Really struggling with monitor calibration

[mrnikkel]

Having just started printing a few months back, the thing I'm struggling most with is getting my monitor calibration correct.

I started out buying a Spyder 5 Express, thinking that was all that was needed. But when my initial print results came out much more saturated than I was expecting, I posted here looking for help and was pointed to this article, which I read thoroughly. However, the bundled software with the Spyder 5 express doesn't allow for any of the adjustments mentioned in the article.

After a bit more reading it seemed that the concensus was that Datacolor's software is garbage for all product levels of the Spyder 5, and it was recommended to us 3rd party software DisplayCal instead. Upon downloading and installing DisplayCal though, I found it didn't recognize my Spyder 5. Some more reading, and it turned out I apparently need to install an Argyll CMS driver on the Spider 5. But that process turned out to be a lot more technically involved that apparently I'm capable of.

Now I'm stuck, considering several different options for how to finally get my monitor calibrated correctly. Should I

• Just bite the bullet and upgrade to a more expensive version of the Spyder 5 software that offers the options I need to properly adjust the monitor calibration
• Switch to a different calibration tool that offers a better software package (and if so which one)
• Switch to a calibration tool that's more compatible with DisplayCal

Honestly, I would prefer to get my current Spyder 5 working with DisplayCal. But I'm getting to my limit with the amount of frustration it's causing, and unless there's a simpler way to get it working that I'm just not seeing, I'd probably rather just spend something that will work out of the box without all the headaches it's caused me.

[AlterEgo]

Having just started printing a few months back, the thing I'm struggling most with is getting my monitor calibration correct.

I started out buying a Spyder 5 Express, thinking that was all that was needed. But when my initial print results came out much more saturated than I was expecting, I posted here looking for help and was pointed to this article, which I read thoroughly. However, the bundled software with the Spyder 5 express doesn't allow for any of the adjustments mentioned in the article.

After a bit more reading it seemed that the concensus was that Datacolor's software is garbage for all product levels of the Spyder 5, and it was recommended to us 3rd party software DisplayCal instead. Upon downloading and installing DisplayCal though, I found it didn't recognize my Spyder 5. Some more reading, and it turned out I apparently need to install an Argyll CMS driver on the Spider 5. But that process turned out to be a lot more technically involved that apparently I'm capable of.

Now I'm stuck, considering several different options for how to finally get my monitor calibrated correctly. Should I

• Just bite the bullet and upgrade to a more expensive version of the Spyder 5 software that offers the options I need to properly adjust the monitor calibration
• Switch to a different calibration tool that offers a better software package (and if so which one)
• Switch to a calibration tool that's more compatible with DisplayCal

Honestly, I would prefer to get my current Spyder 5 working with DisplayCal. But I'm getting to my limit with the amount of frustration it's causing, and unless there's a simpler way to get it working that I'm just not seeing, I'd probably rather just spend something that will work out of the box without all the headaches it's caused me.

just buy a proper colorimeter, that is i1Display Pro from X-Rite... not only it is a more consistent hardware than items from DataColor, but argyll (on Windows) does not require it's own USB drivers to work with it = DisplayCAL will be fine

[Mark D Segal]

Or keep your life really easy and buy a complete integrated monitor calibration/profiling package from XRite or BasicColor. You don't say what monitor you are using. If you are using a compatible NEC display you may be able to calibrate it and profile it with their Spectraview software. I suggest you read-up on these options before making a decision - there's lots of material on all of them.

[mrnikkel]

just buy a proper colorimeter, that is i1Display Pro from X-Rite... not only it is a more consistent hardware than items from DataColor, but argyll (on Windows) does not require it's own USB drivers to work with it = DisplayCAL will be fine

Or keep your life really easy and buy a complete integrated monitor calibration/profiling package from XRite or BasicColor. You don't say what monitor you are using. If you are using a compatible NEC display you may be able to calibrate it and profile it with their Spectraview software. I suggest you read-up on these options before making a decision - there's lots of material on all of them.

Thank you both for the feedback. My only hesitation here is that both of these options are a rather large jump in price from what I had been looking at. Do any of the cheaper options (such as the ColorMunki products) give good results (either on their own or with DisplayCal), or am I just running the risk of the same frustrations I'm having with the Spyder 5 if I stay below $250?

[Mark D Segal]

Thank you both for the feedback. My only hesitation here is that both of these options are a rather large jump in price from what I had been looking at. Do any of the cheaper options (such as the ColorMunki products) give good results (either on their own or with DisplayCal), or am I just running the risk of the same frustrations I'm having with the Spyder 5 if I stay below $250?

I suggest looking up reviews and user opinions re ColorMunki, with which you can also use the XRite software designed for it. I have no direct experience with it. If you will be doing a fair amount of printing and the reliability and predictability of what will emerge from the printer relative to what you see on the display is important to you, you could save a lot of aggravation and money in wasted paper and ink which are costly, if you start out with a sufficient quality of colour management tools, even if it will cost some more up front. A properly calibrated and profiled monitor is really important - it's the window into all your imaging work.

[mrnikkel]

you could save a lot of aggravation and money in wasted paper and ink which are costly, if you start out with a sufficient quality of colour management tools, even if it will cost some more up front.

That's a good point. Thank you.

[AlterEgo]

Do any of the cheaper options (such as the ColorMunki products) give good results (either on their own or with DisplayCal), or am I just running the risk of the same frustrations

if you are using DisplayCAL then most probably your monitor does not allow any hardware calibration - so Argyll/DisplayCAL is the best and free software solution.. and then ColorMunki Display colorimeter is as good results-wise (__but slower__ - X-Rite apparently cripples it with firmware in terms of readout speed to segment the market between it and i1DisplayPro) as i1DisplayPro... but consider this - if you will upgrade later to a monitor that will allow hardware calibration then 99 out 100 that the relevant software will refuse to use ColorMunki Display colorimeter (and that is the 2nd difference in addition to the speed) - so I'd suggest to buy i1DisplayPro nevertheless and sell Spyder 5. 

DataColor certainly nowadays makes better products that in the days of Spyder (1/2), but why even bother with their products ? they do not offer anything of value ever.

[GWGill]

Upon downloading and installing DisplayCal though, I found it didn't recognize my Spyder 5. Some more reading, and it turned out I apparently need to install an Argyll CMS driver on the Spider 5. But that process turned out to be a lot more technically involved that apparently I'm capable of.

Help is available :- the ArgyllCMS mailing list, or the DispCAL support forum. Since you haven't detailed what system you are on or what problems you are having, it's hard to suggest much more.

[Yorg1001]

How can it be possible that a company that lives or dies on such a specific product line produce 'garbage' for so long and still be in business?
If you put your hand on your heart, can you really say Datacolor is so bad?

[Mark D Segal]

How can it be possible that a company that lives or dies on such a specific product line produce 'garbage' for so long and still be in business?
If you put your hand on your heart, can you really say Datacolor is so bad?

This is a niche industry with few competitors and therefore very small diversity of options within a given price range. Within the XRite line there are several options at differing cost levels, while the Datacolor product is within the lower price range, comparable with X-Rite's Colormunki. You would want to read the reviews on each product to decide which to buy, or indeed either of them. The higher-end X-Rite solutions do work very well, notwithstanding the lack of documentation and crummy GUI of i!Profiler, but they cost A LOT more. Sometimes you do get what you pay for and the lower cost solutions would remain suitable for people who (a) don't need the precision of the higher end products and (b) can't justify the >1000$ layout, but still want some independent colour management capability.

[AlterEgo]

How can it be possible that a company that lives or dies on such a specific product line produce 'garbage' for so long and still be in business?
If you put your hand on your heart, can you really say Datacolor is so bad?

DataColor products were getting better with every new release of course (so no doubt that v5 is much better than v1)... but they, in addition, also survived on price/cost, sufficiently effective marketing and general ignorance of their customers...

am I right that DataColor now sells colorimeter for printer profiling as a part of Spyder5 Studio edition ? "spectrocolorimeter" ?

[digitaldog]

"spectrocolorimeter" ?

Yeah, I always got a kick out of that marketing created 'technology'. FWIW, they've used that term and sold that product for many years.

[digitaldog]

You would want to read the reviews on each product to decide which to buy, or indeed either of them.

And don't miss this: http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=103094.msg845726#msg845726
Pretty shocking....