Pantone Huey (monitor calibration)

JBuk · 14 Nov 2006 at 12:13

Ive just read an article in 3Dworld magazine comparing some digital monitor calibration devices, one of these was the Pantone Huey, this caught my eye because it was pretty cheap and seemed to do a pretty good job ,so yesterday i ordered one ,it cost around £60

The device itself is a small USB powered stick (looks similar to an mp3 player), and it has suction cups to attach to the monitor
Its also very easy to use ,Its literally taken me 5 minutes to set it up and to calibrate my monitor to near enough industry standards , and im astonished as to how far out the colours & contrast were out on my Dell TFT

Not only does this device calibrate the montior, it constantly checks the ambient light and adjusts for it also (this can be switched off)

I just thought i`d give it a mention here as i`m very happy with it and maybe some of you could use something like this

Irish_Tom · 14 Nov 2006 at 12:24

Thanks JB, this might just be a christmas pressie for me!

Panzer

^^Gord^^ · 14 Nov 2006 at 13:01

I'm never sure where to stand on calibration. If the majority of the people who view your photos do it on their home PCs with un-calibrated monitors is there any point to calibrating yours?

For example me work machine shows images very differently to my home (semi-calibrated) machine.

Shoei · 14 Nov 2006 at 13:07

^^Gord^^ said:
I'm never sure where to stand on calibration. If the majority of the people who view your photos do it on their home PCs with un-calibrated monitors is there any point to calibrating yours?

For example me work machine shows images very differently to my home (semi-calibrated) machine.

Depends if you print out many photos or send them off to be printed.
May look nice on the screen but wrong when printed.

Going a quick google and the pantone can be had for £49 which aint to bad.

valve90210 · 14 Nov 2006 at 13:35

A calibrated monitor is essential when you're doing graphic design work, you don't want someone to agree a colour scheme for a piece of print on screen and it come back from the printers entirely different!!!

Valve

Irish_Tom · 14 Nov 2006 at 13:44

valve90210 said:
A calibrated monitor is essential when you're doing graphic design work, you don't want someone to agree a colour scheme for a piece of print on screen and it come back from the printers entirely different!!!

Forgot to mention I'm a Graphic Design student so this is quite an essential bit of kit for me, not just a bit of willy waving kit for the photography forums...

Panzer

Mohain · 14 Nov 2006 at 14:08

valve90210 said:
A calibrated monitor is essential when you're doing graphic design work, you don't want someone to agree a colour scheme for a piece of print on screen and it come back from the printers entirely different!!!

Valve

[OT]Gawd blimey! I hope you have lots of spare pairs of pants if your sending jobs to print without seeing a contract proof![/OT]

You'd need something more sophisticated than Huey if you want to profile your monitor to presses and/or icc profiles from your printers.

From what I've read Huey seems to be a resonable job for certain monitors but it's an entry level solution. Gotta be better than nothing I guess.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 14 Nov 2006 at 14:10

^^Gord^^ said:
I'm never sure where to stand on calibration. If the majority of the people who view your photos do it on their home PCs with un-calibrated monitors is there any point to calibrating yours?

For example me work machine shows images very differently to my home (semi-calibrated) machine.

Well thats it mate. People will say "looks too dark for me" etc etc and unless your printing out or hoping for industry folk to view your work then it is pretty much pointless.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 14 Nov 2006 at 14:13

Mohain said:
[OT]Gawd blimey! I hope you have lots of spare pairs of pants if your sending jobs to print without seeing a contract proof![/OT]

You'd need something more sophisticated than Huey if you want to profile your monitor to presses and/or icc profiles from your printers.

From what I've read Huey seems to be a reasonable job for certain monitors but it's an entry level solution. Gotta be better than nothing I guess.

Yes the huey is a entry level piece of kit. spyders are good calibration kits (I have one) but if your looking for monitor/print calibration then you could be looking unto £800 for consumer kits that do both and this is a scanner that scans a color configuration sheet for your printer as well as monitor calibration

Strax · 14 Nov 2006 at 16:38

I use my mates Spyder 2. (It can be had for ~£69)

It is invaluable when you are using photobox to print out stuff, as it is very near what you see, in my case 10% extra saturation to the prints produces them exactly as I see on screen.

n30_mkii · 14 Nov 2006 at 19:02

Ive been thinking about getting one of these, as I am starting to do more deesign and photography work. The spyder comes in different versions

Spyder2 Express and pro. Is it the same device with different software? I.e I could upgrade the software in the future to achieve better results, or is it actually a different piece of kit?

Anyone got any reviews of these? £60 is quite a lot just to calibrate my monitor once....Shame you cant hire them or something

glitch · 14 Nov 2006 at 21:33

n30_mkii said:
Ive been thinking about getting one of these, as I am starting to do more deesign and photography work. The spyder comes in different versions

Spyder2 Express and pro. Is it the same device with different software? I.e I could upgrade the software in the future to achieve better results, or is it actually a different piece of kit?

Anyone got any reviews of these? £60 is quite a lot just to calibrate my monitor once....Shame you cant hire them or something

You don't calibrate it once, you calibrate it regularly to ensure consistently accurate results. And it's the same unit but with different software; the Pro has far more options although the Express actually produces more accurate results. I don't think you can buy the software seperately, but it doesn't appear that you would need to...

However the Spyder2 isn't the be-all and end-all of colour profiling, but if you did go for one you'll find the Express is better than both the Pro and the Huey. The Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Color 2 and the LaCie Blue Eye Pro (same unit) are the ones to save for and will guarantee accurate results.

jimblowscash · 27 Dec 2006 at 10:31

n30_mkii said:
Ive been thinking about getting one of these, as I am starting to do more deesign and photography work. The spyder comes in different versions

Spyder2 Express and pro. Is it the same device with different software? I.e I could upgrade the software in the future to achieve better results, or is it actually a different piece of kit?

Anyone got any reviews of these? £60 is quite a lot just to calibrate my monitor once....Shame you cant hire them or something

thats the point you should calibrate your monitor at least twice a week if your doing serious colour work, also light conditions will affect the display in different ways, and if your calibration tool checks for ambient light you will notice a difference during the corse of the day. dont forget leave your monitor turned on for a good half hour before you calibrate.