Spectrocam and Argyll CMS

[rschlierbeck]

I apologize up front if this is a ridiculous question.

I have a Spectrocam spectrophotometer that I purchased some years ago. In the days of Windows XP I found that Using the Spectrocam with Colorblind ProveIt gave me the best monitor calibrations I could get on my budget. However those days are gone and now with Windows 7 Colorblind ProveIt isn't supported and Argyll doesn't support the Spectrocam. Even Coloreyes told me to forget about the Spectrocam.

My question is: is anyone still using a Spectrocam and if so has anyone found a way to use it to calibrate and profile a display under Windows 7? I still successfully use this device to measure ink patches but have no idea if it can be used to calibrate and profile a display.

Scott

[Ernst Dinkla]

Next to ProveIt! there are more applications that supported the SpectroCam for display calibration but ArgyllCMS never did. I still have a SpectroCam but decided to get an Eye1 Basic as the SpectroCam is no longer present in the Avantes catalog either so it is really fading away. Check some old web pages of the SpectroCam for the software that supported it, if I am not mistaken Monaco's Profiler/Proof versions should still work with a SpectroCam on the latest OSses. An alternative could be a Spyder 3 + DispcalGUI for display calibration. There has been a good thread here on the best hardware for display calibration.

met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst


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[rschlierbeck]

Ernst,

Thank you for the reply.

I have a Spyder 2 that I am using with Argyll and the profiles seem generally good but do suffer from Black Crush. Might not be the fault of the device. Most likely it's the monitor's ability to display shadows. But I recall calibrations done with the Spectrocam being better than those I did with the Spyder on previous OSs.

The Spectrocam disappeared in the US shortly after it's introduction. I think it was a patent issue.

I think that I can use it with Argyll if I measure all the patches manually and feed the data to the application. Before I go to that trouble I will take your advice and search for other calibration software that still supports it.

Thank you again.

Scott

[digitaldog]

The Spectrocam disappeared in the US shortly after it's introduction. I think it was a patent issue.

Yup, with GretagMacbeth. I think they got justifiably creamed. I have a Spectrcam too as part of my ever growing color management museum. Sits next to the ColorTron <g>