monitor calibration- for photographs etc

mrs_baggins

has anyone tried any of the monitor calibration things you can buy such as Spyder? if so what do you think?

AirCooledHeaven

I don't believe they are particularly effective with LCD monitors, only CRTs

mrs_baggins

are they not? ah well there goes that thought. thanks anyway

totalsolutions

I have the Spyder Pro 3 and does a fine job on my pair of monitors. Brought from Jessops at about £85. Does CRT and Flat panel.

http://www.datacolor.eu/en/

http://www.datacolor.eu/en/learning/videos/index.html

mrs_baggins

so they are ok for LCD? was looking at the cheaper spyder express. Guess they are about £50 or so

[Deleted User]

mrs_baggins wrote: »

so they are ok for LCD? was looking at the cheaper spyder express. Guess they are about £50 or so

I use the Spyder2Express for calibrating my LCD monitors. I'm not into photography but I do prefer my monitors to be as close to correct as possible and messing about with colour reference charts and relying on your eyes alone doesn't yeild all that good results.

isofa

Also have a look at the ColorMunki and the Pantone Huey: http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_home.aspx

They are designed to work with LCD/TFTs.

Top end LCDs are excellent for colour work, but avoid cheaper displays, some on the NEC ones for example are excellent, but you pay for the quality. A £200 TFT will not give very accurate colour. You can spend £800 to £1000 on a 17-19" TFT which has very accurate colour...

aliEnRIK

I have the spyder 3 and use some free software off the net to calibrate my LCD monitors (And some plasma tvs)

isofa

PS The original detailed thread about calibration with links from me and others to test patterns and set-ups is here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1602317

Saves reposting it all!

Martin_Paterson

If you just want to calibrate you monitor as a hobbist then the pantonone huey is enough, if you want to go professional then go for the x-rite i1 (this is the best one you can buy as it has delta less than 1) ...
The spider one is not that good, check for review online and pay extra attention the the delta value. Less than one you is what you are looking for (as this is the perceptual value where you cant tell colours apart).

aliEnRIK

Martin_Paterson wrote: »

If you just want to calibrate you monitor as a hobbist then the pantonone huey is enough, if you want to go professional then go for the x-rite i1 (this is the best one you can buy as it has delta less than 1) ...
The spider one is not that good, check for review online and pay extra attention the the delta value. Less than one you is what you are looking for (as this is the perceptual value where you cant tell colours apart).

The spider isnt incredibly accurate but it does do a very good job for the price (using the separate software)
Out of intrigue, how much is the x-rite i1 to buy and can you post links please?