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Author Topic: Colorimeter for Spectraview  (Read 2136 times)

Gandalf

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Colorimeter for Spectraview
« on: October 20, 2019, 04:54:03 pm »

Eventually, all good things come to an end. It seems that Spectraview has been updated to be 64-bit compatible, but the old NEC/i1 v2 Colorimeter is 32-bit and is no longer supported under 1.1.4 or any update going forward. It looks like you can choose between the X-Rite i1Display, i1Pro, i1Pro2, i1Monitor, i1Studio, and ColorMunki, and the Datacolor Spyder3, Spyder4, Spyder5, and SpyderX.

I'm looking for the cheapest colorimeter that I can get away with that will give good results. I'm on macOS now, but I would prefer a profiler that will work with Windows as well in case I jump platforms. At the point I only need it to calibrate monitors. Any recommendations?
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GWGill

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2019, 01:41:33 am »

I'm looking for the cheapest colorimeter that I can get away with that will give good results. I'm on macOS now, but I would prefer a profiler that will work with Windows as well in case I jump platforms. At the point I only need it to calibrate monitors. Any recommendations?
First choice: i1 Display Pro. Second choice: SpyderX. Note that other software continues to support the i1d2 on OS X, but the i1d1 & i1d2 seem to drift badly as the years go by, so unless you have a spectrometer to calibrate them against you are probably better off not using them anymore.
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digitaldog

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2019, 12:16:45 pm »

Can you clarify: the old NEC/i1 v2 Colorimeter is 32-bit ?
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ghostwind

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2019, 12:48:00 pm »

Can you clarify: the old NEC/i1 v2 Colorimeter is 32-bit ?

The drivers are 32bit, and thus they won't work on macOS Catalina. Many older devices will not get 64bit drivers from the manufacturers, and thus the need to upgrade hardware.
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digitaldog

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2019, 01:20:22 pm »

The drivers are 32bit, and thus they won't work on macOS Catalina. Many older devices will not get 64bit drivers from the manufacturers, and thus the need to upgrade hardware.
But NEC didn't update the drivers in their host software?
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Gandalf

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2019, 02:28:49 pm »

Can you clarify: the old NEC/i1 v2 Colorimeter is 32-bit ?

I really can't. As was mentioned above, my best guess is original driver is 32-bit and X-rite won't update it. I couldn't figure out how hardware would be affected by 32 vs 64-bit, but I hadn't considered the drivers. It never crossed my mind that NEC was just relying on X-rite for the drivers.
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Gandalf

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2019, 02:31:16 pm »

First choice: i1 Display Pro. Second choice: SpyderX. Note that other software continues to support the i1d2 on OS X, but the i1d1 & i1d2 seem to drift badly as the years go by, so unless you have a spectrometer to calibrate them against you are probably better off not using them anymore.

Thanks. I take your comment to mean I can continue to use id2 with Argyll, which I do on the laptop.
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GWGill

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2019, 07:31:25 pm »

I take your comment to mean I can continue to use id2 with Argyll, which I do on the laptop.
Yep. ArgyllCMS continues to be suported on OS X 64 bit, 32 bit and even PPC.
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tsinsf

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2019, 12:27:00 am »

I have a NEC 302W and use Spectraview II, now upgraded to 64 bit, and a Xrite MDSVSensor 3 "puck" that came with the monitor and SV software at the time of original purchase. I haven't upgraded to Catalina and don't plan to anytime soon. But I am confused about the discussion about the colorimeter "driver". Does the colorimeter require a driver, and is that driver embedded in the Spectraview Software? I am sure I never installed a driver for the colorimeter. Am I to believe if I upgrade to Catalina, my colorimeter will stop working? Thanks.
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GWGill

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2019, 03:07:34 am »

But I am confused about the discussion about the colorimeter "driver". Does the colorimeter require a driver, and is that driver embedded in the Spectraview Software? I am sure I never installed a driver for the colorimeter. Am I to believe if I upgrade to Catalina, my colorimeter will stop working?
The i1d3 is a HID device, so application software can use the operating system provided HID system driver to access it. On OS X there is a generic system driver for all USB devices, while on MSWindows there is now a generic USB system driver (WinUSB), but in early times there were not, so often devices come with their own MSWindows USB system drivers (.inf + .sys files).

In the case of OS X, it is 32 bit application software that will be an issue if the latest version only run 64 bit applications.
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tsinsf

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2019, 12:27:27 pm »

"The i1d3 is a HID device, so application software can use the operating system provided HID system driver to access it."

Thanks for the reply but I don't understand what this sentence means. Could you try again and dumb it down a bit? What is HID?
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GWGill

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2019, 06:32:20 pm »

"The i1d3 is a HID device, so application software can use the operating system provided HID system driver to access it."

Thanks for the reply but I don't understand what this sentence means. Could you try again and dumb it down a bit? What is HID?

Within the range of what uses USB as its hardware interface, is a subset that uses a defined (but flexible) protocol labelled "Human Interface Devices" (HID). Keyboards and Mice are typically HID compliant. Operating Systems typically support HID USB devices with a set of low level drivers and application access libraries. Because HID USB devices are much more "plug and play", it's sometimes an advantage for a manufacture to make their hardware complaint with the HID protocol, rather than using the more flexible full USB capabilities. So typically simple devices with low data rates such as Colorimeters can implement HID, but higher data rate devices like Spectrometers need to use more complex USB protocols.

OS X has generic system drivers for all USB devices.
MSWindows used to have generic drivers for a sub set of USB devices, including HID. Modern MSWindows makes a generic driver (WinUSB) available that allows a much wider range of USB devices work, but there are still some that need a device specific USB system driver. Most manufacturers will design new USB hardware such that the generic MSWindows driver will work with it. The way MSWindows works though, it still needs a .inf file installed to associate the generic driver with a specific USB device.
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tsinsf

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Re: Colorimeter for Spectraview
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2019, 07:17:37 pm »

Thanks!
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