Monitor Calibration

[Alpha_7]

Hey All,

I've decided I need to bite the bullet and purchase my own calibration device rather then borrowing the generous forum members. I'm wondering if there have been any new developments, or if anyone has a suggestion as to what's the best value for money option. While I use dual screens at work, I think I can stick with a single screen calibrator, I can always have the Photoshop tools on the uncalibrated second screen. So any suggestions ?

[iposiniditos]

I use a spyder hardware device with ColorEyes Display Pro software which i find great.
As far as i know, software is what makes the difference  btw, i am on a mac.

[big pix]

I find the iOne Photo2 very good which I use..... but on a Mac

[Alex]

I use eye-one MATCH 3 device. Very simple to use and reliable.

Cheers
Alex

[ralph257]

I use the X-Rite ColorMunki as a calibration tool and profile maker.
Works well.
http://ralpho.smugmug.com/

[DaveB]

ColorEyes Display Pro is indeed excellent software, and can be used with a variety of colorimeters.

So you could buy a cheap Spyder2express (AU$150) and use it with ColorEyes rather than the limited software that comes with the Spyder (or upgrade to ColorEyes later).

The Spyder3 devices do come with better software, but there are arguments that ColorEyes is still better for monitor calibration. The Spyder3 hardware does a better job than the Spyder2 on monitors with a large gamut: it takes better measurements of the colours produced by some recent monitors (e.g. laptops with LED backlighting, Dell 2408, etc).
The different versions of the Spyder (PRO: AU$290, Elite: AU$440) just differ in the complexity of their software.

The Eye One Display v2 (which comes with the Eye One Match 3 software for AU$310) is a good device, but doesn't seem quite as good for high-gamut displays as the Spyder 3.

Spectrophotometers such as the Eye One Pro are the "gold standard" for colour measurement. For example the Eye One Pro measures the energy in 32 sharply-defined wavelength bands, rather than 3 or 4 overlapping bands (as the colorimeters do). They often also have internal lamps to let them measure colour from reflective prints as well as from transmissive screens. Correspondingly the price is significantly higher (AU$2K+). The ColorMunki is a cheaper example of this, although its software is very limited compared to the software provided for the Eye One Pro. Unfortunately the ColorMunki is not yet supported by ColorEyes.

The only current software that doesn't support dual screens is the software that comes with the Spyder2express and the ColorMunki.

If you settle on a device to buy let me know. We're a reseller for all of these (I'm expecting new price lists for the X-Rite gear this week).

[Matt. K]

DaveB
I just knew you'd come in with the best advice and the latest info! The forum is lucky to have access to your expertise.

[tasadam]

The only current software that doesn't support dual screens is the software that comes with the Spyder2express and the ColorMunki.

And the Spyder 3 Express, as I found in this review.
Thanks for the great write up here Dave.

I'm looking to buy a Spyder 3 Pro.

[Marvin]

Adam, I bought the pro from here about a month ago for $209. Good service and it arrived in 3 days.

http://nexus.com.au/myonlinestore/index.php

Lee

[DaveB]

Ow. Better price than I can do!

[surenj]

Thanks Dave. You are indeed a wealth of info!

Just to update spyder3express is only $150 or so now. [one year after this post was started!]

[tasadam]

Just bought the Pro, eBay, from the USA, AU$186.79 including postage.
Now, a monitor to go with it...

[CraigVTR]

The only current software that doesn't support dual screens is the software that comes with the Spyder2express and the ColorMunki.

Another update, the ColorMunki Photo now support dual screens.

[DaveB]

Another update, the ColorMunki Photo now support dual screens.

Ah yes, true. Thanks for the correction. They did update a few things a while back, including that they changed the licencing/registration function so it can be used without a 'net connection and installed on lots of machines (it uses the ColorMunki hardware as a "dongle").

In fact my only concern with the ColorMunki software at the moment is that I haven't been able to get it to guide me through calibrating my screen. To get the best result we need to adjust the monitor's brightness/contrast/RGB settings to minimise the amount of calibration required within the video card's lookup tables. While this isn't an advantage for the crappy LCDs with internal 8-bit tables and processors, even my Dell U2410 has decent internal calibration and the ColorMunki won't let me use it.
Currently I first use i1 Match to calibrate the monitor (but don't go through the whole process of creating a profile) then use the ColorMunki to do the profiling. But not everyone has multiple calibrators "lying around".

[Wink]

Could someone please tell me which device is needed to calibrate the U2410?
This whole subject confuses me, (like many others ).

[DaveB]

A Spyder3 Pro or Elite should do a great job on this monitor.

I use a ColorMunki on mine (as described above).

[devilla101]

Just to add another question for the color gurus out there, I just got hold of the Dell u2410 as well and have a Spyder 3 pro coming in soon (My spyder 2 is getting long in the tooth). What starting color profile is everyone calibrating the monitor at? Standard, Multimedia, Games, AdobeRGB, sRGB or Custom?

I'm thinking 'Custom' since it offers changing the RGB values in the monitor while AdobeRGB and sRGB doesnt,

[DaveB]

Mine is on Custom Color.

[devilla101]

Thanks Dave, I thought that would be the case, and thank you for the more in-depth explanation of your experience with the other color calibrators. I had a look at ColorEyes Display Pro and looked really full featured however it seems very complex to use? I guess i'll download the demo and try it out

[Wink]

I've also got a U2410 and Spyder3 Pro coming this week. I'm looking forward to ditching the TN panel i've currently got.

[Wink]

Got the U2410 yesterday, set it all up and calibrated it using the RGB method via Custom Color as Dave sugested.
The software says i needed a DE of less than 0.5, i got it to 0.03.
The target kelvin was 6500k, and i got it to 6484k.

I'm really happy with the monitor so far and the Spyder3 Pro unit.

Thanks to everyone here for their helpful comments!

[devilla101]

Awesome, I'm just waiting for my Spyder 3 pro to come in.

Good to know you got good results

[tasadam]

Just bought the Pro, eBay, from the USA, AU$186.79 including postage.

It actually came from the UK, but the listing is in USA dollars... There ya go. This seller.
Great price, works like a charm.
No problem installing on 2 computers.