My calibrator is broken so need a new one

PiKe

PiKe

PiKe

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I have an X-Rite/Gretagmacbeth i1 Display 2 which I've had for a few years but hasn't been frequently used as my monitor doesnt go out of calibration much.

I came to use it today and it's reporting the red channel is way way too low and that screen brightness is only 55cd/m when the target is 120cd/m (this is complete twoddle). So I need a new one, preferably one by someone who makes them to last.

Has anyone got any suggestions?
 
Well, the i1 is considered to be one of the best colorimeters on the market, trumped only really by the DTP94. They have better unit-to-unit consistency than the Spyder units and anything above that mentioned you're moving onto Spectrophotometers, which are more money. There's a good reason so many manufacturers use them as bundled hardware with their own software solutions.

Though I have to ask, how did you know your monitor was staying within calibration if you didn't use the puck to check? I've had my current i1 about the same length of time and is used once a month, stored well (dry, no large temperature fluctuations, no bashing about, etc) and is showing no signs of failing.

You may want to consider a ColorMunki as the next step up. If it's your thing you can also use it to profile printers and various papers.
 
Adrianr said:
You may want to consider a ColorMunki as the next step up. If it's your thing you can also use it to profile printers and various papers.
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I prefer the i1 Display2 over the ColorMunki for monitor calibration. And for paper profiles the munki isn't great as the amount of patches it produces is on the low side. I'm looking at stepping up to the Eye1 Xtreme for all my calibration and paper profiles.
 
Messiah Khan said:
I prefer the i1 Display2 over the ColorMunki for monitor calibration. And for paper profiles the munki isn't great as the amount of patches it produces is on the low side. I'm looking at stepping up to the Eye1 Xtreme for all my calibration and paper profiles.
Click to expand...

The only drawback with the standard i1 Display is having a slight issue with wide gamut monitors (Where Spectro's are better), unless they're custom for that display (NEC do their own for the Spectraview, etc). And having a slight problem with monitors that can reproduce detail in very dark areas. I have no experience with the ColorMunki yet though, and I do admit it looks like it sits on the monitor in a very odd way. Does it come with the same monitor profiling software as the other Xrite products?

Would be very nice to step up to an i1 Xtreme but it's quite a price hike! I've used it with an iO Table a couple of times too, damn cool!

OP: I would just get another i1 Display.
 
Well I'm still not very happy that the unit hasn't lasted, they haven't even the courtesy to respond to my email.

Edit: Bought a ColourVision Spyder 3 Pro instead.
 
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Cheapest is currently £125, and you're missing the point, it broke, after little use, and they won't even reply to my emails, why would I want another?
 
footman said:
I'm in the market for a calibrator, can you explain why you think it's not as good?
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I spent weeeks looking all over the web, asking friends, asking on professional forums, looking on reviews.

The i1 Display 2 is unanimously better than the Spyder 3.
Whats more, the same hardware is used in very expensive Pro kits with more advanced software -which you can upgrade to.

There are better, but then the price increases a lot.

Thats not to say the Spyder 3 is bad, it just doesn't appear as good as the i1. Whether the difference is noticeable for the average user i don't know.
 
Finally got a response, they basically said if it's out of warranty then I'm SOL.

So X-Rite, can stick it my Eye One, up their ****.

No misuse or excessive use = faulty components in the first place, imho.
 
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