Colorvision Spyder with PhotoCAL???

Hi everyone,

I have ordered the above in an attempt to improve my monitor calibration. What I am trying to achieve is have perfect monitor calibration with both my CRT monitor on my desktop and my LCD monitor on my laptop.

The laptop is the more problematic of the two, as it consistently produces a cooler (blue) colour cast with photos. As a result, I avoid any photo manipulation on my laptop if I can do so, preferring to wait until I can do this on my desktop. The problem is, I am away on the road quite a bit, and my laptop is becoming my "main" computer, so I'd like to be able to work on photos and display them to potential clients on my laptop.

I know that the software included with the Spyder will produce an ICC monitor profile that I can then use with my laptop. How accurate will this be, seeing that my laptop has no colour adjustment (only brightness), and should I believe the sales pitch, which basically tells me that my monitor calibration problems will be over once I buy this thing?

What have been your experiences? Is this thing as good as the theory suggests? Are you happy with your Spyder (or similar)? Would you buy one all over again? Have you any experience with anything else that you prefer to the Spyder? Any comments welcome, all opinions invited, let me have 'em!

Rudi,

I purchased the same combo a couple of months ago and saw a big improvement over my CRT's default settings. However, my monitor has separate RGB gain controls, and I have not tested the Spyder on one that doesn't, or on an LCD screen.

The best indicator for me is that my lab prints (using Ofoto) now look almost exactly like what I see on my screen, as do the ones I print myself at home.

Regards,

I use the earlier CRT only version of the Spyder and find it works very well. I did have problems initially getting the thing to work on my PC which has an MSI motherboard and AMD processor. I had to install a PCI USB adapter and then had no further trouble. You need to re-calibrate every so often to counter long term drift of the monitor settings.

John