Screen calibration hardware

[superparati]

Hi,

I'd like to buy a calibration screen tool to make sure that all assets I'm developing are true colour or at least close to the reality.
I also print some pictures time to times but most of my work stay in my hard drive.

That will be to use with my MacBook Pro & MacPro with Cinema Display LED 24".

Perhaps with a screen calibrater I will develop more pictures in the future!

Which hardware do you recommend for 100 boxes (GBP)?
X-rite i1 is really good according to the review.

Thanks!

 

[TheDrift-]

I've used spyders without any issues

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hi,

I'd like to buy a calibration screen tool to make sure that all assets I'm developing are true colour or at least close to the reality.
I also print some pictures time to times but most of my work stay in my hard drive.

That will be to use with my MacBook Pro & MacPro with Cinema Display LED 24".

Perhaps with a screen calibrater I will develop more pictures in the future!

Which hardware do you recommend for 100 boxes (GBP)?
X-rite i1 is really good according to the review.

Thanks!

It's considered the best by most people tbh.
Not sure what you mean by 100 boxes though? If you mean £100 your not going to get an i1 display pro.
The colormunki Display is exactly the same hardware, but not as good software.

 

[Stefan johansson]

I used monitor spider for years,maybe not the best,but uts enough for most hobby users.

 

[superparati]

Thank you for your feedbacks
Stefan johansson, do you have the express or the pro version?

 

[Stefan johansson]

Thank you for your feedbacks
Stefan johansson, do you have the express or the pro version?

I used both,and the pro version is better,but which one you chose depends on how much you use it,mostly,I just calibrate a screen 5-6 times a year,so if you only got one screen,and only calibrate it every third month or so,the express is easier to use.

 

[thekev]

I think x-rite's tools are decent. Keep in mind that cinema display is old, and the device can't do anything about that. It can generate a reasonably accurate profile, and your system can compensate somewhat based on that. In the end that's a pretty old display. Also beware of overly optimistic reports. Some of them pick easy targets, just so it looks like they're really helpful.

Newer spyders might be okay. The early ones were garbage. The unit to unit variance was way too high, but that goes back a long time.

 

[Stefan johansson]

I think x-rite's tools are decent. Keep in mind that cinema display is old, and the device can't do anything about that. It can generate a reasonably accurate profile, and your system can compensate somewhat based on that. In the end that's a pretty old display. Also beware of overly optimistic reports. Some of them pick easy targets, just so it looks like they're really helpful.

Newer spyders might be okay. The early ones were garbage. The unit to unit variance was way too high, but that goes back a long time.

With monitor spyder,you can use software adjustments,should have some effect regardless of screen brand or age. The software adjustment mostly affect the output signals from CPU,not the monitor itself.

 

[thekev]

With monitor spyder,you can use software adjustments,should have some effect regardless of screen brand or age. The software adjustment mostly affect the output signals from CPU,not the monitor itself.

They're all software adjustments. Some brands include a much lower level interface, that is arguably more powerful, but at that point we require actual hardware support.

The adjustments aren't necessarily as effective on an old display. I have seen the range drift considerably on older ones. Sometimes they go a bit yellow. Sometimes you have issues of unevenness. A common problem on displays of that age was a slight purplish tint invading the edges. You can't do anything about that sort of thing. You can't control the actual output directly, so if some outlier colors (eg orange, gold, maroon, bright green, etc.) are way off, it won't do much for them. Profiling a display works best if the display is already in good condition. If he never used a colorimeter or similar device previously and is only interested because it looks a bit off now, it may not improve much. They can't do much about the natural aging of a display. They can give you a reasonable profile of your display, but if the display's profile has drifted too far from its factory spec, it will be less useful.

 

[Stefan johansson]

They're all software adjustments. Some brands include a much lower level interface, that is arguably more powerful, but at that point we require actual hardware support.

The adjustments aren't necessarily as effective on an old display. I have seen the range drift considerably on older ones. Sometimes they go a bit yellow. Sometimes you have issues of unevenness. A common problem on displays of that age was a slight purplish tint invading the edges. You can't do anything about that sort of thing. You can't control the actual output directly, so if some outlier colors (eg orange, gold, maroon, bright green, etc.) are way off, it won't do much for them. Profiling a display works best if the display is already in good condition. If he never used a colorimeter or similar device previously and is only interested because it looks a bit off now, it may not improve much. They can't do much about the natural aging of a display. They can give you a reasonable profile of your display, but if the display's profile has drifted too far from its factory spec, it will be less useful.

Naturally old worn out screens is more difficult to adjust,and sometimes it's impossible to get it perfect,but for me,it usually work ok,as most screens and projectors I use is good enough to be adjusted.

 

[superparati]

The age of the screen plays a role for sure this is a good advice.
I'm not planning to replace it for the following year or two I'm happy with the current setting.

If you have the opportunity would you go for a second hand X-rite I1 or the hardware also can age badly for those devices?

 

[thekev]

All devices age/drift over time. It's inevitable. I don't know whether it's significant for the i1s. As others have mentioned, they also have the colormunki. These are both fairly modern devices. Prior to that they had the DTP-94 and another device they inherited through the acquisition of Gretag Macbeth. Here's a rather old comparison of a number of these. The spyders have supposedly improved over time. The 1 and 2 were absolutely terrible. I don't know what the 5 is like.

Just be aware that the capabilities of these devices and software packages are limited. Some of them are very well engineered, but they have limits.

 

[Apple fanboy]

The age of the screen plays a role for sure this is a good advice.
I'm not planning to replace it for the following year or two I'm happy with the current setting.

If you have the opportunity would you go for a second hand X-rite I1 or the hardware also can age badly for those devices?

If it's the i1 Display Pro and older one will be fine.
The older i1 Display 2 had a plastic cover over the colorimeter so they tend to discolour over time. Same with the Spyders.