Spyder 3 Pro

hkula

Is Spyder 3 Pro still an effective Monitor Calibrator? Or are the newer ones available today much much better?

Trev

Depends on the age, people don't realise that because they buy some hardware like a calibrator it will suffice forever, not true. Just like any piece of hardware, be it harddrives, graphics card, etc. eventually it will have problems and therefore no longer accurate.

As a rule of thumb generally around 5 years.

If you already own a Spyder 3 Pro, then I'd stick to upgrading to the 4.

If you are delving into calibration for the first time I seriously suggest you carefully read this guru's advice.

http://www.imagescience.com.au/kb/questions/49/Buying+Guide+to+Monitor+Calibrators

Also depends on what sort of monitor you have, is it a Color Critical monitor as in say an NEC PA Series or an Eizo ColorEdge which have their own in-built hardware for calibration.

If you are using classic Software Calibration with your screen - say you own an iMac or a Cinema Display or standard desktop monitor like a Dell Ultrasharp - indeed this is true of really ANY screen at the moment - the i1Display Pro is still the obvious choice.

As to your question:

hkula said: Or are the newer ones available today much much better?

Most definitely is the answer.

Zenon

Depends on the monitor. I would not use it for NEC products.

Trev

Zenon said: I would not use it for NEC products.

Yep, concur. Get the X-Rite i1Display Pro, using SpectraView software that come with the monitor, you don't load the software with the Display Pro, that would be for normal monitors without the hardware calibration built into them.

Let us know what type of monitor you have hkula.

Neil vN

I asked the Spyder people at the Photo Plus Expo, and the guy told me that since my (Apple) monitors were all 3 yrs old or older, that I wouldn't gain anything by upgrading my Spyder 3 to a Spyder 4. His honesty with this was refreshing.

hkula

Thank You for all your comments.
My Monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM

Zenon

Trev, it was a nightmare trying to use Spyder on my NEC. Always had a blue tint. Even the techies at Datacolor could not help me. Spectraview was a little expensive but worth every penny. It does an excellent job.

Trev

@ HKULA, okie, if you already have a Spyder Pro 3, I would use that. If you don't have any calibration devices at all, I would get myself an X-Rite Eye 1Display Pro, as that seems to be the best at the moment for generic monitors.

Whatever device you get you will just load the software that comes with it. Actually I would visit the vendor's website and download the latest software or at least check what it is.

Read that link I gave you, it's up to you what you decide personally.

@ Zenon, yep, if you have gone to the trouble of getting that type of monitor you need to use the best suited for it.

hkula

Thanks again for your responses. I do have a Sypder 3 Pro and I am planning on giving it a try.