Monitor Calibration

[carole wiley]

It is time to take the plunge, can anyone make any suggestions as to what system would be good to use, bearing in mind that finances and complexity are considerations.

Thanks for your help.

[Chris Starbuck]

Carole,
I'm also an amateur with limited hobby budget. I use the Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro, with good results (I have a 30" Dell 3007WFP LCD monitor). Previously used the original Spyder with a CRT monitor for years, also with good results. The Xrite Eye-One Display also seems to be popular. Both of these are close to the low end on prices, at around $150. Read the product descriptions carefully, because both of these (and others) are available in a variety of bundles as well the basic colorimeter & software.

[Jason Elsworth]

Eye One Display 2 would be my recommendation. The older Spyder products are not that great with LCD's. However the Spyder 3 is meant to be better. Generally the Eye One Display 2 gets good reviews for LCD and CRT use and is working well for me.

[Alfred Forns]

I'm currently using the Spyder 3 and getting good results .... easy to use. Working on a 30 inch Mac

[Ed Cordes]

Another vote for Eye One Display 2. Easy to use and works well. I have heard good things about the new Spyder 3, but have no first hand experience with it.

[Bob Steer]

I would recommend the Eye One Display 2. I have had both the Spyder and the Eye One and like the way the Eye One works better. One advantage that the Eye One has is that you can place it anywhere on the screen. The reason this is usefull is that most monitor menu are put up in the middle of the screen. During the calibration process you need to adjust contrast, brightness and RGB so that if the sensor is placed on the center portion of the screen you have to move it out of the way to see what you are doing in the menu. Unless the Spyder 3 is different from the Syder 2 Pro that I have had it tends to require you to hang it in the center of the screen right over the menu location.

If you get further into color management the Eye One system has a nice package for profiling your printer/paper with a spectrophotometer which I use as well but it is a bit pricey at around $1400 so not something everyone is going to jump into ( BTW Eye One Display 2 retails for around $200). The beauty of the Eye One spectrophotometer is that you can use it to calibrate projectors, scanners and also your monitor.

Hope this helps.

Bob