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Author Topic: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown  (Read 7275 times)

Czornyj

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X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« on: February 09, 2014, 07:09:09 am »

Very interesting design - internal diffuser, second aspheric lens, and dichroic filters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAwKOGSow-s
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Marcin Kałuża | [URL=http://zarzadzaniebarwa

howardm

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2014, 08:18:35 am »

as he notes, it's pretty overpriced for 'what it is'.  Of course, the $100 less CM Display is the same hardware so it's all in the 'value' of
the software.  It'd be interesting to see a teardown of a CM Display to see if there is any difference at all including but not limited to
a different speed crystal to drive the PIC controller or whether they just do a /5 counter in software to even make that small change
in hardware

Ernst Dinkla

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2014, 08:53:21 am »

I would not let him touch my Display Pro !  Beyond the point where the dichroic filters and the internal diffusor were removed I could no longer watch it.

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Tim Lookingbill

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2014, 12:32:40 pm »

Connor's 'technofart' arrogance is exquisite. I am in awe.

He reminds me of my uncle who was a self taught electronics technician and computer programmer back in the mid '60's. He was immediately hired by Compaq computer without any degree or formal training.

His calling X-rite's managers assholes was a good laugh. At least he seems to be in good company.

Hope he remembered to get cash out of his ATM.

I really don't know how this video helps photographers or anyone else by that matter.
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Czornyj

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2014, 12:54:35 pm »

It helped me to realise it's very well build - I love the fact it has dichroic filters which won't ever fade, and I like the fact it has internal diffuser, so the orientation of the sensor and related to it polarisation issues have no influence on measurements.

I didn't find the guy's comment very interesting, so frankly I switched off the volume in the very beginning - please excuse me if he was talking BS, I wasn't aware of that.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2014, 01:02:19 pm by Czornyj »
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Marcin Kałuża | [URL=http://zarzadzaniebarwa

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2014, 01:11:30 pm »

That was interesting.

Nice to know they appear to be individually calibrated at the factory too and maybe loaded into its RAM.  For what it is, I don't see a big issue with the price.  I would be curious as to what's in their upper end devices like the i1 PhotoPro head, or their outrageously priced $20K+ MA94 head that does pearlescents and metallic papers has inside them to justify their costs.

SG
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digitaldog

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2014, 02:15:31 pm »

as he notes, it's pretty overpriced for 'what it is'.  Of course, the $100 less CM Display is the same hardware so it's all in the 'value' of
the software. 
The software however is quite important! I wish X-rite would just provide the tools to make their hardware shine instead of dumbing down the software and to a far lesser degree hardware (speed alone) just to offer a lower price product. And at least offer an upgrade path for better software for what is really the same hardware. The people there are far from assholes, I know quite a few of them. But someone, somewhere at the top is making marketing decisions that don't make a lot of sense to me. Since I don't know all the details, I guess I'm missing something. But as a 'consumer' I think the move is restrictive and unnecessary.
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Tim Lookingbill

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2014, 12:56:24 am »

It helped me to realise it's very well build - I love the fact it has dichroic filters which won't ever fade, and I like the fact it has internal diffuser, so the orientation of the sensor and related to it polarisation issues have no influence on measurements.

I didn't find the guy's comment very interesting, so frankly I switched off the volume in the very beginning - please excuse me if he was talking BS, I wasn't aware of that.

For an FYI it's quite entertaining but most of what you indicated is already known. However, one thing he fails to determine is whether the dichroic filters are made out of glass instead of the old film type filtering of the original i1Display as I understood X-rite's marketing before I upgraded to the Colormunki Display. With regard to that product I didn't understand one commenters saying how slowing the sensor by 800ms cripples it over the Pro version. I could've used that information. 

What I found more interesting was his ability to identify by name and function the chip sets, transistors and other components as well as is mentioning the entire circuit board inside the sensor being mostly a USB controller indicating most of the heavy lifting is done in the software. From my understanding it supports why he says the colorimeter functions basically as a one pixel digital camera with no A/D converter. It's all done in software. What other way is there? What was the importance of mentioning analog vs digital within the PIC sensor construction? What the heck does PIC stand for?

I'm not criticizing your choice of videos on this subject, Marcin. I'm trying to determine how I can use the info in videos like this to help me make better photos. A YouTube video tear down of a Mac computer is useful for DIY repairs, but there's nothing much in that colorimeter to know how and what could be repaired and how to troubleshoot for it.

And I couldn't tell if he was praising X-rite's engineering or saying it's a cheaply made device for the price. He seemed to be ignorant in one area of expertise (the importance and functionality of using a colorimeter or spectrophotometer) but way too knowledgeable about what a good one should be according to its design and construction.
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digitaldog

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2014, 02:08:59 pm »

I'm trying to determine how I can use the info in videos like this to help me make better photos.
It will not and can't, that's not the intent of the video. It might help determine what colorimeter you might purchase however.
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MirekElsner

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2014, 10:57:06 pm »

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
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D Fosse

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Re: X-Rite i1Display Pro teardown
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2014, 01:09:50 pm »

In case anyone wanted to have a peek inside a Spyder3 for comparison, I had one sitting around that I stopped using a long time ago. So I had no intention of reassembling the thing, which basically doesn't agree with any of my other sensors (used with any software).

From the front there is a 2mm honeycomb, cyan glass filter with unknown function, plastic diffuser, fresnel lens, and finally no less than seven plastic transmissive (not dichroic) filters for seven diodes (or whatever they are...). The whole path is very shallow, about 15 mm or so.

It should be noted that I  have another Eizo-branded Spyder3, once bought bundled with a Flexscan unit, that seems at a whole other precision level. I've tested this against the i1D3 in both ColorNavigator and Spectraview II, and they basically give identical results. So it seems, just as the case with LCD panels, that Eizo hand picks their components.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2014, 01:16:33 pm by D Fosse »
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