CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

i just found this interesting review showing that at least spyder 3 colorimeters produced since mid-2009 might be more accurate than eye-one (at least those from the 2nd generation - eye-one 2 LT and the likes)!

Older (pre-2009) Spyder 3 units showed high unit-to-unit variability. All the ones we tested were manufactured mid-2009 and later.
source

and colormunki display might be worth adding to the FAQ, considering its apparently amazing price/accuracy-ratio. $170 for accuracy that according to the article is on par with the best colorimeters. they say the downside is that it's a lot slower.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 1:28 pm Post subject:

If the colormunki gains more software support in terms of home theatre video calibration then it's one we'll look at. It's slow because it's a spectro (like the EyeOne Pro).

Kal

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

i think you're mixing some things up here... according to both that article and the x-rite website, it's like the following:

eye-one pro and colormunki photo: spectrophotometer
BUT...
i1display pro (not to confuse with all the other i1 pro hardware - which are all spectrophotometers) and colormunki display: colorimeter
(and actually - the black sensor error as it is demonstrated in the article also shows that)

"display" seems to be the keyword in most of these products in regards to whether they're colorimeters or not.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 3:16 pm Post subject:

Ah yes! Sorry - there are two versions of the Colormunki.

IMHO, the Display 3 seems to be the most popular solution for enthusiasts. Very little added cost over the inexpensive Colormunki but performance that rivals the $3000+ Hubble in many ways.

Kal

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

that's the one that's referred to as "i1 display pro" in the article, isn't it? the third generation after that "eye-one display 2 (LT)", this one here? (i realize it's sold on curtpalme as well but is still named "eyeone display 3", which is exactly the name confusion i would like to clear up... Smile

)

if you're anything like me though and you only wanted to spend an absolute maximum of $150 for a colorimeter and the $170 is already a decision you only make with clenched teeth, the thought of spending $250 is a bit absurd Wink

but another major thing that seems essential is that the colormunki display is not officially supported by anything other than x-rite's software. no basiccolor, coloreyes or whatever else one might already have or want to buy. i guess they want to sell i1 display pros and not colormunki displays...
but $250... considering this ridiculous restriction, i might simply go with a spyder after all. if x-rite insists on such an arbitrary restriction, their loss.

**kal** · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:13 am Post subject:

I'm confused as to what meters we're talking about. Wink

What we call the "Display 3" is officialky called the "i1 Display Pro III".
Not sure why Amazon just calls it the "i1 Display Pro".

If you're limited to the budget you mention, see my FAQ "WHich meter is right for me?" and go with one of the lower end meters. The ones I mention in the FAQ have the widest support (which is why I mention them).

The FAQ is here: http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11436

Kal

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

**kal** · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:46 am Post subject:

Again, the colormunki's have extremely limited support (as you mentioned). This is why it's not the FAQ. The FAQ I wrote is for home theatre calibration. Little software supports them.

I have no interest in spending time with a meter with limited HT calibration support. Sorry.

Kal

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

that of course makes sense... but what about the fact that the spyder3 that were released after mid-2009 are supposed to have lower unit variability than the eye-one display 2? the difference is quite considerable after all

**kal** · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:44 am Post subject:

I have no idea. That's one's person comment on one website.

Kal

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

you are kidding, right?

how many people who have tested about 10 units of any given colorimeter AND who have measured that accuracy with a spectroradiometer of a kind that does not appear to be available to consumers and who have written extensively about the whole process do you know?

if you really wish to discredit him, you may at least want to contact the companies he alleges to have had contact with and ask them whether they did actually provide him with the things he claims they helped him with. even though some companies might deny it because they didn't like what he found. at any rate, i find this attempt at discrediting either him or at least his article without providing reasons/evidence very questionable.

ZandarKoad · Joined: 12 Nov 2011 Posts: 3

**kal** · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:39 am Post subject:

ZandarKoad · Joined: 12 Nov 2011 Posts: 3

I did read through his entire article, and for what it's worth from a Noobie, basically everything he says lines up with what I read here: http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457. At least, as far as my buying decisions are concerned (with the one aforementioned exception regarding ArgyllCMS). Of course, the only reason I could understand what was said in his article was because of the GREYSCALE & COLOUR CALIBRATION FOR DUMMIES thread. Smile

**kal** · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:48 pm Post subject:

sh4dow · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 16

**kal** · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:22 am Post subject:

Sorry if I misinterpreted your original post.

It may be true that Spyder 3 units have gotten better over the years. The issue is that we're not really in a position to check this as we don't deal in them anymore as there's little interest in them for our readers, probably because prices of meters have dropped significantly over the years.

We're simply not seeing much interest at all from our readers in the low end display 2/LT or Spyder meters anymore. Probably because something substantially better (like the new Display 3) can be had for only about $100 more so they tend to go for that instead.

By all means if people want to comment on their own Display 2/LT or Spyder meters and how they compare to reference meters then they can certainly post their findings here.

Kal