Which colorimeter to buy to profile a PFS-Phosphor display on Mac OS

[Ersatz]

Monitor: Dell U2723QE – 98% P3
Computer: Macbook Air M1 2020 – Mac OS 14 Sonoma

I’ve tried to read everything I could on this forum regarding my monitor and M1 Macbooks: not easy to understand everything but I try to persevere!

At least, I understood that I better send back the Spyder X2 I just got. This colorimeter calibrated my Macbook and Dell screens so that the former looked more yellowish and the second more reddish, leaving me confused as to which of them displayed the proper 6500K color temperature that I had requested from the Spyder software settings, and that I need as precise as possible since I intend to order fine art photography prints on a regular basis.

I understand that since my Dell monitor is likely to be a PFS Phosphor White LED, I need a colorimeter able to take advantage of 3nm CCSS corrections, and the most recommended is the i1 Display Pro.

This colorimeter has many different versions (1,2,3…), brandings (X-rite, Colormunki, Calibrite…), flavors (Pro/Plus), and even revisions (A, B…), so I’d appreciate some guidance to buy the right product.

The easiest for me to buy would be the Calibrite Display Pro HL, since other models are older and not sold anymore. I understand it’s not as accurate as previous versions regarding low light, “close to real black” measurements. But I don’t have an OLED panel, and don’t intend to buy one in the coming years. Would that be fine, or is it lacking accuracy even to measure an IPS panel?

Otherwise, I can buy second hand (and thus, cheaper) either a Calibrite ColorChecker Display PLUS (any important difference with the “Pro” version for my use case?) or an older X-Rite Display Pro 3 (with no mention of which revision it is).

I will try to use it with DisplayCal if I can manage to make it run on MacOS 14 (it seems some people have problems, but workarounds exist), otherwise try to use i1Profiler or ccProfiler, since the only PFS-Phosphor correction they offer is the “almost P3” PFS-Phosphor variant, which if I understand well should match my 98% P3 monitor.

Calibrite Display Pro HL on Amazon   Calibrite Display Plus HL on Amazon  
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[Ben]

There is just not accurate and fact reviews for the Pro HL .   Nothing wrong with my Calibrite colorchecker display plus.   I do believe geting that last 5% right is best and it needs to be able to read 1% RGB around 2,2,2 RGB.  My 2,2,2 is 1,1,8 almost  but the 1+1+8 is more than than the total 2+2+2.   2,1,8 at 1% would be worse.  0,1,8 cause 2% to be less on read to 5% and cause it to be unseable.   It fun seeing if 1 to 5 % is linear increasing its rgb.   If it is 1 short at 1% is it 1 short 2:  Mine is all even so its good.   HCFR is best for manualy calibration.   Some monitors do not have the the controls so displaycal is best and has to read it accurately.

[Ben]

My nits is .082 for green at 1 % .    I think the specs is .01 for the HL.   Where is the specs for the pro HL?   Here is a link to a test.  https://www.avsforum.com/threads/i1d3-rev-a-vs-rev-b-low-light-handling.2909646/page-4

My green  0% is .056 .   .

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Ben.

[Vincent]

Since SpyderX are not software upgradable in a distrubuted way (without using an spectrophotometer on your own display)… is not a future proof purchase, so I’ll avoid id.
SpyderX AFAIK is not even supported by ArgyllCMS, not even in the roadmap unless somebody provies one to Graeme, so purchasing an X2 seems pointles to me.

Current i1d3 “i1 display pro” are Calibrite Pro HL and Plus HL. Calibrite SL is old i1d3 color munki display with the same limitations to 3rd party SDK and HW calibration.
So these are your only choices right now. You may find an old i1display pro “ColorChecker Display Pro” in some stores with remaining stock.

[Ersatz]

Thanks for you answers. Brand new, I can’t find anything else than the HL/SL. Second hand, I can get an i1d3 rev A from 2013 or a rev B from 2020. The rev A would have better low-light measurement but the rev B would have AIO mode, and be more recent of course. Which one would you recommend?

My displays are only IPS, no OLED or videoprojector.

[Ben]

It depends on the wallet.    I think B would be real good to get started with.    No plans to get a real HDR screen then a 2000 nit max brightness is more than enough.  It can get you started on HDR.

[Vincent]

***SpyderX2*** AFAIK is not even supported by ArgyllCMS, not even in the roadmap unless somebody provies one to Graeme, so purchasing an X2 seems pointles to me.

Typo, the “2” was missing. My fault.

[Vincent]

Second hand, I can get an i1d3 rev A from 2013 or a rev B from 2020

IDNK the discount vs brand new, or if its behavior CCSS corrected can be tested vs some xrite spectro @3nm readiong CIE xy in white.

Also Xrite licensing policy in SDK is linked to prefix in serial number returned by HID operation, so modern one “may” be rejected by older software (like Calman) using that as device filter. This may be bypassed by a hook in Windows, but it’s a PITA for common users.

AFAIK Calibrite colorchecker Display Pro (last vanilla i1d3 without HDR “gains”, but with Calibrite brand) uses a new prefix too (C2? C3?) so on old software thay uses this filtering thay may have the same issue.

So brand new , maybe I’d choose Calibrite Display PRO HL. I’ll avoid the SL, it’s a colormunki display so no support from Eizo/NEC & other brand for their HW calibration solutions (unless a hook is used).

EDIT: you are a macOS user and IDNK if hooks are even possible in that OS

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Vincent.

[Ersatz]

The second hand i1d3s are between 80 and 120 euros, while the Calibrite Display Pro HL is around 250 euros brand new. I don’t mind paying extra for extra features or quality but to pay more for less low-light accuracy and a software that can’t profile PFS-Phosphor is a bit disheartening…. Althought at least it would be new.

Is it common for colorimeters to get damaged or less accurate with time? Are reports of malfunctionning units from the second hand market common? From my readings I was under the impression that those devices can handle many years of use. I was thinking that if I buy the rev B from 2020, not so old, from a seller with good reputation and reviews, I should be ok. I could even borrow another colorimeter to compare results a bit, but I don’t have access to any spectro.

[Ersatz]

Also Xrite licensing policy in SDK is linked to prefix in serial number returned by HID operation, so modern one “may” be rejected by older software (like Calman) using that as device filter. This may be bypassed by a hook in Windows, but it’s a PITA for common users.

AFAIK Calibrite colorchecker Display Pro (last vanilla i1d3 without HDR “gains”, but with Calibrite brand) uses a new prefix too (C2? C3?) so on old software thay uses this filtering thay may have the same issue.

I don’t understand this part so well, but i see Calman is a $2000 software, so I think it’s way beyond my needs and means 🙂 The softwares I need to be able to use are DisplayCal, HCFR, and perhaps i1 Profiler or ccProfiler. Could the licencing issue you mentioned be a problem with these?

[Vincent]

My Rev. A is 2012 and it’s working without issue. 2nd hand concerns are about physical damage by drop from table or by cable tearing by the absurd L turn next to colorimeter conection in the plastic box.

[Vincent]

Also Xrite licensing policy in SDK is linked to prefix in serial number returned by HID operation, so modern one “may” be rejected by older software (like Calman) using that as device filter. This may be bypassed by a hook in Windows, but it’s a PITA for common users.

AFAIK Calibrite colorchecker Display Pro (last vanilla i1d3 without HDR “gains”, but with Calibrite brand) uses a new prefix too (C2? C3?) so on old software thay uses this filtering thay may have the same issue.

I don’t understand this part so well, but i see Calman is a $2000 software, so I think it’s way beyond my needs and means 🙂 The softwares I need to be able to use are DisplayCal, HCFR, and perhaps i1 Profiler or ccProfiler. Could the licencing issue you mentioned be a problem with these?

All software using ArgyllCMS base ignores serial no. prefix and ALL i1d3 offer the same software functionality.
On Eizo, NEC,… etc and other vendor HW calibration solutions relying on Xrite SDK, the colormunki display (new SL) is not supported. Also most of them have been updated to newer calibrite probes (assuming that they MAY use serial no preffix)
IDNK if i1Profiler or ccProfiler use serial number prefix. Maybe other people with an HL can help you . Remember that latest i1Profiler with i1d3 support is 3.7.1, download it now before Xrite removes it: https://www.xrite.com/service-support/downloads/i/i1profiler-i1publish_v3_7_1
Calibrite Profiler uses serial number prefix to discard devices.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Vincent.

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