Why can a custom color profile cause a black screen or disable color adjustments?

Some custom color profiles are incompatible with macOS color-table adjustments. A display can remain connected and powered on while showing a black image when its color table is changed. BetterDisplay therefore blocks color-table control by default whenever a connected display uses a user or shared custom profile.

This protection affects all displays, even if only one uses the custom profile. A warning that color-table control is disabled can therefore be expected compatibility behavior, rather than a failure to detect the display.

Check the compatibility settings

Open Settings > Displays > Overview > Software XDR/HDR Upscaling and Dimming. Leave Allow color table control when a display uses a custom color profile off to retain the protection. Enabling it bypasses the safeguard and can reintroduce a black screen on affected configurations.

If you need color-table adjustments, try the display’s factory profile or an appropriate Apple system profile instead of the custom profile. That changes color calibration, so check the resulting appearance against your needs. Do not assume every custom profile is defective or that changing profiles fixes every black-screen problem.

Alternatively, turn off Allow color table control (turn this off for compatibility mode) globally, or Enable color table control under a particular display’s Image Adjustments. BetterDisplay reconfigures the available adjustment methods. Some effects can use another method, but not every color-table feature has an equivalent fallback.

See global color-table compatibility and Image Adjustments. If the monitor reports No Signal or actually loses its connection, investigate the connection separately. The symptom alone does not establish a color-profile problem.

Incompatibility can also appear as an abrupt tint or brightness change when dimming begins, rather than a black screen. A profile that looks correct with adjustments suspended is not necessarily compatible with color-table manipulation. Compare with color-table control disabled and check the active adjustment method. This comparison does not prove that the profile was applied twice, and switching to an overlay does not guarantee unchanged calibration or capture behavior.