Choices between Colorimeter and spectrophotometer

[Harry Huang]

I am looking for a calibration meter for my CG243W here.

two spectrophotometers (i1 Basic, Colormunki) and three colorimeters(spyder 3elite, huey pro and i1 display 2) are on my list

It is out of question that spectrophotometers are far more advanced and expensive than colorimeters. However, will I see a considerable improvement of calibration precision from using spectrophotometers over colorimeteres with the ColorNavigator software on a wide gamut EIZO like CG243W?

I need all your helpful opinions: if I have enough budget say 1000usd for a calibration meter, should I get a spectrophotometer or just a colorimeter?

thanks for your opinions in advance

 

[George Koulomzin]

A color spectrophotometer does more than a colorimeter does, so it's not a fair apples to apples comparison. The advantage of the spectrophotometer is that it can be used to profile printers & scanners, measure colors "in the wild", measure your illumination, etc., while the colorimeter would not be able to do these tasks accurately.
In particular, the colorimeter measures only 3 points on the specturm (RGB), while a spectrophotometer measures many points across the entire spectrum, allowing much more realistic evaluation of the color perceived by our eyes.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I am looking for a calibration meter for my CG243W here.

two spectrophotometers (i1 Basic, Colormunki) and three colorimeters(spyder 3elite, huey pro and i1 display 2) are on my list

It is out of question that spectrophotometers are far more advanced and expensive than colorimeters. However, will I see a considerable improvement of calibration precision from using spectrophotometers over colorimeteres with the ColorNavigator software on a wide gamut EIZO like CG243W?

I need all your helpful opinions: if I have enough budget say 1000usd for a calibration meter, should I get a spectrophotometer or just a colorimeter?

thanks for your opinions in advance

I have been asked about getting color right so this is a good thread to bring alive again.

Here's the simple approach I suggest to get started and find yourself at least within the ball park.

1. Reference Neutral Grey Material: Color correction requires that one finds a neutral material as a reference. Include a grey card in the shot. I always use "Whibal™" as that is the simplest and does everything that you can reasonably hope! Some might use a color card for the same but not really needed for most work.
   
   
   
2. Profile monitor This is the most important basic job of the serious photography. Do not waste anyone's time especially your own adjusting color in lousy conditions! You need to know that what you are looking at has some bearing on the colors that the file codes for when it will go to another device, be it a monitor or a printer. You do need to color profile your monitor if you are going to adjust the color hues or saturation of an image! So get that profiling done first. The easiest is Eye one of other device, Huey,from Pantone. It's such a simple procedure. A few clicks and the software and the light measuring "puck" do the work for you automatically! The profiling is done in dim light, wear gray or black clothes, no colored images in the room to distort perception. Should use one of the color profiling devices which you hand over the center of the monitor screen, (looks like a mouse) You will always prefer to use the center of the screen for the best color in future. Use white light in the room! 5000 or 6000 degrees K. (Not fluorescent and not incandescent light bulbs.) One can obtain "daylight" light bulbs from large superstores, at least in the USA. See also references in Imatest.com for sources of daylight-balanced lights for your working area.
   
   
   
3. Use a defined color space n 16 bIT. The latter should be Adobe RGB (or another large space, such a Profoto RGB, that can contain all the information captured on camera) and one should be working in 16 BIT, (8 BIT means you are discarding over 97% of the color data which matters if you alter the curves or histograms to make adjustments and then you get posterization).
   
   
   
4. Control Color of light! Some even color calibrate their camera. I don't but should. Use gels/filters to make added flash match ambient light. Use light balance matched to ambient light/flash used
   
   
   
5. Processing Files:In photoshop of other software use the eye dropper in a layer (eg the levels layer) and select a neutral color. (grey concrete, white of the eyes, teeth, white shirt, black jacket (some synthetic materials have a purple cast). If your monitor is profiled, you can use Channels layer to adjust the color. The same controls are found in RAW processors and best used there. Also you need to get the black and white point but that you know.
   
   
   
6. Get the book by Dan Margolis for the most advanced understanding.

Asher

 

[Andrew Rodney]

IF this is a wide gamut display, you’ll want to use the ColorMunki (a Spectrophotometer) to deal with the incorrect expectations (filters) in Colorimeters which were built to deal with sRGB like units.

A Colorimeter is a better, less expensive instrument for display calibration mainly due to its ability to better read dark colors emissivly. But they have filter matrices that currently are not able to be updated and can have issues when what they are measuring isn’t what they expect. A Spectrophotometer doesn’t have this problem but isn’t as accurate as measuring dark colors.

The best solution is a Colorimeter with mated filters for a specific display. This is something NEC does with their SpectraView II line. The unit is an EyeOne Display-2 with specially built filters for those wide gamut units.

You absolutely do not want to even think about a huey.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Andrew,
Useful commentary! May I suggest the following addenda?

1. Elucidating what you mean by a "wide-gamut display". I imagine you to mean the monitors like the top-end Eizo and the NEC?

2. Why you dismissed the Huey.

 

[Asher Kelman]

IF this is a wide gamut display, you’ll want to use the ColorMunki (a Spectrophotometer) to deal with the incorrect expectations (filters) in Colorimeters which were built to deal with sRGB like units.

A Colorimeter is a better, less expensive instrument for display calibration mainly due to its ability to better read dark colors emissivly. But they have filter matrices that currently are not able to be updated and can have issues when what they are measuring isn’t what they expect. A Spectrophotometer doesn’t have this problem but isn’t as accurate as measuring dark colors.

The best solution is a Colorimeter with mated filters for a specific display. This is something NEC does with their SpectraView II line. The unit is an EyeOne Display-2 with specially built filters for those wide gamut units.

You absolutely do not want to even think about a huey.

Andrew, thanks for adding your experience with dark colors and filters. How does the Eye One display compare then to the Eye One display -2 as far as Eizo GC 210 and similar more limited in Gamut, but nevertheless high quality displays, and also with any updated firmware/software and applied to a wider gamut display?

How does the Eye One Pro fair against the Color Munki in these two applications?

Asher

 

[Andrew Rodney]

Most all displays produce a gamut that is in the neighborhood of sRGB. Wide gamut displays have extended gamut just like Adobe RGB (1998) is a wider gamut than sRGB. The extended gamuts vary but get close to or slightly exceed the gamut of Adobe RGB (depending on how you want to specify this gamut size, there are differing ways and manufacturers use different metrics to make their product sound bigger/better).

Not all high end NEC or Eizo’s are wide gamut. You have to check the specs. The NEC Spectraview II 2490 is an sRGB like display. The 2690 and 3090 are wide gamut.

The huey is an entry level instrument, useful for those that think eyeball calibration is good enough but might attempt to use an instrument if the price is right. There are far better instruments, albeit at higher price points.

 

[Andrew Rodney]

How does the Eye One display compare then to the Eye One display -2 as far as Eizo GC 210 and similar more limited in Gamut, but nevertheless high quality displays, and also with any updated firmware/software and applied to a wider gamut display?
How does the Eye One Pro fair against the Color Munki in these two applications?

There is no EyeOne Displays around nor have there been for awhile. It was replaced by the EyeOne Display-2 several years ago.

The ColorMunki is actually newer technology compared to the EyeOne Pro, using the basic measuring technology found in the iSis. I don’t know how this pans out when the unit measures as an emissive device (it now becomes a spectroradiometer). In terms of measuring reflective colors, the Light source is totally different (its uses LEDs). What is useful about the Pro is it can be had with or without a UV filter. No such option on the Munki. It is supported by a lot more software products (lots of OEM deals). As far as I know, the Munki software and the NEC SpectraView software are the only two products that interface with this hardware. That will likely change since the Munki is a more affordable product to build and thus sell to OEM partners.

Firmware isn’t going to help with these Colorimeters currently discussed on the market not that this isn’t possible in a future product designed for this task.

 

[Asher Kelman]

There is no EyeOne Displays around nor have there been for awhile. It was replaced by the EyeOne Display-2 several years ago.

Thanks Andy! Well I guess I'm old fashioned then for that's the instrument I still use.

That does concern me a tad! I guess I may have to upgrade when get new monitors. What about the latest Apple displays. Are they larger Gamuts that sRGB?

Asher

 

[Andrew Rodney]

What about the latest Apple displays. Are they larger Gamuts that sRGB?

I don’t believe so.

 

[Leonardo Boher]

Thanks Andy! Well I guess I'm old fashioned then for that's the instrument I still use.

That does concern me a tad! I guess I may have to upgrade when get new monitors. What about the latest Apple displays. Are they larger Gamuts that sRGB?

Asher

As far as I know, the Apple Cinema has a little wider gamut than sRGB. Here is a comparison between a Eizo and the Apple Cinema: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn4TwKVXy10

Note that the price of the Eizo is twice the apple one...