Purchase Questions

[idaho32]

I am in the market for a device to calibrate my monitor.  Currently I am using my 17"MBP but in the near future I will be getting a 24"+ monitor.  Here is my problem, I don't understand the differences between the i1Display2, i1Pro and the Colormunki.  I have searched but I find myself getting more and more confused about the differences and merits of each.  If someone could help me out or point me to some good reading material that would be much appreciated.  Colormeter, Spectrophotometer, match3 software, all of this is confusing me.  

Thanks in advance, I hope this makes sense.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Colorimeters only take readings on 3 color channels, red, green, and blue. They can only calibrate monitors, and then only monitors whose RGB primaries match their internal color filters. Their only virtue is their low price. A spectrophotometer like the i1 takes readings at 10-nanometer intervals, so it can profile any kind of monitor, and printers and other devices as well, with greater accuracy than a colorimeter. But it costs a lot more.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

What Jonathan says is correct. I'd just add a my two cents:

1) Colorimeters can be very good if they are matched to the screen in question. So if you can buy a colorimeter made for your screen than it may be optimal.
2) Spectrometers are universally usable , but may lack sensibility according to an article by Karl Lang, who is a great authority on screen calibration.
3) The Color Munky is essentially a dumbed down Spectrometer, good hardware but not very sophisticated software

The software is perfectly usable, but it is not as flexible as more expensive packages.

Here is Karl Lang's article: http://www.lumita.com/site_media/work/whit...xrite-wp-3a.pdf

A small reservation: Now that we have LED backlighted wide-gamut LCDs, spectrometers may have grater advantage than at the time the article was written.

Best regards
Erik

Colorimeters only take readings on 3 color channels, red, green, and blue. They can only calibrate monitors, and then only monitors whose RGB primaries match their internal color filters. Their only virtue is their low price. A spectrophotometer like the i1 takes readings at 10-nanometer intervals, so it can profile any kind of monitor, and printers and other devices as well, with greater accuracy than a colorimeter. But it costs a lot more.

[idaho32]

From what I have gathered thus far, the i1Display 2 device is a colorimeter and the i1Pro device included in the i1Basic kit is spectrophotometer.  The spectrophotometer is more precise then the colorimeter?  

Can you upgrade to better software with the Colormunki?  If so, does the price start getting close to the i1Basic kit?  In comparison between the Colormunki and i1Basic which is better?

[Alan Goldhammer]

From what I have gathered thus far, the i1Display 2 device is a colorimeter and the i1Pro device included in the i1Basic kit is spectrophotometer.  The spectrophotometer is more precise then the colorimeter?  

Can you upgrade to better software with the Colormunki?  If so, does the price start getting close to the i1Basic kit?  In comparison between the Colormunki and i1Basic which is better?

If you purchase a NEC wide gamut monitor you can also get their SpectraView software and a specially calibrated I1Display.  Profiling is extremely easy with this set up.  You can also use the ColorMunki with the software and get virtually the same results.  The added advantage is the Munki can also be used to profile paper.  If you don't mind a slightly smaller display the NEC P221 is a wonderful unit (I have one) and is less costly than a 24 incher.

Alan

[Pat Herold]

More tidbits of info:

Since a spectro reads more bands, it will tend to be more accurate, but it will at the same time be more noisy in reading dark patches - therefore a spectro will tend to not reproduce shadow detail well.  Colorimeters will tend to do better in giving you shadow detail, but some will have problems with the saturated colors in the newer wide gamut displays unless they are specifically tuned to work with them.

The "rub" with the Munki is that it is not upgradable, and few third-party software packages work with it.  It looks like SpectraView does and the Eizo ColorNavigator software does, but then you'd have to buy their monitors of course.