Run Calman On Mac: How To Install Fusion 13.5

Calman announced back on Oct. 5, 2023, “While there are Apple Silicon specific versions of VMWare Fusion and Parallels, they rely on an ARM-specific build of Windows that lacks comprehensive driver support, impacting several devices Calman interfaces with. At this time Calman must be used on Windows-based PC.” VMWare Fusion 13.5, released just weeks after Calman’s announcement, introduced major updates, but there is no guarantee that it will work with your setup.

Update 29.03.2025: Microsoft will be removing the bypass script that allowed end-users to skip the requirement of connecting to the internet and logging in with a Microsoft account to get through the initialization process of a new PC.

The Calman in VMware Fusion Setup Guide is a little outdated, but here are the steps nonetheless.

VMware Fusion configuration

To optimize VMware Fusion for Calman with a Windows 7/8/10 virtual machine.

1. Close Windows in the Fusion virtual machine (Start, Shut down)
2. Click the VMware Settings button at the top of the Fusion screen to open the Settings dialog
3. On the Fusion Settings dialog:
   1. Click Processors & Memory.
      1. Select one-half the total number of available processor cores. This leaves half of the processor cores available to the Mac side to handle the IO and GPU.
      2. Select at least half of the available RAM, with a minimum of 4 GB (4000 MB).
      3. Under the Advanced Options, disable all options.
   2. Click Display.
      1. Set Accelerate 3D Graphics to ON.
   3. Click Network Adapter.
      1. Under Bridged Networking, select Autodetect.
   4. Click Hard Disk.
      1. Make your virtual disks a fixed size, not auto sized (avoids auto sizing performance penalty).
         Note: When using a Bootcamp virtual machine, the disk is always a fixed size.
4. On the main Fusion screen:
   1. Click the Play button to start Windows in the Fusion virtual machine.
   2. Connect any hardware USB calibration device(s) to the Mac computer.
5. On the Fusion Settings dialog:
   1. Click USB & Bluetooth
      1. Under Connect USB Devices, check the box for each USB device you wish to connect to Windows
      2. For those same USB devices, under Plug-In Action, select Connect to Windows.
      3. Under Advanced USB Options / USB Compatibility, select USB 2.0.

Install Calman Home

Purchase Calman calibration software here.

Notes on Calibrating Samsung S90C

REC 2020 OR P3-D65

– P3 is more accurate but has more posterization.

– Rec.2020 has smoother 10-bit gradation.

YEAR/MODEL

– The software has changed since David Abrams published his video tutorial a little over a month ago, e.g. selecting Year/Model on the welcome page is no longer possible.

PATTERN INSERTION

– While it isn’t mentioned in Portrait Displays’ guide and it doesn’t appear in David’s tutorial, you’ve got to enable pattern insertion.

WINDOW SIZE

– In the tutorial, David says to use a 10% window, but QD-OLED requires a 2% window.

MASTERING DISPLAY PRIMARIES

– In the video, David left the mastering display primaries of the pattern generator at P3, but we changed them to BT2020. TBH, we don’t know whether it makes any difference.

PICTURE MODE

– The tutorial recommends setting the picture to Movie mode, but Filmmaker mode is more accurate.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

The grayscale is significantly more accurate this time around. There is less posterization. We would avoid Movie mode.