooper" comments on a growing thread:

During the Color Calibration, at the end of the process the calibrator resets itself to the 'default' calibration shown at the login window.

If I use any of the presets, or any of my earlier calibrations, they work fine within the operating system once logged in--but the color profile of the login window does not change.

In Leopard, choosing a color profile whilst logged in would also change the color profile of the login window. That no longer seems to be the case. How does one change the 'default' color profile for the login window?

Several other users corroborate this experience, reporting that reinstalling the Snow Leopard OS does not solve the issue. Most users experience a washed out feel to their displays with many reporting a blueish tint. A workaround has been used by some users, posted by ASD user "nhsledder":

Regarding the color profile/blue tint issue, here's what I've figured out is the problem with Snow Leopard, and the LCD panel model 9cc2 that I have.

Knowing from the ColorSync profile on my MacBook Pro 13" that the display make is 610, and the model is 9cc2, I went hunting in the System Folder.

If you go into the folders: (System > Displays > Overrides > DisplayVendorID-610) and scroll down through the list. You'll notice that a DisplayProductID is MISSING for 9cc2! Apparently Apple left 9cc2 out of displays in Snow Leopard.

Soooooo, what I did as a workaround to fix it is went to my backup from Leopard, and copied "DisplayProductID-9cc2" into the folder where it should be. Then copied the "Color LCD" profile from the backup also to (Library > ColorSync > Displays). I restarted, and my display looks great again, and I'm running 10.6!

The workaround above is for a specific MacBook Pro. Users wishing to try this workaround on other machines will have to discern their specific manufacturer and model number. Continuing, "nhsledder" relates:

Once you get your manufacturer & model numbers you can look to see if it's in there. Go to: (System > Displays > Overrides > DisplayVendorID-(go to your manufacturer #) > DisplayProductID (your model #)).

If you have some time to wait this issue out, it appears that the next update to Snow Leopard, 10.6.2, may address this issue. You will notice several references to ColorSync under general focus and fixes. If you want to know more about Snow Leopard's gamma 2.2 default setting, read this. Once the Mac OS X 10.6.2 Snow Leopard update is released, we will provide a complete list of fixes.

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