I am using a SpectraView Reference 271 and a SpectraView Reference 301 monitor. This are PA monitor from NEC that come with a certification from basICColor about their performance and with the possibility to hardware-calibrate the monitor using the Profiler software from basICColor.
I am also using a Discus device and I also own the NEC version of the EyeOne Display 2. I think that the SVR301 and the SV271 perform in a very similar way. Talking about “quality” and not size the main difference is that the SVR301 has a slightly wider gamut (impossible to notice without the numbers) and the SV271 a better black point (noticeable if you are working in a very dark environment).
Here you can see the validation of both monitors:
And here is a graphic and numerical comparison made in ColorThink Pro:
Reading both certification that I have from basICColor of the 2 display I would say that they are consistent in the same way. In my case the 271 is a little bit worse than the 301.
I give you my 2 cents also about other points.
1) I noticed a big improvement in the quality of the profile and on the quality on the calibration using the Discus device. I own and use a Spectrolino, an i1Pro rev D, a ColorMunki, an i1Display 2 with NEC matrix and other stuff, but I never got the same results that I am getting with the Discus. I don’t understand French, but if you go to 1:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7usvCURw9s you will see the same difference that I saw in the gradients. And this is not the only difference that you will see if you use a Discus. I don’t know anything about the new hardware from X-Rite and I will test it soon. At the moment I can only recommend the Discus.
2) There are many discussion about the European SpectraView monitor that I am using. Somebody say that they are useless at all; somebody will say that they will love them because of the software and now because of the Discus (at the moment you can use it only with basICColor software). I had many discussion with the SpectraView/basICColor tech support and I could never get an answer about the quality of the display that they use comparing it to the “medium quality” of the same display. I’ll try to be a little bit more clear: basICColor in Europe takes monitor from Nec and hand-pinks the “best” monitors (monitors that pass their tests, including uniformity tests) and then modifies them to allow the user to use basICColor software to hardware-calibrate the screen. Now the problem is that nobody really know what “best” means. Maybe all monitor will pass the certification (because they are all good). Maybe not. Now what I discovered speaking with them (but I really don’t know how much this can be true) is that the 241 and 271 monitor have usually no problems to pass the test. The 301 can have problems, and they pick “not a lot of units”. So what I think (I repeat: this is just what I think, and maybe is not true) is that some 301 monitor could not behave in the same way mine behaves and this is maybe why you can read on some reviews online that the 301 is not as good as the 271.
3) For this monitors (271 and 301) in my opinion the best device is the Discus. Then comes the NEC i1Display2, then the i1Pro RevD, then the ColorMunky Photo. The spectros in my opinion give bad results in dark areas. If you are using this monitors (capable of a deep black) with a consumer-grade spectrophotometer you will probably get unwanted colour casts in the darkest area of your images.
