Colour calibrators

[Grrizz]

Hi, I have a question about what colour calibration device would suit my needs.

Background: I usually calibrate my monitors by eye using test patterns etc. and while it gets my monitors looking good its obviously not going to be colour accurate, that's not a huge issue being I don't do professional art work or anything but I do find as time goes on the slight differences in the screens colours start to bug me and I tend to spend a lot of time tweaking and tweaking so I thought its probably worth while just dropping some cash on a proper calibrator to get the job done right and more easily. I am looking at either the Datacolor Spyder 4 express or Spyder 4 pro, because I have multiple monitors the pro would seem to be the way to go however I don't need the software to hold the colour profile which I assume is the only thing limiting multi monitor use.

Question: Does anyone know if it is possible to export the profile on the express version or if Colour Profile Keeper (CPK) will recognise the colour settings and be able to save them because then I could just calibrate each panel one by one and use CPK to hold the profiles on each monitor in turn saving me a chunk of cash by not having to buy the pro version (the other added features I don't think are necessary for me). Or if anyone has any other input as to why the pro would be worth while it would be much appreciated.

[seiny]

This could help:

 

[Grrizz]

This could help:

...

Thanks for the quick reply! It was an informative video but it still leaves me with the question of can I export with Datacolors software/save with CPK multiple colour profiles with the Spyder 4 express and use CPK to hold them, assuming the single monitor limitation is due to the software being restricted to only be able to hold one profile, or do I really need the pro version to calibrate multiple monitors.

[seiny]

Thanks for the quick reply! It was an informative video but it still leaves me with the question of can I export with Datacolors software/save with CPK multiple colour profiles with the Spyder 4 express and use CPK to hold them, assuming the single monitor limitation is due to the software being restricted to only be able to hold one profile, or do I really need the pro version to calibrate multiple monitors.

I'll be honest man, I don't know much about color calibration, I usually do it by eye sight but probably on a lower level than yourself

[ruben.carmona]

Grrizz, check out the eBook, it's easy to read and a good crash course if color management is something new to you:

https://de.scribd.com/doc/235151897/Color-Management-All-About

[Grrizz]

Grrizz, check out the eBook, it's easy to read and a good crash course if color management is something new to you:

https://de.scribd.com/doc/235151897/Color-Management-All-About

Hey thanks for the link! I'll definitely have a read through. I ended up splashing out on the Spyder 4 pro because I've decided to wait for the 8GB GTX980s to come out so I skimmed a bit of money outta that fund lol, figured it would be better to go overkill and get the job done rather then find out the express isn't enough and be disappointed

[ruben.carmona]

I completely agree.

[SpittingLlama]

Hey thanks for the link! I'll definitely have a read through. I ended up splashing out on the Spyder 4 pro because I've decided to wait for the 8GB GTX980s to come out so I skimmed a bit of money outta that fund lol, figured it would be better to go overkill and get the job done rather then find out the express isn't enough and be disappointed

 

I myself was looking at buying one of these today. Probably because I was reading an article on tomshardware about it.

Is it a big difference compared to not doing any calibration / by eye calibration ?

[Grrizz]

I myself was looking at buying one of these today. Probably because I was reading an article on tomshardware about it.

Is it a big difference compared to not doing any calibration / by eye calibration ?

The difference depends a lot on the screen/manufacturer, some come factory calibrated, some/most have a generic model wide profile that gets them decent but because each panel is different there will be variance and some (in particular the Korean panels) have no calibration (from what I can tell anyway - mine had such a yellow tint when I got them it was like looking at a screen through those gunnar glasses). Most of the time I would tweak them by eye just to get the gamma etc. a bit better but this by no means gets you colour accurate, having a professionally printed/colour accurate test pattern to adjust off helps a lot though. The main reason I always tweak my monitors is because I always have a multi-monitor setup and no matter how close to each others colours from the factory they come the more you use them the more you notice the slight differences which annoys me. The Korean monitors (in my experience) HAVE to be calibrated in some fashion, straight from the factory they look horrible even a rough calibration gets them looking one hell of a lot nicer and because they are so far from correct when stock it is quite hard to get them tweaked properly/balanced vs. each other by eye which is one of the main reasons I've decided to splash out on a calibrator.

For the average person, especially if buying from a reputable brand, I don't think calibrators are worth while, factory calibration or by eye from a test pattern will be good enough but if you have the money to spare or are like me and find yourself constantly tweaking your screens because they don't quite match its probably not a bad thing to have.

[SpittingLlama]

Tkx for the answer.

It's indeed something that a normal person doesn't spend money on. But I'm trying to find some close friends that are interested in buying it together and then sharing it.

 

Now for the next screen that I'll buy I'm going to need one because it will have 2 other screens at it's side.