What's a good monitor colour callibrating device?

[gregbradley]

I bought a new laptop and the colour was off. I adjusted it manually which is better but I don't think I have it right yet.

Any suggestions about colour callibration hardware?

I remember a post about a Spyder 3. Any good?

Greg.

[allan gould]

I'm interested in this too Greg, but looking for a cheap answer because I'm sure my wife is going to see just how much I've spent in the last month when I said there was nothing else I need.

[Steffen]

Laptops screens do not lend themselves well to calibration. They have a very limited gamut and the graphics controller's look-up table (which is used to pull the screen's colour output close enough to acceptable) has a limited bit depth, too. An entry level screen calibration device like a Spyder or even a Huey will do just fine to get you into the right ballpark. If you buy a used older one make sure it explicitly supports LCD screens.

Apart from that, there are pretty good contrast, brightness and RGB gamma test images that can be used to adjust the screen colour and dynamic range, provided the graphics driver provides the necessary knobs to play with.

Using a hardware colorimeter has the added benefit that it lets you create a colour profile for your screen, which colour management aware graphic/photo/video software can use to ensure the best possible colour reproduction on your screen.

Cheers
Steffen.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

I've got a Spyder 3. Simple to use.

[h0ughy (David)]

the spyder pro3 or the elite - fully recommend it

[RB (Andrew)]

I've been using the Spyder as well.
I too highly recommend the Spyder3 Pro/elite.
You'll be amazed at the difference it makes Greg.
Check out the thread I posted about monitor calibration a while back.

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Check this one out: http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/index.html and also here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[MattH (Matt)]

Hi,
I have been using for a couple of years i1Display 2 produced by X-Rite. It works great on Eizo monitors. It also works on laptops but, as already explained, not too much can be done here. I have also got ColorMunki Photo (X-Rite). I was not happy with monitor calibration but it allows one to calibrate a printer and the results were very good. I believe that X-Rite have released a newer version of software for ColorMunki, so perhaps monitor calibration works better.
Regards,
Matt

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by RB

I've been using the Spyder as well.
I too highly recommend the Spyder3 Pro/elite.
You'll be amazed at the difference it makes Greg.
Check out the thread I posted about monitor calibration a while back.

Thanks for that. Were you callibrating a laptop or a separate monitor?
Perhaps I should get a separate monitor and run it off my laptop.

Originally Posted by Visionoz

Check this one out: http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/index.html and also here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

HTH
Cheers
Bill

Thanks Bill.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

the spyder pro3 or the elite - fully recommend it

Seems to come up the most. Thanks.

Originally Posted by troypiggo

I've got a Spyder 3. Simple to use.

Thanks for that.

Originally Posted by Steffen

Laptops screens do not lend themselves well to calibration. They have a very limited gamut and the graphics controller's look-up table (which is used to pull the screen's colour output close enough to acceptable) has a limited bit depth, too. An entry level screen calibration device like a Spyder or even a Huey will do just fine to get you into the right ballpark. If you buy a used older one make sure it explicitly supports LCD screens.

Apart from that, there are pretty good contrast, brightness and RGB gamma test images that can be used to adjust the screen colour and dynamic range, provided the graphics driver provides the necessary knobs to play with.

Using a hardware colorimeter has the added benefit that it lets you create a colour profile for your screen, which colour management aware graphic/photo/video software can use to ensure the best possible colour reproduction on your screen.

Cheers
Steffen.

Very informative, thanks.

Originally Posted by MattH

Hi,
I have been using for a couple of years i1Display 2 produced by X-Rite. It works great on Eizo monitors. It also works on laptops but, as already explained, not too much can be done here. I have also got ColorMunki Photo (X-Rite). I was not happy with monitor calibration but it allows one to calibrate a printer and the results were very good. I believe that X-Rite have released a newer version of software for ColorMunki, so perhaps monitor calibration works better.
Regards,
Matt

I guess that is the question now. My new laptop has an LED screen like the upmarket TVs. I went through the callibration software already on it and it is better already as it had a blue cast. But I don't think it is spot on and definitely makes images look somewhat different.

Greg.