INTRODUCTION

   Ever since i got my first serious gaming/professional monitor (EIZO FlexScan T966 back in 2003) i was very interested in the ways one could calibrate the colors of any screen in order to get the optimal results. Of course much like most people back then i wasn't willing to spend more money in order to get the professional tools required to perform a proper color calibration but i was always looking for other less expensive alternatives. Some software based solutions did popup from time to time but the results were less than satisfactory so after many years of looking around i came to the conclusion that using a professional tool (or a consumer oriented one) is the only valid way to calibrate a monitor. Datacolor is the very first name (Color Vision i think it was back then) I’ve heard back when i started looking for ways to calibrate my monitor and today after all these years i finally have the chance to take a look at their latest monitor calibration tool the Spyder5 Elite+.

   Datacolor, a global leader in color management solutions, provides software, instruments and services to assure accurate color of materials, products and images. The world’s leading brands, manufacturers and creative professionals have used Datacolor’s innovative solutions to consistently achieve the right color for more than 45 years. The company provides sales, service and support in over 100 countries throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Industries served include textile and apparel, paint and coatings, automotive, plastics, photography and design. For more information visit: www.datacolor.com.

   The new Spyder5 is primarily a colorimeter which means it can precisely measure the color accuracy of your screen and improve it by producing an accurate color profile. Datacolor currently offers the Spyder5 in five different versions Express (only offers 6500k as color temperature, 2.2 as gamma choice and comes without the room light measurement and recalibration features), Pro (offers 5000K/5800K/6500K/native color temperatures, 1.8/ 2.0/ 2.2/ 2.4 gamma choices and supports both simple room light measurement and quick recalibration), Pro+ (offers everything Pro does plus one click calibration, profile management and automatic room light switching - effectively adjusts the monitors brightness levels according to your room’s ambient light level), Elite (offers unlimited number of color temperature and gamma choices and also features custom calibration targets such as NTSC/ PAL/ SECAM/ ITU-R/ Rec.BT.709/ ITU-R/ Rec.BT.2020/ Cineon and L-Star, advanced room light measurement, front projector calibration, improved gray balance, gamma curve editing and StudioMatch which effectively allows the end user to tweak the profiles to match multiple displays connected to the same computer) and Elite+ (again offers everything the Elite does plus one click calibration, profile management, soft-proofing, enhanced StudioMatch and automatic room light switching) which is also the one we have here.