monitor calibration

If this is posted in the wrong area I apologies for that, there is some very knowledgeable people here.I like to get some input.

I am thinking about buying a monitor calibration tool, I have been looking at colorvision, they make the spyder and the spyder 2 , they range in price from $99.00 to $ 300.00, does anyone know the difference between these products, and which one works the best for the money.

Thanks Larry

did not have a look at the spyder 2.

just have the spyder. the spyder was offered with different software packages. amateur vs. pro software versions (photocal, optical, etc.). The hardware itself was the same. The newer ones included an attachement for doing LCDs as well.

Julian

I recently purchased a monitor calibration package and needed to make the same decision you are. The three products I compared were ColorVision Spyder2 (~$175), GretagMcbeth Eye-One Display 2 (~$250), and Monaco Optix XR (~$225). The three products seem closely matched. This review helped me eliminate the Monaco Optix product:

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor...ation_tools.htm

I ended up buying the GretagMcbeth product because 1) I liked the software interface better than ColorVision's 2) It includes an ambient light measuring capability to ensure the my work environment is optimal.

My monitor looks a bit subdued now that it is calibrated. The photos I posted on Monday here on wetpixel were posted from home on a screen that was not calibrated. When I came in to the office and viewed my post on another monitor was very surprised how dark the shots looked. I immediately lightened, then reuploaded the shots. I received and installed my calibrator later that day and hope I will not post more embarrassing photos in the future.

I might also add that my initial motivation for screen calibration was very poor color rendition on a Shutterfly bound photo book I created to give as a Christmas gift. It's interesting how, post calibration, the photos in the book match the same photos displayed on the screen. :-)

I guess it's now time to readjust the photos and generate another $50 book.

I bought a Monitor Spyder about a month ago and was very disapointed in the results.

Despite repeated attempts at calibration I always ended up with a very noticable and unpleasant red cast after calibration.

After a fair bit of reading on the 'net i was no closer to solving the problem I opted to use Quick Gamma http://www.quickgamma.de/indexen.html with much better results.

Hi AB

I got a similar problem at one point, then I tried the old process of RTFM.

Did you disable anti-virus, and remove other USB devices while doing the calibration? I switched over to a PS/2 keyboard and mouse so I could do this, with the added (actually much greater) benefit of freeing up 2 USB ports.

After I did this, then my results have been bang on.

SW based tools are notoriously unreliable - your perception of colour changes with fatigue, ambient light, the amount of caffeine/alcohol and anaesthetics you've been exposed to.......

Cheers, Des

I can highly recommend the book Color Confidence by Tim Gray. It covers both the theoretical and the practical aspects of color managment. General Photoshop texts I own are too light on on this complicated subject.

has anyone heard anything about colorvision's spyder 2pro studio, and how it compares to other products on the market.

Larry