The problem:
The prints I was getting back from a lab did not match the images I saw on my monitor. Colors were off, just slightly, but especially noticeable in skintones.
The solution:
I received my Spyder and Photocal software from ColorVision and used them to calibrate my monitor and create a custom monitor profile. Very easy to use, and took about 10 minutes once I had everything organized and had reset the monitor to the factory defaults. (It had been previously adjusted with Adobe Gamma.) The monitor is a Gateway EV700 that I got in early 2001, so it was probably made sometime in 2000 and approaching 3 years of age.
I can not overstate the improvement - it's like I have a brand new (and much better) monitor. Apparently my monitor's native 6500k setting is more like 5000k, which was giving me an incorrect color temperature even after Adobe Gamma. Now I see things in a whole new light! (Sorry, bad pun intended.)
Fortunately the monitor has individual RGB gain controls; I don't know how much of an improvement there would be if it didn't. It seems to me that these are necessary to really optimize the display, but I could be wrong.
Also, more important, my prints now look EXACTLY like what I see on the screen, given the usual differences between light reflected from paper and light transmitted through a monitor. This was the main reason I bought the Spyder, and I am very pleased with the results.
The only thing that irks me is that I just saw it at B&H Photo for US$10 less than what I paid at ColorVision, where it is on sale as a clearance item.
I hope someone finds this helpful!
