Monitor calibration

[stuart b]

Sounds like I need one!

I've looked at them before but never been able to work out how much I need to spend to get something which will do the job at a reasonable price. I guess I'd be happy with something which is maybe a bit more manual effort (I know some do constant room lighting measurement and stuff too).

Anybody got tips on ones to go for? freddies_dad has a Spyder 2 so I'll check that out.

Thanks

Stuart

[poah]

I use spyder 2 and get good results when printing.

[nick francis]

Likewise I have the Spider2Pro, I have 3 LCD screens together which were all different, now theyre exactly the same and my prints are entireley consistent.
It was a bit of a fiddle to start with messing around with the initial brightness and contast settings for each screen but after running through the sequence a couple of times with each then I was able to acheive a pretty good result.

[aspender]

Just this morning I bought a Pantone Huey. It is certainly the cheapest calibration tool I've seen, but it got an reasonable review in the current Digital SLR User. I've calibrated my 24" iMac using it, and first impressions are that the difference it makes is certainly noticeable. Testing it against prints, it isn't spot on and seems to have a lower saturation of reds than the prints that come out.

The most noticeable thing is the effect it has on how your monitor looks. As I've never used such a device and just gone through the software calibration on OS X, the display is now much less blue and constrasty than my eyes are used to. I'm sure it is now nearer to correct, and it is closer to prints than it was, but it does look weird. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

[andybuk99]

Am I right in thinking you are going to college and are hoping to take photography as a career? If so stay away from the huey, I think it is really aimed towards web based applications and things like playing games. You cant make more precise changes like independent RGB tweaks, it basically gives a generalised result. I have got the eye1, but generally all the higher end hardware is as good as each other, it is the software that makes the difference. You could always purchase some different software anyway.

[_dobbo_]

I have the Huey, it's pretty good but limits you to sRGB, which can be annoying. It means you have to convert all your images to sRGB to be sure that what you see on screen is what you will get back from the printer.

That being said I find it is quite accurate, if you do remember to set sRGB - if you don't it can be a bit off. In hindsight I'd probably spend a bit more .

[andybuk99]

I thought it only worked in sRGB but didn't include it because I wasnt sure.

[freddies_dad]

stuart b said:

Sounds like I need one!

Don't say that! I feel bad for mentioning it now!

stuart b said:

freddies_dad has a Spyder 2 so I'll check that out.

I really like the Spyder but it's quite expensive compared to the competition around now. I've always found the results to be pretty good. I believe the pantone(?) one gets good reviews.

Basically, though, I'd recommend the Spyder2.