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The benchmark monitor calibrator. Fast, accurate, easy to use, works with everything and very reliable.
This is the best monitor calibrator on the market today. It's very fast, very accurate, works with every display technology and is just generally awesome.
We strongly recommend this calibrator to all image makers. The accuracy of this device has been independently tested and found to be an order of magnitude ahead of older calibrators (such as the Eye One Display 1 & 2 and all Datacolor Spyders models).
It has been specifically designed to cope with modern monitors - such as those with LED backlighting (like iMacs/Cinema Displays) and Wide Gamut screens (these days, most monitors).
As the industry standard, these are by far the most compatible calibrators on the market:
Highly reliable - to date we've not seen a single failed unit - something the other brands simply can't live up to.
Quite simply it is hard to see a reason to buy any other monitor calibrator.
Calibrator Technology
Colorimeter
Display Technology Support
CRT
LCD (CCFL Backlight)
LCD (LED Backlight)
OLED
Plasma
Front Projector
Multiple Display Support?
Please note: Specifications are provided as a guide only.
We try very hard to keep these up to date and correct, but if a particular specification is really critical to you, then please double check the specification directly with the manufacturer. Some features may of course have caveats not fully described here.
To get more information about a particular specification, use the arrow to get a 'Specxplanation'.
Calibrators come in two main types:
Colorimeters - can only read light emitting devices, like monitors. They are generally the best (and most affordable) option for calibration monitors. Essentially these are like simple digital cameras with a sensor and some filters in front of the sensor to separate the different colours of light.
Spectrophotometers - These measure the actual spectral wavelengths of light. They have their own light source so can handle both light emitting devices like monitors and reflective materials like paper. They're very good at print but not as good as colorimeters for monitors generally, as the commonly available models tend to have some difficulty reading deep shadows on monitors.
A third type 'Spectrocolorimeter' - is something Datacolor came up with in their print calibrators. We at Image Science are ...not huge fans.
Here's a more comprehensive overview of the different types of calibrators (paraphrased from the ColorSync mailing list!):
1) Radiometer is a sort of light meter for some assumed spectrum; could be any electro magnetic radiation (EMR). If it is used for photography it's literally called a Light Metre.
2) Spectrometer is a radiometer that can report spectral power distributions, e.g., the EMR contour of a spectra. This is classically about a prism, hot objects and the visible signatures of their elemental constituents. But also could be about any range of EMR.
3) Spectroradiometer - measurement of precise energy distributions across a spectra. This is about knowing not only the spectral distribution, but exactly how much power is being conveyed.
4) Spectrophotometer, is an application of a spectrometer for evaluating spectral power distribution in range of visual sensation. In domain of Colorsync Users, this tends to be optimised for reflective media, but such a distinction is application dependent.
5) Colorimeter, a device that reports tri-stimulus colorimetric (e.g, CIEXYZ) coordinates of spectra; optimised under an assumption of RGB emissive media, i.e. display technologies
These last two are applications most relate to colorimetry, whereas the former three apply to many other EMR domains. So if you're a physicist or chemist or radio engineer, for example, you are generally thinking in terms of first 3, and if you are a colour user/engineer you are thinking mostly in terms of the last two.
Calibrators have filters in them and depending on the characteristics of the displays they are measuring, they may or may not support that type of display.
The display types are:
What colour temperarture choices for white point does the system allow you to make?
At a minimum, 6500K and monitor native should be offered. 6500K is the standard whitepoint in general use in the photographic world, and lower end monitors don't like having their whitepoint adjusted so monitor native is the best to use in those cases.
However, ideally you can set any whitepoint you like, so that you can, for instance, adjust your monitor to look more like specific paper types.
What gammas can you choose when calibrating?
Pretty much everyone should be using 2.2.
Some might want to experiment with L* in some obscure cases.
How many patches are used (measured) in the calibration process? More (to a point) is better from a quality point of view, although it makes the process take longer of course.
200 to 400 patches is generally enough.
Also - can the calibrator target the reproduction of specific colours, such as specific Pantones?
Uniformity is still an issue with modern LCD monitors, especially lower quality ones. Does the calibrator have a system for assessing the screen uniformity?
(Unfortunately there's no system for correcting screen uniformity issues, other than getting a better monitor!)
Can you calibrate multiple monitors connected to the one computer?
Note, even if the calibarator supports this, your system must as well. This means all video cards in your system must have a separate LUT table.
All Macs have this, and most desktop PCs as well. Some PC laptops have single LUT systems although it's been some time since we've seen this actually.
ICC V2 is the most compatible and in fact for monitors there's really no practical benefit to ICC V4 support really.
In general, table based profiles are more accurate than matrix profiles, so this is desirable.
Devices with a monitor history report can show you how the behaviour of your screen is changing over time.
This can be useful in diagnosing issues and planning hardware upgrades.
Will the system give you a report on the quality of your monitor?
Measuring a monitor's quality with the same device you used to calibrate it is of dubious benefit, though - as any error is likely to be repeated, so the device might well report that things are fine when they are not.
Can you use the calibrator with an app on your Apple i device or Android device?
Note, this will allow you to display calibrated images within that app only - there is no general support for colour management on mobiles/tablets yet.
DisplayCAL is an open source application built on top of the excellent argyll cms open source colour management system.
It is available for Linux, Windows and OSX.
It's an extremely good calibration package, in many ways better than the manufacturer's own software, and well worth checking out - see this comprehensive page for details.
Often DisplayCAL can be used to rescue older calibrators when the manufacturer has stopped supporting legacy operating systems.
Please Note:
We keep these details up to date to the best of our knowledge.
However if a particular item is of special importance to you please also check the manufacturer's listing for the product.
You will get:
Confused about something, or just want some human to human advice?
Send us a question about this product.
We answer all enquiries, and promptly too!
You're also very welcome to ring us on 03 9329 4522 if you prefer.
Note this form is for pre-purchase enquiries, or support enquiries if you have bought this product from us. If you have bought this product from another supplier then please contact that supplier for support.
At Image Science we support what we sell & we really mean that.
You're welcome to call on us for help - how to, technical support, troubleshooting, general tips - for the entire lifetime of the product.
With an unmatched track record for support, for more than 20 years in this industry, you can be sure we're not just a box moving store.
Image Science is an authorised X-Rite reseller. We've been selling and supporting X-Rite / Gretag Macbeth equipment since 2001.
The X-Rite warranty is a standard 12 months from date of purchase warranty.
Over the last two decades, we have found their products to be super reliable. (In particular, unlike some other brands, their monitor calibrators are built to last). X-Rite also have a very solid track record of long term software support for their devices.
That works a treat! Very impressive results! Both PC and Mac, CRT and LCD, all works very well.
- Richard M
I had previously purchased an older model of the calibrator from Image Science and had been very happy with it. I decided I needed to upgrade in order to profile both my 27” NEC MultiSync monitor (also from Image Science) and my 27”iMac. As always the service was quick and efficient. I am very satisfied with the calibrator and also the free custom profile that I used to profile my German Etching paper that I had recently transitioned too. The profile was spot on and I am very pleased with the resultant prints. Saving me a considerable amount in Epson inks. I have had occasion to phone Image Science with various queries and have always found that they go out of their way to solve any problems I may have. An excellent company to deal with - they know their stuff.
- Stephen H