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Author Topic: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?  (Read 3898 times)

sbay

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Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« on: July 03, 2017, 12:30:24 pm »

I have an old i1 display calibrator (version 2). It must be at least 7 years old because I remember x-rite orphaning it due to Mac OS X dropping rosetta support and then coming out with a "special" edition of their software for intel cpus.

So two questions:

(1) How do I know that the profiles generated are still accurate? my first i1 had some kind of failure and made the profile totally wonky. But if the profile was only a little off due to some kind of gradual degradation I might not notice.

(2) Is there any benefit to getting a new calibrator? (either because of hardware or software improvements). Although X-Rite has newer versions of their software available for download, I can't use since it doesn't support my calibrator. I'm still using the special version (i1ProfilerD2LionEdition) that is many years old.

howardm

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2017, 01:13:02 pm »

if the profiles were accurate, then they are still accurate.  Once created, it's a static/unchanging file.

You could try the ArgyllCMS software to drive the device.

Rhossydd

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2017, 01:28:50 pm »

if the profiles were accurate, then they are still accurate.  Once created, it's a static/unchanging file.
It's unlikely to still be accurate as displays change(degrade) with time. That's why the general recommendation is to regularly re-profile displays.

Whether is worth buying new hardware is difficult to know, much will depend on just how accurate you need to your system to be.
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howardm

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2017, 01:54:33 pm »

By the OPs original message, I thought he meant whether the profile itself would 'change' not considering any long-term display aging.

sbay

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2017, 02:04:48 pm »

Sorry to clarify my point #1, I'm asking about whether the i1 display calibrator itself is still capable of generating an accurate profile. If it were to experience some kind of soft failure in the hardware making it less accurate, how would I know?

I just downloaded displayCal (argyllCMS) and I'm starting to play with that. But it's a little concerning because the i1 software is saying my screen is right at 120 cd/m^2 whereas display cal is reporting 130+ (in the exact same position, same LCD brightness setting). I didn't expect this much disagreement.

GWGill

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2017, 07:26:12 pm »

Sorry to clarify my point #1, I'm asking about whether the i1 display calibrator itself is still capable of generating an accurate profile.
The GMB i1 Display 1 & 2 were never a great instrument, and a real step backwards compared to the X-Rite DTP92/94 - but they were cheap. They have a reputation for the filters changing over time, so I would be cautious about an old instruments accuracy until you have verified it in some way. If you find that calibrating and profiling your display is of value, then do yourself a favor and buy an i1d3 (aka i1 Display Pro)!

I've found that the absolute brightness calibration of instruments is rather variable, and there seem to have been some significant shifts in either the testing methology or standards being used by instrument manufacturers over the years (+/- 30%), so I wouldn't be too alarmed about  noticing differences in absolute luminance numbers.
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Rhossydd

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2017, 03:50:02 am »

I would be cautious about an old instruments accuracy until you have verified it in some way.
There's the problem. DIY checks are likely to be unreliable, but sending old instruments back to X-Rite is likely to be either too expensive or impossible due to lack of legacy support.

What's needed is an affordable service to check and verify CM hardware. Anyone know of anywhere ??
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GWGill

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2017, 04:07:01 am »

What's needed is an affordable service to check and verify CM hardware. Anyone know of anywhere ??
Seems unlikely - what's the point of spending half the cost of a new colorimeter, to verify an old one ?
(And that's what I'm guessing anyone who was competent enough to do it, would want to charge to make it worth their while.)
« Last Edit: July 04, 2017, 07:57:42 pm by GWGill »
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sbay

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2017, 12:47:40 pm »

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess I'll put getting a new puck on my equipment purchase list.

Xrite does have an i1 diagnostic program that I downloaded, but as far as I can tell it's only verifying that the puck is able to return some numbers, but not the accuracy of those numbers.

Seems unlikely - what's the point of spending half the cost of a new colorimeter, to verify and old one ?

Even with a new puck, I'd like some independent way of checking it's accuracy.

Tim Lookingbill

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2017, 06:03:29 pm »

If your display is backlit with LED or fluorescent whose color gamut is around sRGB, the Colormunki Display is a good bargain and works with Rosetta (mine OS 10.6.8/2010 MacMini).

I've calibrated my $330 27" LED LG I bought at Best Buy using the Colormunki and get decent screen to print matches even with a Fuji Frontier dry lab at Walmart with sRGB images.

Colormunki's colorimeter is very high quality. I keep it in a black zippered camera bag in my drawer away from light and humidity. Still works great.
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scyth

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2017, 06:41:12 pm »

I'd like some independent way of checking it's accuracy.
make friends with somebody who owns a ~lab grade spectroradiometer...
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GWGill

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Re: Old i1 display calibrator -- is it still good?
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2017, 08:06:11 pm »

If your display is backlit with LED or fluorescent whose color gamut is around sRGB, the Colormunki Display is a good bargain and works with Rosetta (mine OS 10.6.8/2010 MacMini).
Those on a strict budget might like to consider a ColorMunki Smile. It may physically resemble the i1d1 and i1d2, and isn't as flexible or fast as the i1d3, but it appears to have a much better set of filters in it. The main drawback is very limited options with the supplied software. You can overcome some of those limitations using 3rd party applications though :-)
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