Monitor calibration - Pantone ColorPlus vs. Spyder

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:33:39 -0400, "Viken Karaguesian"
wrote:

Does anyone have any experience with one or both of the devices? The
ColorPlus seems to be a bare-bones way of generating a custom ICC profile
for my monitor. I don't think it's compatible with the OptiCAL and PhotoCAL
software. The Spyer calibration tool is more advanced and obviously has more
options. Is it worth the extra money to get the Spyder? How do the ICC
profiles interact with software? I use Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 most often. I
assume the ICC profile that's created is installed as the default monitor
profile for Windows.

Personally, I wouldn't touch the ColorPlus and I'd suggest you take a
look at Gretag MacBeth.


P.S. Thanks nikita and Hecate for your input on my last posts!!

Thanks. Here we go again! ;-)

--

Hecate

veni, vidi, reliqui

I believe both ColorPlus and Spyder use the same hardware sensor, with the
difference being in the software and the included Adobe software. Here is a
comparison of their products.
http://www.colorvision.com/profis/pr...iew.jsp?id=281 You will notice
the ColorPlus has only preset gamma and whitepoint. I use the SpyderPro
having the ColorCal software, so I can't comment on the ColorPlus. The
created profile is normally saved as the default monitor profile in Windows.

"Viken Karaguesian" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any experience with one or both of the devices? The
ColorPlus seems to be a bare-bones way of generating a custom ICC profile
for my monitor. I don't think it's compatible with the OptiCAL and
PhotoCAL
software. The Spyer calibration tool is more advanced and obviously has
more
options. Is it worth the extra money to get the Spyder? How do the ICC
profiles interact with software? I use Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 most often.
I
assume the ICC profile that's created is installed as the default monitor
profile for Windows.

"Hecate" wrote in message
...
Thanks. Here we go again! ;-)

I hope not! :) Actually, things are getting less frustrating. The original
ICC profile that came with my monitor had 2.9 as the gamma setting! The
funny thing is that 2.9 was actually darker than 2.2! That struck me as
weird. So I changed the gamma to 2.2 and re-did the ICC profile.

Before, I felt like I was resurrecting poor scans of perfectly good slides.
Now that I got my monitor calibrated better, my scans are much better from
the get-go. The preview scan actually looks like the slide! :) Now all I
need to do in PSP8 is to do a histogram touch-up. What I'm doing now is
scanning the slide using the AdobeRGB color space setting in the Minolta
Scan Dual II's software. I've turned off color management in PSP8 and
Photoshop 6. I'm not sure if this is "right" but it seems to be working.

As you probably already know, adjusting the monitor using the Adobe Gamma
utility is not very exact. I can adjust the R,G, and B gamma sliders a dozen
times and still not end up at the same spot twice. That's why I'm looking
for a monitor calibrator. I'll take a look at Gretag MacBeth and see what
options they have. Thanks again for the advice.

Viken

Or, simply buy a sRGB calibrated monitor that works right out of the box
w/o tweaking...

Already went through the laborious Spyder hell, and found that it really
doesn't do anything here for me -- just an expensive product that does
'nothing' for my monitor or needs - it simply never got the picture to
look more accurate or colorful as I have it now on default srgb mode....

http://www.silverace.com/dottyspotty/issue13.html

Issue 13
Color Management and Calibration - True color matching ever possible?
4 January 2004

Many programs and tools are sold today which claim to 'calibrate'
and 'manage' your monitor, printer, scanner, and other output devices
more accurately than before. One of the benefits often advertised is
that 'what you print will look like what you see on the monitor'.

To 'calibrate' a device is to measure the output of color when
given a known input value, and to record the difference for future
reference. Thus, if the computer wants to produce a very dark blue, but
the monitor produces a slightly lighter blue, the 'calibration' will
make a note of this difference.

To 'manage' a device is to make sure it produces colors as close as
possible to what is being requested of it. Thus, following the case
above, if the computer knows the monitor produces a lighter blue than it
is told to, the computer will 'adjust' for this difference by sending an
even darker blue to produce, one which will look as close to the correct
value of blue as possible.

Quite sadly, no product on this planet in existence today can
properly match what you see in print vs. what you see on the monitor.
This is not a fault of the products, but instead physical, absolute
reality -- the printer can make colors that no monitor can produce; the
monitor can produce colors that no printer can produce.

This means, quite simply, that if you want a product to help you
match what you see on the screen to the print exactly, you can't.

This does not mean you cannot use a color calibration & management
tool to help you match and edit colors. Rather, you must still use your
judgement to adjust what you see on the screen to what you want to print.

Color calibration does produce the benefit where you can rely on a
stable, consistent output where images viewed on it don't look too pink
one day, then too blue another day. In commerical press applications
where thousands of books and publications must be printed to match in
color, color management and calibration products are a must.

BUT, for the home consumer today, such devices are not necessary,
and the marginal benefits are usually not worth the hundreds of dollars
spent on the products and time required to use them.

Why?

Simple! The introduction of sRGB gamut, LCD monitors, and sRGB
calibrated scanners, printers, and monitors.

The most critical device is the monitor. If you see something with
a slight color cast on a monitor, your eye quickly adjusts for this and
you soon lose awareness of this color cast. (You can try this by looking
at a white piece of paper indoors, then walking outdoors into bright
sunlight and noting the color of the paper with a slight color cast in
the first few moments.)

Luckily, almost all LCD montiors today are calibrated to the sRGB
color gamut, and even without further calibration and management, they
closely match the expected colors (usually with 90-95%+ accuracy, even
for cheap LCD monitors). If you use a LCD monitor, you can expect most
colors to be true and accurate to your images (usually, digital camera
images and scanner scans that also use the sRGB gamut).

Because the print color gamut and monitor color gamut will
physically never match, you won't see significant improvements by using
a 3rd party color calibration and management device, and you could
achieve excellent print results on your own - since in either case, you
still must make the subjective judgement regarding how you must adjust
what you see on the screen to produce the print you would like.