Monitor Colour Calibration Tools

If you want something even approaching accurate, I wouldn't do it by eye.

I use a Spyder Pro 3 and it works a treat.
 
I use a Pantone Huey Pro, pretty happy with the results, although I haven't used any other calibration tools, so I have nothing to compare it too. When you first calibrate your monitor, you'll think it looks wrong (because it's different to what your used to) but when you think about it better, you realise it's actually better.
 
.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Do you have any decent feedback elsewhere?
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Yeah I understand the question but I can't fathom why you're asking it. Do I have decent "feeback" in ebay or another forum or elsewhere?!?!

Are you trying to sell me some item, or... jeez I'm so confused. Explain yourself.

PS: What's this got to do with the price of fish.
 
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R.C.Anderson said:
I use a Pantone Huey Pro, pretty happy with the results, although I haven't used any other calibration tools, so I have nothing to compare it too. When you first calibrate your monitor, you'll think it looks wrong (because it's different to what your used to) but when you think about it better, you realise it's actually better.
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Wow. I was just wanting to tweak the settings a little but never knew something like this was around. If I was in media I'd consider it but I'm way too frugal for something like that. Does it auto adjust the screen on any computer or is there some form of feeback so it can adjust what you see?
 
trentlad said:
Yeah I understand the question but I can't fathom why you're asking it. Do I have decent "feeback" in ebay or another forum or elsewhere?!?!

Are you trying to sell me some item, or... jeez I'm so confused. Explain yourself.

PS: What's this got to do with the price of fish.
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Well I was going to offer you to borrow my spyder3 express if u paid postage both ways which wouldn't be a lot. But would depend if you had decent feedback as it cost around £90. Seems your just after a software tool so don't worry bout it.
 
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Ah now it all fits together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle put back in place.

Well thank you very much, that's incredibly kind of you. I feel upset that I jumped to the worst conclusion instead of leaning on innocence.

Thank you but you're right; I was just looking for a little software that would let me tweak things manually so I know I'm getting the most out of the screen in its original format. It's not down to me being in media of any sort.
 
Well windows7 has a basic calibration tool.

cali3.jpg
 
Before you try to calibrate it, see if you can change the colour temperature - you want 6500K, most monitors come with it set higher which makes them a bit blue.

Do the free stuff to see if you can get a full range from black to white displayed. For example:
http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php

See if this fulfils your needs, whatever they are - you don't say what you are doing or why you think you need to calibrate your monitor.

Lastly, a lot of low-grade screens will never display a good image whatever you do to them. Laptops often have screens that simply cannot display a wide enough colour gamut to get good results.
 
trentlad said:
Wow. I was just wanting to tweak the settings a little but never knew something like this was around. If I was in media I'd consider it but I'm way too frugal for something like that. Does it auto adjust the screen on any computer or is there some form of feeback so it can adjust what you see?
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Basically, you stick it onto the front of your monitor (with suction pads on the device, it doesn't damage the monitor at all) and it has several sensors which record the colour from your screen. The software package runs through a program that puts several (around 15 I think) different colours up on the screen, and compares the colour it tries to produce, and the colour the device measures, when you get to the end, it'll adjust the colours your gfx card is telling your monitor to produce, to make your monitor produce the colours that are meant to be produced.

Hope that makes sense. I bought mine off the bay for about £50 delivered from the US, although if your lucky like I was, they'll send you 2, then don't respond to e-mails asking if they want one back, ah well, their loss, I'm going to re-sell the unused on on the bay again when I get the time...
 
That's a good description of how calibration - and hopefully it explains how a low-gamut monitor can't necessarily be fully corrected. If it can't produce the colour it can't produce it.

BTW my Spyder is dangled on the screen rather than stuck, so I have to tilt the screen backwards.
 
cats_five said:
BTW my Spyder is dangled on the screen rather than stuck, so I have to tilt the screen backwards.
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Ah, I haven't had any experience with other calibration tools, and I guess the reason why the pantone huey & pro has suction cups is because it's quite small and light, so probably wouldn't stay still if just left to it's own weight.
 
The suction cup comes off the Spyder 3 quite easily and since my monitor is an LCD and the front is not glass, I dangle it. Think the instructions said the suction cup was for CRTs which have a glass front. The cord has a weight on, and I wind it once round the screen!
 
Is there a major difference between the Sypder 3 express, Pro or Elite versions?

Just a question but what are the suction cups for?
 
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