Which Monitor Calibrator?

redhed17

redhed17

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I got a load of prints done today (thankfully for free) which have come back slightly dark. :(

I bought a photobook last year, and that came back dark as well which I hoped was the printer's fault, but after the latest pics it's probably my set up which is the problem.

I've decided to get a monitor calibration device. I've seen two which are pretty similar in price, the Pantone HueyPro and the Colorvision Spyder 3 Pro. Does anybody have knowledge or experience about which is the best? :shrug:

Thanks. :)


PS. Just seen the X-Rite ColorMunki Display which I could stretch to if it is significantly better than the others.
 
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I use the Spyder3Pro and it does a great job - prints always come back accurate in terms of exposure and colour replication.

I haven't used the other product so I can't really give you any comparison.
 
After a fair amount of research and without wanting to spend as much as the ColorMunki, I decided the Eye One Display 2 was the best out of the ones mentioned. You may even get one secondhand. Easy to use and accurate.

Of course I'm taking it for granted that you have a decent monitor to begin with.
 
I use the Spyder3Studio SR. Pricey but gives the whole workflow a profile from raw to print.
 
Of course I'm taking it for granted that you have a decent monitor to begin with.[/QUOTE]

I have a Mac with 21.5 inch screen. How would this rate in terms of “decent” for a monitor?

Phil
 
Thanks for the replies.

Anybody have knowledge and/or experience?


I have no idea whether my monitor is good or not. :shrug: Probably a not very good one. But if I get the right calibrator, hopefully there will be an improvement.
 
bornagain said:
Of course I'm taking it for granted that you have a decent monitor to begin with.
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I have a Mac with 21.5 inch screen. How would this rate in terms of “decent” for a monitor?

Phil[/QUOTE]

iMacs use IPS panels (LED backlit too) so they are pretty good monitors.

I've got a Spyder 3 (Pro software version) and preferred it ofer the Huey when I bought it mainly due to the Huey seeming a bit more gimmicky, especially with the auto adjusting related to ambient lighting - I want a constant setting on my screen, not a changing one!

FWIW Datacolour's technical support have been really helpful too.
 
redhed17 said:
...I have no idea whether my monitor is good or not. ...
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Neither do we- does it have any branding?;)

My point was that you said you were willing to spend £300 on a calibration device- I'm merely assuming that you aren't going buy it to calibrate a £50 TN panel monitor for which I'd be extremely dubious that it would make much difference on but maybe you are?:shrug:
The answer could be you would be better investing in a new monitor and a calibration device.

You basically have 3 types of panels- VA, IPS and TN. Within those there variations of how each of the panels work- S-PVA, MPA, H-IPS, S-IPS etc.

IPS panels are generally considered the best for colour reproduction although some good PVA monitors have better black depth.
TN panels are cheaper to produce but don't have as much black depth or colour accuracy and are therefore not usually the choice of those requiring colour critical work. However, technology doesn't hang about so some of the newer TN panels are not as bad. Their main forte is for gaming as the input lag from the best is tiny compared to say an IPS panel of a high end monitor.

So, if you have a TN panel then calibration is perhaps better than nothing but I'm not sure how close you could get the colours. Would depend on the quality of the monitor to begin with.
 
Check the monitor, I use an EIZO

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/pc-peripheral/2260/eizo-flexscan-s2231w-review/

As I have only ever been into DTP, CAD and editing I chose a monitor specific to this task, many monitors are very good but jack of all trades, my sons have Apple, NEC and Hitachi, all good, but more pro monitors are calibrated and can be set for specific tasks.

I agree with the above chap/chapess

I use the Spyder3Pro and it does a great job - prints always come back accurate in terms of exposure and colour replication.


It is good.
 
Dr_O said:
Neither do we- does it have any branding?;)
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Thanks for all the info Dr_O. My monitor is a Iiyuma Prolite PLE2209HDS which seems to be a TN panel.


Dr_O said:
My point was that you said you were willing to spend £300 on a calibration device
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I'm not thinking of spending anywhere near that amount. ;) The calibration devices I mentioned are from £70 - £115

Pantone HueyPro
Colorvision Spyder 3 Pro
X-Rite ColorMunki Display

Of those three, which would be the best, and is the differences in prices justified?

All opinions and experiences welcome. :)



PS Jeremy, I'm sure that is a very good monitor, but I need to get the monitor I have as good as it can be, I can't justify changing my monitor. And especially not for something of that price. :eek:
 
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Ah, my bad- I just read ColorMunki- didn't realise they had a cheaper model now.
Not used the Pantone but too many mixed reviews put me off so I'd be more inclined to avoid that. A lot was around compatibility so new drivers may have fixed.
I would imagine the X-Rite is good and although you're paying a bit for the name you wouldn't go far wrong.This is the one I use

However, given your monitor I think the Spyder 3 Pro would be a good compromise for price/ performance. I might have borrowed one a couple of years back although I think it was maybe the elite. Operation/ results were fine.
Of course, you might get someone saying how wonderful the Pantone is so don't let me put you off completely:lol:
 
I used the old eye1 from Xrite but now have the Studio SR which includes the Spyder 3

which gets my vote.
 
Dr_O said:
Of course, you might get someone saying how wonderful the Pantone is so don't let me put you off completely:lol:
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I'm trying to get as many opinions as possible at the moment. It is not something I had looked into before so the more recommendations the better. The Spyder 3 Pro seems to be the most popular upto now.


I watched an online photo course last week by Mark Wallace and he went through calibration and made it look easy(ish), though I didn't realise the Colormunki he was using was nearly £300. :eek: And he was using the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport
but that would have to be a future purchase if I think I'll need it.
 
Seriously the Spyder3Pro will do the job. If you aren't sure about spending the cash without knowing it will work on your TN monitor I could loan you mine for a few days if you want to pick it up?
 
redhed17 said:
...I watched an online photo course last week by Mark Wallace and he went through calibration and made it look easy(ish), though I didn't realise the Colormunki he was using was nearly £300. :eek: ...
Click to expand...

That's the one I thought you were saying you could stretch to before I read it properly:lol:
 
I have the X-rite Colorchecker Passport. I use it instead of the cube the the StudioSR set includes. The Lightroom integration is extremely useful.
 
I have the exact problem as the op with flat and dark prints, however, I can't seem to get my head around forking out for these calibrating devices just to use once for 15 minutes? Unless I'm missing something?
 
You need to recalibrate regularly too!
 
Rajkay said:
I have the exact problem as the op with flat and dark prints, however, I can't seem to get my head around forking out for these calibrating devices just to use once for 15 minutes? Unless I'm missing something?
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My images are not flat, just a bit dark. ;)

I edit with an eye on the Histogram so I'm getting right up to over exposure, but I think the mid range must not be coming over correctly leading dark images.
 
redhed17 said:
My images are not flat, just a bit dark. ;)

I edit with an eye on the Histogram so I'm getting right up to over exposure, but I think the mid range must not be coming over correctly leading dark images.
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My bad, I just meant with them being dark they look at bit flat printed, but all nice and contrasty on the screen.
 
Its a dell ef248wfp (or something like that which is fairly non-glossy), supposed to have a 92% gamut which is not brilliant I know but back when I got I had no idea about calibration, no DSLR nor no printer!
 
I decided to go with the Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro, and it arrived yesterday.

I installed the software and calibrated the desktop monitor. I had to lower the brightness of the monitor as the Spyder said it was overly bright. It then measured the ambient light, and then went through the calibration routines. After about five minutes it finished and allowed me to switch between the before and after calibration colour. The new settings seem very warm in comparison to what it was at previously. :eek:

I then did the same for my laptop, though this time it didn't take an ambient light reading. The colour and brightness of the laptop and desktop monitor came out almost exactly the same as you would hope/expect. Though again the screen seems warm. :thinking:

Until I do some proper editing I won't know whether it will make a difference to the final edit, but at least the two computers seem to be starting from the same point, at least in this room with this light anyway. ;) I was always wary of doing any serious editing on the laptop, but I think I'll be a bit more confident now. I know the ambient light will have a effect on how the laptop screen will look in different places, but I'm happy they are the same, whether that is correct remains to be seen. ;)
 
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