Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro vs x-rite photo PANTONE hueyPRO

I'm new to color management / monitor calibration.

I do my photo processing on a Windows Vista (soon to be Windows 7 machine) in Lightroom using a Samsung 2433 monitor..

My concern is that my photos look much different from monitor to monitor, from monitor to iPad, etc, etc.

I need a good reference, otherwise how do you know if your final image is too bright or too dark? (among many other things).

I don't do any printing. My photos are shared online online.

Do I need a Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro or a x-rite photo PANTONE hueyPRO? Or something different altogether?

Frankly, I'd start by relegating that Samsung to video game usage and get one of the many affordable 22"-24" IPS or PVA paneled LCD monitors flooding the market now. Suppliers include Dell, NEC, HP, LG, and others.

Once you get a more suitable monitor, consider the Spyder3 Elite for a wide gamut monitor, the iOne Display 2 for a standard gamut display. Both sell for less than $200 USD.

If you never print it hardly seems worthwhile to calibrate, at least until the day when everybody is web browsing with color managed applications and calibrated monitors. Until that day, no matter how accurately you see your images at home you can't do anything to control the thousands of other screens that will display your shared photos.

I voted spyder pro 3, and I hope one day you will be open to the awesome world of print. I just picked up hahnemuhle bamboo from a photo show and the girl was more excited for me than I was. All I have to say was there is an instant gratification with this paper.

tzalman wrote in post #10204720
If you never print it hardly seems worthwhile to calibrate

You don't think calibrating will give me a better frame-of-reference for editing?

ChasP505 wrote in post #10204570
Frankly, I'd start by relegating that Samsung to video game usage and get one of the many affordable 22"-24" IPS or PVA paneled LCD monitors

I'm not necessarily opposed to that. That'll involve a fair amount of research though.

What's the real advantage changing the monitor though? My pics look great on my existing monitor.

squaresnappr wrote in post #10205623
I hope one day you will be open to the awesome world of print.

I'm not anti-print .. I'm just not looking to buy a printer & all that.. I have a few friends who have high-end printers who could help me if needed..

well i am a long term spyder user having moved the latest spyder 3 studio kit last year
i really cannot now recommend it after my experiences reporting an issue to datacolor with inaccurate green clipping.

so far after almost 4 weeks i am still waiting for a reply
i have emailed them a few times to ask whats going on and they do not respond.
i think 4 weeks is a fair amount of time for me to start whinging after a lack of response.

my findings are that mine at least is erratic at reporting the black point - it is always different everytime i calibrate with the same settings.
and it is incapable of capturing the full srgb gamut with mine clipping the green chanel. (my monitor is abode rgb compliant so the spyder should)

my monitor is a dell u2711

so i have now been onto amazon and after owning it for 8 months they are replacing it with a new one (full studio kit)
and if this is the same i will be sending it back and moving to lacie

if you can aford it get the lacie device - i read nothing but good reviews about it !

sorry i cannot vote for that but hope this helps you

pip boogaloo wrote in post #10215230
...if you can aford it get the lacie device - i read nothing but good reviews about it !

The LaCie Blue Eye device is nothing more than a standard X-Rite Display v.2 colorimeter with a different paint job. The BlueEye software is no better than the software with the iOne Display 2, but has more reporting functionality.

mdaniel wrote in post #10213568
...What's the real advantage changing the monitor though? My pics look great on my existing monitor.

If that's the case, no advantage... So why even waste money on a calibration device?

cheers chas - how are you dude.
the blue eyes or I1 will be my next port of call if this replacement has the same issues

but i tell you what - full respect to amazon, they didnt even hoo-harr, just "certainly sir, it will be with you by the 24th, and you then have 30 days to send the old one back " !!! wow - after 8 months !!!

(btw - it is not the dell, i have had a replacement due to a dead pixel - replaced next day under gtee. spyder has the exact same green prob, so it must be the spyder)

pip boogaloo wrote in post #10215979
cheers chas - how are you dude.

Hey!!! Everything's good here in sunny New Mexico.

Yeah Amazon is great for customer service.

tzalman wrote in post #10204720
If you never print it hardly seems worthwhile to calibrate, at least until the day when everybody is web browsing with color managed applications and calibrated monitors. Until that day, no matter how accurately you see your images at home you can't do anything to control the thousands of other screens that will display your shared photos.

The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

You can't control what other people are using and seeing. But you can control the colors that you have on your own monitors, printers and software. I don't print, but I do go from desktop to laptop and from software to software. I want to know that the colors I'm seeing are going to be the same across different programs and across different monitors that I have.

tzalman wrote in post #10204720
If you never print it hardly seems worthwhile to calibrate, at least until the day when everybody is web browsing with color managed applications and calibrated monitors. Until that day, no matter how accurately you see your images at home you can't do anything to control the thousands of other screens that will display your shared photos.

Don't agree. It still gives peace of mind to at least know (as in: opposed to "think") that what you are seeing is correct...

Razeus wrote in post #10220670
The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

You can't control what other people are using and seeing. But you can control the colors that you have on your own monitors, printers and software. I don't print, but I do go from desktop to laptop and from software to software. I want to know that the colors I'm seeing are going to be the same across different programs and across different monitors that I have.

Yes I agree, I have a friend who is a web designer who doesn''t print and his Lacie monitor is calibrated. Although, printing with a calibrated monitor is a great benefit but I can see how others might benefit from a calibrated screen. I have a triple monitor setup and it makes my life a lot easier that their are calibrated.

I use the Spyder3 Elite and like the job it does. I really need to look close to find any subtle differences between my monitor and my prints from EM.

You say that you don't print anything but remember, all it takes is one person to ask you for a print and that first impression could end up being a lasting one.
Before I thought I needed a calibration tool, I sent a file to MPix and the print was horrible! After calibrating my monitor, I had to edit the photo again and it came back perfect from Mpix.

All I need to do now is have the lab turn off auto color correction before printing my photos.