ISO good monitor calibration device/system

**DWS1** · 12-30-2019, 08:16 PM

I did some testing about a year ago with a Datacolor Spyder 3 and Spyder 5 with both the appropriate Datacolor software and DisplayCal. I found the Spyder 5 to get much better results than the Spyder 3 on each software package, with DisplayCalc being the best. After doing more research, I found out it seems the filters inside the Spyder 3 device degrade over time, and are much improved in the Spyder 5. If you're not getting the results you want, you may want to consider upgrading your colorimeter device to a newer model.

**cpk** · 12-31-2019, 05:46 AM

Originally posted by DWS1

After doing more research, I found out it seems the filters inside the Spyder 3 device degrade over time, and are much improved in the Spyder 5. If you're not getting the results you want, you may want to consider upgrading your colorimeter device to a newer model.

Thanks for the information. My issues may tie in with the age of my monitor as well. It may be that my creaky old monitor along with a creaky old colourimeter and creaky old software just work in my situation. DisplayCal produced good colours except for the light greys which took on a greenish-yellow tinge.

For now my setup works for me, but I will explore a colourimeter and software upgrade.

**kaseki** · 12-31-2019, 10:37 AM

Anyone experienced here who would care to comment on the relative merits (and inconveniences) of colorimeter vs. spectrometer measurement? The majors seem to manufacture both types.

**BarryE** · 01-02-2020, 02:18 AM

The problem I have with using 3rd party calibration software (ie non monitor software eg X-Rite) is that it is a software solution that adjusts the pc/mac rather than the monitor hardware. This will always be a compromise. Monitor manufacturers supply their own software that is then driven by an X-Rite/Datacolor calibrator rather than the 3rd party software eg NECs SpectraView. I did not appreciate the difference until I tried both methods. Just be aware ...

**cpk** · 01-02-2020, 08:15 AM

Originally posted by BarryE

The problem I have with using 3rd party calibration software (ie non monitor software eg X-Rite) is that it is a software solution that adjusts the pc/mac rather than the monitor hardware. This will always be a compromise. Monitor manufacturers supply their own software that is then driven by an X-Rite/Datacolor calibrator rather than the 3rd party software eg NECs SpectraView. I did not appreciate the difference until I tried both methods. Just be aware ...

Your comment makes sense; but when I bought my LaCie monitor, I also purchased their Blue Eye colourimeter with its software. I could never get it to work properly, even with LacCie's technical support (the Canadian company had to go to France to get help). The Blue Eye software also supported the Spyder3 colourimeter, but I couldn't get that to work either. I gave up on it and stuck to the Spyder3 hardware and software.

I kept the Blue Eye colourimeter around for all these years; and when I was trying out DisplayCal, I searched through about 25 storage boxes for it in the hopes that it would do a better job with DisplayCal than the Spyder3. It was only after two such searches that I had the vague memory of disposing of it with other unused hardware a few months ago. A pity.

**BarryE** · 01-02-2020, 09:28 AM

Originally posted by cpk

Your comment makes sense; but when I bought my LaCie monitor, I also purchased their Blue Eye colourimeter with its software. I could never get it to work properly, even with LacCie's technical support (the Canadian company had to go to France to get help). The Blue Eye software also supported the Spyder3 colourimeter, but I couldn't get that to work either. I gave up on it and stuck to the Spyder3 hardware and software.

I kept the Blue Eye colourimeter around for all these years; and when I was trying out DisplayCal, I searched through about 25 storage boxes for it in the hopes that it would do a better job with DisplayCal than the Spyder3. It was only after two such searches that I had the vague memory of disposing of it with other unused hardware a few months ago. A pity.

Charles, I've just swapped my LaCie 324 for an NEC monitor after the LaCie started to fail (8 years and loved it). I plan to see if I can repair it some time soon. The BlueEye actually worked quite well for me as it happened with LaCie's software, but the precision was nothing compared with NEC's hardware calibration. LaCie's support wasn't the best, I agree, I too had requests for info bouncing around across the Atlantic. I believe the LaCie monitors were actually rebadged NEC monitors, which added to the confusion at times. Decided to switch to NEC and so far I'm very pleased.

**cpk** · 01-03-2020, 06:03 AM

Originally posted by BarryE

I've just swapped my LaCie 324 for an NEC monitor after the LaCie started to fail (8 years and loved it). I plan to see if I can repair it some time soon.

My LaCie monitor has a small internal fan which failed on me over two years ago, giving a temperature control message across the screen that I originally thought related to my desktop. I found a replacement fan online which took several months to arrive; and when it did it had the wrong connector, so I had to splice the original connector's very small wires to the new fan. That lasted about a year and a half before the message started to appear again. I have now removed the rear plastic backing on my monitor and have a small desktop fan bouncing air off the wall towards the now-naked rear metal housing of the monitor. Very makeshift, but the temperature control message has not appeared since.

My supplier years ago told me the LaCie monitors were rebadged, and I think it was NEC but can't be sure. He dealt heavily in LaCie products, being just down the street from their Canadian headquarters. And at good prices too. When Seagate took over LaCie, their monitors (and service) disappeared from the market. I looked at replacing my LaCie monitor; but as I am now on pension, it will have to wait a while. The present setup is working.

**BarryE** · 01-03-2020, 11:08 AM

Originally posted by cpk

My LaCie monitor has a small internal fan which failed on me over two years ago, giving a temperature control message across the screen that I originally thought related to my desktop. I found a replacement fan online which took several months to arrive; and when it did it had the wrong connector, so I had to splice the original connector's very small wires to the new fan. That lasted about a year and a half before the message started to appear again. I have now removed the rear plastic backing on my monitor and have a small desktop fan bouncing air off the wall towards the now-naked rear metal housing of the monitor. Very makeshift, but the temperature control message has not appeared since.

My supplier years ago told me the LaCie monitors were rebadged, and I think it was NEC but can't be sure. He dealt heavily in LaCie products, being just down the street from their Canadian headquarters. And at good prices too. When Seagate took over LaCie, their monitors (and service) disappeared from the market. I looked at replacing my LaCie monitor; but as I am now on pension, it will have to wait a while. The present setup is working.

I had a LaCie failure within a year of purchase. I say failure as this is a bit harsh as ALL/MOST monitors are at risk of the following - and I know this from experience as I've now had two DELL monitors and Lenovo laptop that have suffered: Thrips ! Thunder flies ! How I hate them. 1mm or less of absolute horror! One crawled into my new monitor and died in the middle of the screen. If you ever see one crawling around you should never touch the screen as they have a tendency to die there and then, stain brown and just irritate the **** out of you. A torch in a darkened room may encourage them to crawl to the side and die, or even out of harms way. LaCie kindly swapped the monitor as I complained their product was not properly sealed - a little harsh as all/most monitors are at risk. Good service from them. Now I keep a cover on my monitors when not in use and during the critters flying season I am paranoid about keeping them out of my office. Beware if you live in a rural setting.

Edit: I've just checked my wife's Samsung monitor. Guess what there's one dead there too right on the edge of the visible area. That makes 5 monitors that have been afflicted in the last 10 years or so. Grrrr ! Beware !!

**cpk** · 01-03-2020, 02:35 PM

Originally posted by BarryE

Thrips ! Thunder flies ! How I hate them. 1mm or less of absolute horror! One crawled into my new monitor and died in the middle of the screen.

I had to look up thrips to find what they are. I'll stick to mosquitoes and black flies which we have in abundance over here, although they are seasonal. And, so far as I know, they don't crawl into monitors. You have my sympathy.

01-03-2020, 02:35 PM	#24
cpk Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 638	Originally posted by BarryE Thrips ! Thunder flies ! How I hate them. 1mm or less of absolute horror! One crawled into my new monitor and died in the middle of the screen. I had to look up thrips to find what they are. I'll stick to mosquitoes and black flies which we have in abundance over here, although they are seasonal. And, so far as I know, they don't crawl into monitors. You have my sympathy. Last edited by cpk; 01-03-2020 at 02:43 PM.

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12-30-2019, 08:16 PM	#16
DWS1 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 1,169	I did some testing about a year ago with a Datacolor Spyder 3 and Spyder 5 with both the appropriate Datacolor software and DisplayCal. I found the Spyder 5 to get much better results than the Spyder 3 on each software package, with DisplayCalc being the best. After doing more research, I found out it seems the filters inside the Spyder 3 device degrade over time, and are much improved in the Spyder 5. If you're not getting the results you want, you may want to consider upgrading your colorimeter device to a newer model.

12-31-2019, 05:46 AM	#17
cpk Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 638	Originally posted by DWS1 After doing more research, I found out it seems the filters inside the Spyder 3 device degrade over time, and are much improved in the Spyder 5. If you're not getting the results you want, you may want to consider upgrading your colorimeter device to a newer model. Thanks for the information. My issues may tie in with the age of my monitor as well. It may be that my creaky old monitor along with a creaky old colourimeter and creaky old software just work in my situation. DisplayCal produced good colours except for the light greys which took on a greenish-yellow tinge. For now my setup works for me, but I will explore a colourimeter and software upgrade.

12-31-2019, 10:37 AM	#18
kaseki Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2017 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,138	Anyone experienced here who would care to comment on the relative merits (and inconveniences) of colorimeter vs. spectrometer measurement? The majors seem to manufacture both types.

01-02-2020, 02:18 AM	#19
BarryE Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 1,653	The problem I have with using 3rd party calibration software (ie non monitor software eg X-Rite) is that it is a software solution that adjusts the pc/mac rather than the monitor hardware. This will always be a compromise. Monitor manufacturers supply their own software that is then driven by an X-Rite/Datacolor calibrator rather than the 3rd party software eg NECs SpectraView. I did not appreciate the difference until I tried both methods. Just be aware ...

01-02-2020, 08:15 AM	#20
cpk Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 638	Originally posted by BarryE The problem I have with using 3rd party calibration software (ie non monitor software eg X-Rite) is that it is a software solution that adjusts the pc/mac rather than the monitor hardware. This will always be a compromise. Monitor manufacturers supply their own software that is then driven by an X-Rite/Datacolor calibrator rather than the 3rd party software eg NECs SpectraView. I did not appreciate the difference until I tried both methods. Just be aware ... Your comment makes sense; but when I bought my LaCie monitor, I also purchased their Blue Eye colourimeter with its software. I could never get it to work properly, even with LacCie's technical support (the Canadian company had to go to France to get help). The Blue Eye software also supported the Spyder3 colourimeter, but I couldn't get that to work either. I gave up on it and stuck to the Spyder3 hardware and software. I kept the Blue Eye colourimeter around for all these years; and when I was trying out DisplayCal, I searched through about 25 storage boxes for it in the hopes that it would do a better job with DisplayCal than the Spyder3. It was only after two such searches that I had the vague memory of disposing of it with other unused hardware a few months ago. A pity.

01-02-2020, 09:28 AM	#21
BarryE Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 1,653	Originally posted by cpk Your comment makes sense; but when I bought my LaCie monitor, I also purchased their Blue Eye colourimeter with its software. I could never get it to work properly, even with LacCie's technical support (the Canadian company had to go to France to get help). The Blue Eye software also supported the Spyder3 colourimeter, but I couldn't get that to work either. I gave up on it and stuck to the Spyder3 hardware and software. I kept the Blue Eye colourimeter around for all these years; and when I was trying out DisplayCal, I searched through about 25 storage boxes for it in the hopes that it would do a better job with DisplayCal than the Spyder3. It was only after two such searches that I had the vague memory of disposing of it with other unused hardware a few months ago. A pity. Charles, I've just swapped my LaCie 324 for an NEC monitor after the LaCie started to fail (8 years and loved it). I plan to see if I can repair it some time soon. The BlueEye actually worked quite well for me as it happened with LaCie's software, but the precision was nothing compared with NEC's hardware calibration. LaCie's support wasn't the best, I agree, I too had requests for info bouncing around across the Atlantic. I believe the LaCie monitors were actually rebadged NEC monitors, which added to the confusion at times. Decided to switch to NEC and so far I'm very pleased.

01-03-2020, 06:03 AM	#22
cpk Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 638	Originally posted by BarryE I've just swapped my LaCie 324 for an NEC monitor after the LaCie started to fail (8 years and loved it). I plan to see if I can repair it some time soon. My LaCie monitor has a small internal fan which failed on me over two years ago, giving a temperature control message across the screen that I originally thought related to my desktop. I found a replacement fan online which took several months to arrive; and when it did it had the wrong connector, so I had to splice the original connector's very small wires to the new fan. That lasted about a year and a half before the message started to appear again. I have now removed the rear plastic backing on my monitor and have a small desktop fan bouncing air off the wall towards the now-naked rear metal housing of the monitor. Very makeshift, but the temperature control message has not appeared since. My supplier years ago told me the LaCie monitors were rebadged, and I think it was NEC but can't be sure. He dealt heavily in LaCie products, being just down the street from their Canadian headquarters. And at good prices too. When Seagate took over LaCie, their monitors (and service) disappeared from the market. I looked at replacing my LaCie monitor; but as I am now on pension, it will have to wait a while. The present setup is working.

01-03-2020, 11:08 AM	#23
BarryE Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 1,653	Originally posted by cpk My LaCie monitor has a small internal fan which failed on me over two years ago, giving a temperature control message across the screen that I originally thought related to my desktop. I found a replacement fan online which took several months to arrive; and when it did it had the wrong connector, so I had to splice the original connector's very small wires to the new fan. That lasted about a year and a half before the message started to appear again. I have now removed the rear plastic backing on my monitor and have a small desktop fan bouncing air off the wall towards the now-naked rear metal housing of the monitor. Very makeshift, but the temperature control message has not appeared since. My supplier years ago told me the LaCie monitors were rebadged, and I think it was NEC but can't be sure. He dealt heavily in LaCie products, being just down the street from their Canadian headquarters. And at good prices too. When Seagate took over LaCie, their monitors (and service) disappeared from the market. I looked at replacing my LaCie monitor; but as I am now on pension, it will have to wait a while. The present setup is working. I had a LaCie failure within a year of purchase. I say failure as this is a bit harsh as ALL/MOST monitors are at risk of the following - and I know this from experience as I've now had two DELL monitors and Lenovo laptop that have suffered: Thrips ! Thunder flies ! How I hate them. 1mm or less of absolute horror! One crawled into my new monitor and died in the middle of the screen. If you ever see one crawling around you should never touch the screen as they have a tendency to die there and then, stain brown and just irritate the **** out of you. A torch in a darkened room may encourage them to crawl to the side and die, or even out of harms way. LaCie kindly swapped the monitor as I complained their product was not properly sealed - a little harsh as all/most monitors are at risk. Good service from them. Now I keep a cover on my monitors when not in use and during the critters flying season I am paranoid about keeping them out of my office. Beware if you live in a rural setting. Edit: I've just checked my wife's Samsung monitor. Guess what there's one dead there too right on the edge of the visible area. That makes 5 monitors that have been afflicted in the last 10 years or so. Grrrr ! Beware !!