X-Rite calibration devices... Beware!

LeeC22 · 3 May 2014 at 13:47

This is just a heads up for anyone using, or looking for a calibration device.

I bought my X-Rite i1 LT a few years back, and all of a sudden, it has failed. It has had very little use, maybe 2 calibrations per year at the most. When I contacted X-Rite, they said (and I quote) "The i1 display LT / 2 used to have organic filters inside which are aging with the time, and it can lead to color shifts after some time (4 to 5 years, depending on the storage of the device)."

What that means, is no matter how little you use it, the device will degrade and fail. Anyone looking to sell on their device, is potentially selling a ticking timebomb, that will fail at any time. Anyone looking to buy a device, would be well advised to steer well clear of used devices, as again, they could fail at any time. If you happen to buy old stock, you could be buying a device near to the end of its life, and have no way of knowing.

I personally think it was well out of order, to sell a device that they knew would degrade to the point of failure, without any warning or notification. To me, any device with organic content, no matter how small, should be clearly labelled with an advisory warning, that the device will fail after a finite period of time... even to the point of having a "use by date". I know I wouldn't have bought a device costing £100, if I knew it had this problem.

So beware, make sure you do some thorough checking before you spend money on a calibration device. I know Lacie use the same GretagMacbeth devices, so they might just suffer from the same problem. Apparently, X-Rite devices now use different filters... and you can see why.

Baddass · 3 May 2014 at 14:25

In what way has your device failed? What they are talking about is shifts in accuracy over time, not something which would stop it working completely. If its stopped then that should be grounds for a return or fix

andybird123 · 3 May 2014 at 16:16

Erm, for a calibration device, a shift in accuracy IS a failure, particularly if the manufacturer are now admitting that they used a substandard part that will gradually degrade

It would be like buying a scale calibration weight made of organic material that degrades over time - as soon as it no longer weighs the reference weight it is useless

Baddass · 3 May 2014 at 16:33

Minor variances over time aren't a major problem and you can expect that from most colorimeter devices. That's the nature of them but those variances don't necessarily make them faulty. In fact if you want to get into that conversation there's also the question of instrument accuracy in the first place (is an i1 Display 2 better than and i1 pro, a spyder3, a spyder4 etc). they aren't all the same. Also there's then inter-instrument variation and many devices even of the same type and from the same batch can produce quite different readings and results.

For a typical consumer device designed to help set up a screen to tr individuals liking and perhaps calibrate between different devices these kind of calorimeters are fine. Them changing slightly over time doesn't cause a noticeable difference in results

It just sounded from the first post like there was a total failure of the device. Otherwise the user wouldn't have called x-rite I assume as they wouldn't have known about minor variations caused by ageing

andybird123 · 3 May 2014 at 18:32

If minor then yes, but from what the OP is saying, its causing a major shift and xrite are admitting they used a part they shouldn't have and have subsequently changed it, but if you're out of warranty then tough

David Bisset · 3 May 2014 at 18:42

I've yet to hear of any calibration device that doesn't get less accurate with time to be honest. Also, a part being different in a later model isn't the same as 'it should not have been like that when we made it the first time' ... was the replacement part available for a similar cost when they built it, with as proven track record of performance over time? If not then it wasn't a flaw.

If it's a significant degradation then it's a useful thread to warn those who may think of getting a second-hand one of these for sure. I've no idea what the warranty on one of these is like, but to say it's a 'ticking time bomb' is getting a bit over the top, I mean every purchase is the same as things break, age, fail etc.

Baddass · 3 May 2014 at 19:34

andybird123 said:
If minor then yes, but from what the OP is saying, its causing a major shift and xrite are admitting they used a part they shouldn't have and have subsequently changed it, but if you're out of warranty then tough

I read it that it had totally stopped working prompting a call to x-rite who then blamed it on normal degradation. But I suspect it's actually stopped altogether rather than minor accuracy shifts. We need the original
Poster to confirm really

julianhj · 3 May 2014 at 21:09

Hmm, I've got one of these X-rites (i1 Display 2 I think) - we've definitely noticed it's not as effective or accurate as it used to be. Cheers for the info.

mrk · 4 May 2014 at 01:37

Not noticed any differences in my i1D2 over the years. It gets used several times a year (multiple screens) and flicking through the ICC profiles in Windows you can see that either the panel or the probe has shifted. I'm going to hedge a bet and say the monitors shifting is far greater than the probe because the calibrated results look spot on to me each time. I use Lacie's software for calibration and reporting which I've always found to produce the most accurate results on paper and to the eye.

Baddass · 4 May 2014 at 09:40

Note that the calibration result reports will still always tell you that targets have been met, low dE etc. it's just that it the instrument is not as accurate or has faded through time then its readings might not be as reliable

V F · 4 May 2014 at 14:15

It's the reason they created the i1 Display Pro. It's a sealed unit so nothing can get to the optics.

I think it's the same for the ColorMunki Display. http://www.xrite.com/colormunki-display

Plus the professionals usually own some variant of the i1 Pro 1 or 2 so they can profile the i1 Display Pro incase it does drift. They profile it anyway, as it's incredibly accurate but costs over £1,100 give or take.

mrk · 4 May 2014 at 15:22

I suppose at the end of it if the report shows a good calibration and visually the colours look like what you'd expect then that's all fine. You'd only really know what visually looks accurate after flicking between multiple calibrations over a period of time of recalibration though really.

andybird123 · 4 May 2014 at 18:06

mrk said:
I suppose at the end of it if the report shows a good calibration and visually the colours look like what you'd expect then that's all fine. You'd only really know what visually looks accurate after flicking between multiple calibrations over a period of time of recalibration though really.

The report will always show a "good" calibration because the calibration process and the report are using the same sensor, if your eye is good enough to be able to make that kind of judgement call knowing your sensor may be faulty then you may as well save a hundred quid and just do the calibration with calibration prints / disc

V F · 5 May 2014 at 08:38

mrk said:
I suppose at the end of it if the report shows a good calibration and visually the colours look like what you'd expect then that's all fine. You'd only really know what visually looks accurate after flicking between multiple calibrations over a period of time of recalibration though really.

Our eyes can be fooled and the panel will have aged with usage as with all the other parts of the displays circuits. That then doesn't match up with the time it was profiled there and then.

There's lots of articles explaining how our eyes can't be trusted.

Silent_Scone · 5 May 2014 at 08:43

I can't speak for the monitor profilers but the X-rite printer profiler has been a god send for me.. Works flawlessly and it's at least 4 years old. The i1 I think it's called.

LeeC22 · 6 May 2014 at 02:21

Sorry, missed all these responses... the notifications don't seem to be working.

I've got a picture showing showing the before and after shots. This isn't a minor variation... this is a failure to the point of it being useless.

If I had just a single monitor, then I probably wouldn't have been bothered as much, but this device is essential for matching the pair of NEC 20WGX2 Pro monitors I have got. They have always had a slight variation in colour, and this used to cure that problem. Now I've got a case where both monitors are not only wrongly calibrated, but are both very different in colour.

Arcane · 6 May 2014 at 10:55

I can't even use mine any more, they stopped updating the software with Win 7.

mrk · 6 May 2014 at 11:02

Which probe? Lacie's software works up to Windows 7/8 IIRC, I have the last version for the i1D2.

Also just a thought, the i1D2 comes with an ambient light sensor, when clamped on to the probe the holes where the sensors are are sealed up and as it's surrounded by padding no external elements can come in. that and I keep the whole thing in a zip up neoprone pouch anyway means double the protection.

Might explain why mine is still running fine so far. I know some have mentioned various bits above but I think mine definitely is still accurate. I've had Spyder3/4 probes and a ColorMunki as upgrade routes given the lack of software updates to the d2 and was never entirely happy with the results I got from those though Lacie's software wasn’t compatible with those and I wasn’t a fan of the x-rite software calibrations either.

LeeC22 · 6 May 2014 at 11:18

Arcane said:
I can't even use mine any more, they stopped updating the software with Win 7.

Does it work in Vista? If so, try running a virtual PC through VMWare Player running Vista. Run the calibration software in that, then copy the created profile into Windows 7... I think that should work. Not ideal, but it might get you the ability to use your device again.

You don't to use Vista for more than an hour or so, so you won't need to activate it.

LeeC22 · 6 May 2014 at 11:25

mrk said:
Also just a thought, the i1D2 comes with an ambient light sensor, when clamped on to the probe the holes where the sensors are are sealed up and as it's surrounded by padding no external elements can come in.

That's exactly how I keep mine, attached to the light sensor, sat on my desk. The problem is, with organic degradation, elements getting in isn't the cause of the problem. Organic material simply degrades over time... which is why tinned foods have "use by" dates. You can't prevent it from happening... although storing in a vacuum might work.