When I was a kid there were two ground breaking HBO specials by the comedian Eddie Murphy called Deliriousand it’s sequel RAW. These were a uncensored stand up comedy programs like nothing anyone had ever seen on TV before (at that point). As a minor watching them when my parents were sleeping I found it to be rib cracking funny to watch and 30 years later I still quote numerous bits from these movies. Why am I telling you all of this? Well because my first thought when I first started my PA322UHD review unit was a direct quote from these movies – “goonie goo goo”. My jaw literally dropped when I saw this glorious 32” beast come to life, and if you knew my full history with 4K displays dating back to 2010 you’d realize that is a very hard thing to do!
Right out of the box I was able to calibrate this display with my NECSpectraSensor and SpectraView II 1.1.18 on my Windows 7 system to a staggering 0.26 Delta E. What this means in non-Geek terms is that this display was able to be calibrated – on it’s first try out of the box – to a level that is almost an identical match to the reference target white point. This is one of the lowest Delta E’s I’ve seen on a display right out of the box, so this puts this display up there with the best Eizo display’s I’ve used.
The ultimate in reliable, accurate color. The 32” MultiSync PA322UHD is the benchmark desktop display for color accurate work, from photography to pre-press to videography. Featuring a UHD resolution (3840 x 2160) IGZO technology IPS-type panel with wide gamut white LED backlight, this display provides 99.2% coverage of the Adobe RGB color space while consuming less power than comparable displays. Packed with features and backed by a 4 year warranty with Advanced Exchange, the MultiSync PA322UHD will reliably deliver high quality, accurate images simply and beautifully.
14-bit 3D internal programmable lookup tables (LUTs) for calibration
Picture in Picture and Picture by Picturemodes increase productivity by displaying two or four sources simultaneously
MultiProfiler™ software provides complete control over the five picture modes, including the loading of any ICC profile directly into the monitor for optimal color space matching
DisplaySync ProTM controls two computers with only one keyboard and mouse
Wide connectivity includes two DisplayPort with 10-bit support, four 10-bit HDMI, two DVI-D inputs as well as a USB hub (new -2 model includes HDMI 2.0 support)
NaViSet Administrator 2: Free software solution that greatly eases administration and management of larger display device installations
Available with SpectraViewII Color Calibration Kit (PA322UHD-BK-SV)
Now let’s look closely at that 99.2% coverage of the Adobe RGB color space claim with the Color Gamut overlay that shows the Display’s color gamut on the outside and the faint triangle on the inside as Adobe RGB:
That doesn’t look like 99.2% to me – it looks to be > 100%. However, there might be some tiny bit of red missing that is hard to tell from this graph, but what I can tell you is that if you are doing color critical work – this is THE display to have! This is as good as I’ve seen boys and girls!
If you read my review of the NEC EA244UHD 4k Display, then you can safely assume that nearly every negative comment I made about that display has been properly addressed by this display. Specifically, this is a BRILLIANT display for photo and video editing that has proper physical buttons (instead of the EA series annoying non-tactile touch controls) and it’s physically large enough that Photoshop is actually readable! If you haven’t read that review, I encourage you to do so now as I won’t be repeating a lot of points about 4k / UHD and video cards.
To learn more about NEC 4k UHD, I’d encourage you to check out this web site that they have created.
Warning: This beauty is a beast!
This is definitely the dream display for photographers and videographers, but beware – it is HUGE! Weighing in at a whopping 45+ lbs (20.5 Kg) and 29.3 inches wide – you need a LOT of space on your desk (or a seriously heavy duty monitor arm). It really is big enough where I’d replace a traditional 2 x 24” display setup with just this one to avoid having to cross displays. As a result, don’t plan on putting this on some flimsy desk – it will destroy it!
White Point Matching/Copy
One interesting feature of this display for those who are doing color critical work is that it features the ability to copy the White Point from one display to another. This is important because it helps you to have an exact match between two displays to reduce the variation between displays.
In May 2016, NEC replaced the PA322UHD with the PA322UHD-2 model which looks identical at first glance, but on the side you see the key difference (shown on the left above). The new model now features HDMI 2.0 support including a new HDMI 2.0 port on the side. This is important because the best resolution and refresh rate on the previous model could only be achieved via DisplayPort, but its now possible with HDMI as well.
If you have the older model, don't fret unless you need HDMI 2.0 support because the performance of this display is otherwise identical.
Conclusion
When I imaged what 4k UHD would be like on a display, this is what I was expecting. With incredibly accurate color, excellent edge to edge consistency (which is shocking on such a huge display), and a physical size that helps make 3480 x 2160 readable on poor behaving legacy apps (like Photoshop on Windows 7) – this is without question the best 4k UHD display I’ve seen to date. I am simply blown away and will be crying like a baby when I have to send this one back to NEC!!!!
My only gripes about this display are the massive weight and cost. At more than 2x the cost of the EA244UHD (as of this writing), is it really that much better? In my opinion – ABSOLUTELY. However, that’s more money than I can afford for a display, so I’d have a hard time justifying the cost of a display like this at this price. Hopefully as time passes we’ll see it drop to the sub $2500 range where it at least will start approaching the cost of a good DSLR.
I've had my PA322UHD for over a year now, and I can easily say this has been the most enjoyable display that I've used in my entire lifetime.
I have a lot of experience with display technology and devices that can output 4k and beyond, but many still lack the edge to edge color quality and color consistency over time that this display offers.
Using this display is a bit like watching a Harry Potter movie because it's like looking at photo that is alive on your display. The screen resolution is very close to print resolution, so if you want a display that looks as good as a 15x27"+ size print - THIS IS THE DISPLAY YOU WANT!
I've also appreciated the matte finish of the display which minimizes reflections, and the color accuracy and quality appears - to my eyes - to be superior to the Apple 5k displays (which have an extra 1k due to the width / aspect ratio).
Where to order
Click here to learn more or order on B&H’s web site. My friends at Amazon have it available here. I STRONGLY encourage you to use the NEC SpectraSensor (or equivalent X-Rite) and ONLY the SpectraView II software with it to get an accurate calibration. As a result, if you don’t own a sensor or the SpectraView II software, then I’d strongly suggest that you consider the bundled version with the sensor and software. You can also buy the SpectraView II software here if you already own a 4k wide gamut compatible sensor from X-Rite or DataColor. Please note that this software is only designed to work with NEC displays.
WARNING: If you want the new -2 model, be sure to check for "MFR # PA322UHD-BK-2" when ordering. If you purchase via B&H, you can place your order and call or email to confirm that you will get the "MFR # PA322UHD-BK-2" model. This will only be a short time issue though after inventory is depleted as only the new model is shipping now.
Other articles you may enjoy
If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:
If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. NEC provided me with a loaner display for testing and reviewing, but I don’t own it. My love of NEC PA series displays has also led to be being featured on their website.
NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.
If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
In my article, Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device, I listed out several solutions for calibrating your display but some people have complained that they needed a cheaper solution.
Wondering why you need this?
Check out this helpful site to learn why display calibration is super important, and get more in-depth info on this device here. Please be sure to come back to this blog for more info!
Where to Buy
I recommend Adorama and B&H, and your purchase helps to support this blog without costing you anything more.
Other articles you may enjoy
If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy these as well:
If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission.
NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.
If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
The X-Rite i1Display Pro, ColorMunki Display, NEC SpectraSensor Pro and Eizo (DataColor) EX1 are all current wide gamut colorimeters NOT spectrophotometers. The purpose of this article is to demystify a lot of confusion about display calibration devices on the market and educate you on some new models to let you know which display calibration device is right for you.
WARNING: I go super geeky at first to help clear up terminology and massive confusion, so if you know what you want and can’t deal with the geeky stuff then page down until you see a picture of the product you want to buy or research.
Profile vs Hardware LUT Calibration
What this means is that they are designed to calibrate your display against a series of colors swatches for which the display calibration software used knows exactly what value the sensor should read for each swatch.
The results of this data obtained by the sensor is used by the display calibration software in one of two ways:
To create a display profile(most common) – this is where the display calibration software does what it can to adjust your display to show colors accurately and it creates a lookup table of differences in a file a profile. In simple terms it’s like having yellow paint that is supposed to look green so you keep a measurement of how many drops of blue you mix into the yellow paint until it is the shade of green that you want. The profile is that sheet of paper where you jotted down the information about how much blue is needed. Your computer operating system uses these profiles to work with your display card and monitor to make color adjustments to the red, green and blue channels to render color more accurately. This method works well, but it is system dependent and can’t be dynamic.
To perform a display LUT Adjustment (a.k.a., programming the LUT) – Expensive and advanced displays improve upon the model above to actually write this data into the monitor hardware itself so that the monitor can do a better job than your OS at rendering accurate color. The method has the advantage of allowing you to use the same display with different computers without the need to calibrate because your operating system is bypassed for color rendition. This is less common on inexpensive displays, but very common on high end displays best suited for photography. The downside to this design is that you usually need to the proprietary software by the display maker (i.e., NEC SpectraView II, Eizo Color Navigator or EasyPIX, etc…) as other third party software (i.e., the software included by X-Rite or DataColor) is sometimes not able to program the display LUT directly and will resort to creating a display profile (very bad when using a LUT based display). X-Rite has partnered with Eizo so that its latest software can program Eizo displays that are compatible with ColorNavigator can be programmed with i1Publish, but NEC still requires SpectraView II.
A Word About NEC & Eizo (proprietary) Display Colorimeters
The NEC SpectraSensor Pro is a colorimeter built by X-Rite specifically for NEC to calibrate wide gamut displays built by NEC using its proprietary SpectraView II software. The Eizo EX1 is a colorimeter built by DataColor specifically to calibrate Eizo displays using its EasyPIX software. They both can be used with their corresponding software to program the LUT of supported displays and therefore are offered as bundle when buying Eizo and NEC displays.
These colorimeters are just fine as they have been developed and tested under the supervision of the display maker to ensure they are able to program the monitors LUT using their proprietary software.
NEC SpectraView (i1 Display) Colorimeter
NEC used to also offer a special version of the i1 Display as shown below that supported wide gamut display calibration (the X-Rite i1 Display DOES NOT support wide gamut):
If you are a NEC display owner with one of these devices (or are considering buying one used), you do not need one of the products discussed in this article as it will still calibrate your NEC wide gamut display accurately. NEC and X-Rite will eventually phase out support for this product, so I wouldn’t invest in one at this point. Using today’s software and this hardware you should be able to accurately display any NEC display that supports SpectraView II, so an upgrade is only necessary in the future when you upgrade your operating system and/or SpectraView software to a version that no longer supports this device (won’t happen overnight).
Spectrophotometers – Display and Printer Calibration
Spectrophotometers like the ColorMunki PHOTO calibrate displays plus create paper profiles
Click here to read an article that does a good job at explaining the difference between a colorimeter and a spectrophotometer.
A spectrophotometer can be used to create paper profiles which is the process where you print out color swatches of known RGB values it and then measure the colors using a spectrophotometer to compare what color actually gets printed. The operating system, the printer, the inks and paper you use all combine to contaminate the color that ultimately ends up on the paper, so a printer paper profile used in conjunction with a display color profile (or calibrated LUT) is critical to get the colors you see on your screen to look the same way on the paper that comes out of your printer.
This is a tricky process due to all of the variables that come into play, which is why X-Rite created a great product called the ColorMunkiPHOTO (which is a spectrophotometer, NOT a colorimeter like the ColorMunki Display (discussed later in this article) along with its proprietary software to make this whole process work smoothly. I talk about this in my color management article, but know that currently this is the most easy to use and accurate method for getting your prints to look like what you see on your display (excluding the limitations of your display).
If your goal of reading this article is to match your prints with your display then my advice is to go get a ColorMunki Photo from Adorama or B&H as that’s a color management workflow issue. Advanced print master (discussed in my printing 101 eBook) will use even more advanced and complex products like these:
B&H sells the i1iSis – an expensive spectrophotometer
Now before you go out and get a spectrophotometer besides the ColorMunki PHOTO, be aware that you will invest thousands of dollars and lots of time so mere mortals are going to find their money best spent on a product like ColorByte ImagePrint (new version 9 is awesome) that just has all the profiles you need available on demand so you are back to only needing a colorimeter to calibrate your display.
Colorimeters
Okay if you read the stuff before this then I’m sure your head is spinning. I’m happy to say that I won’t get too geeky from here on in as I’ll simply focus on which “gizmo” you need to make your display to the best job it can at showing colors accurately.
WARNING: If your display sucks, a colorimeter may not help!!!!
Please keep in mind though that colorimeters aren’t miracle workers. If you are using a crappy display you got free with your computer, then it may not be able to display color accurately no matter what you do. I know that on paper many displays seem like they are “just as good” but as the saying goes “there’s lies, damn lies and statistics”. Statistics do not tell the whole story my engineer friends, so if you are serious about color management then you’ll need to invest a good wide gamut display (and no you can’t get one off eBay for $100). Here are a few models that I’ve used and have witnessed them display color as accurately as possible with todays technology:
Eizo ColorEdge CG243W – The best photography display I’ve ever used, but also the most expensive. If you have a Ferrari or Rolls Royce sitting in the garage, then this is what you want to buy. Joking aside, it doesn’t get better than this.
Eizo FlexScan SX2762W – You insist on Eizo quality but can’t stomach the price? Then this display is a nice alternative.
NEC PA Series – If you a working middle class grunt who wants near Eizo quality for a fraction of the price, then this will rock your world. I use the PA241W and love it, and only a trained eye will see the difference between this an a Eizo.
I’m told HP has DreamColor displays that are fantastic too, but I’ve had such bad luck with HP products over the last decade that I’d recommend sticking with highly trusted brands like Eizo and NEC.
If you must choose a different brand then you’ll want an IPS display that can display at least 95% of the Adobe RGB color gamut, has a DisplayPort (even on the PC), has a programmable LUT for hardware calibration, and supports a minimum resolution of 1920x1200 (not 1080). 10-bit color is an added plus. If the display you are researching lacks any of these features then I’d advise you to keep shopping.
X-Rite i1Display PRO – (Ron’s Favorite)
i1Display Pro ($269.00 MSRP – Adorama, B&H) Professional Display Calibration for the Most Demanding Color Perfectionists
In the summer of 2011 X-Rite released two new calibration devices to replace their popular X-Rite i1 Display 2 and Pantone Huey PRO colorimeters – neither of the older units supported wide gamut display. The i1Display Pro and ColorMunki Display have the following in common:
Multiple Displays Supported (but more advanced via software for the i1Display Pro)
Flare Correct™ compensates for flare light falling on the surface of the display (but honestly I hate this feature <g>)
The ability to measure the ambient light to include that data in your profile when your display is not in an ideal viewing environment with a hood
and more….
Unique to this model is the bundled software is based on the all new i1Profiler software (which I’ll be reviewing soon). It can run in both a simple mode as well as advanced mode which means this solution can grow with you as your color management skills improve.
This model has advanced multiple displays support that also is useful in workgroups where you need all of the displays in your facility to be viewing colors the same way. Now based on my experience is that you need all of the same series displays built and purchased at the same time for the best result, but that’s not usually possible so this does the best job that I know of at getting you in the right ballpark.
This device will work with the latest version of NEC’s SpectraView II and Eizo ColorNavigator calibration software.
Here’s how to set the preferences for this device in NEC’s SpectraView II:
It should be noted that if you use a NEC display that supports hardware calibration then you must use SpectraView II and therefore can not (and should never) use X-Rite’s included software. Windows 7 will automatically detect and install the “i1Display 3” driver and it will work the next time you start SpectraView II and change your calibration sensor preferences as shown above.
If you have a photography business, then this is the device you need.
X-Rite ColorMunki Display – the photography hobbyist ideal solution
ColorMunki Display ($189.99 MSRP Adorama, B&H) Advanced Display Calibration Made Easy for Color Perfectionists
Simply put, if photography is your hobby and not your profession then this is a great solution for you at a reasonable price. The software is a little more user friendly with no advanced mode, but the colorimeter device itself is identical so the end result of calibrating your display versus a i1Display Pro will be identical on a single display. The i1Display Pro has advantages for multiple displays, but this device supports multiple displays as well so don’t get too hung up on that point.
I like this device because its easy to use and it typically just works (unless you are like me and you are using 6 different devices without rebooting <g>).
Here’s a video walkthrough of the ColorMunki Display calibration process on a MacBook Pro in Easy Mode:
Click here to play in HD. Viewing in full screen is recommended.
Here’s another video walkthrough showing the Advanced Mode:
Click here to play in HD. Viewing in full screen is recommended.
If you currently own or will in the future own a NEC display that supports hardware calibration and you don’t have a calibration device already, then this is device you’ll want to buy. In fact, if you haven’t purchased your display yet then I’d advise that you purchase the bundle that includes it with your display (only one per computer needed).
When using SpectraView II it can be a little confusing choosing the sensor type if the Auto-Detect button doesn’t work properly (usually it does) or if you have more than one sensor installed. The reason why is because you must choose “XRite iOne Display Pro (i1D3)” as the sensor type as shown here:
The software actually reads the model information from the device so you can tell that this is really the NEC SpectraSensor Pro device, but it can be confusing so it’s worth mentioning that here.
Eizo EX1 by Datacolor (Eizo FlexScan Owners Only)
For the last month or so I’ve been using a Eizo FlexScan SX2762W for the purpose of doing my review. To my dismay the only way it could be calibrated was using Eizo’s EasyPIX solution which bummed me out as Eizo’s Color Navigator software is much better. However it worked well enough, so if you own (or are buying) an Eizo FlexScan SX2762W (or equivalent) then go for the bundle and get this.
This is just a Datacolor Spyder 3 rebranded so I was actually able to use it with my NEC SpectraView II software to calibrate my NEC PA241W (note you must physically plug it into the display you are calibrating when doing hardware calibration). Here’s how to configure it in the preferences:
To compare the devices in this article I used the NEC SpectraView II software because it does a good job working with a large variety of sensors, it has good reporting info, and the hardware calibration means that no operating system issues will skew the results. With that said, here’s my calibration settings:
The Eizo EX1 (Datacolor Spyder 3) was the sixth device I have used to calibrate this display on this machine so SpectraView is pretty good about letting you most of the popular colorimeter sensors on the market. For as long as I’ve been in the computer industry, I’m honestly shocked I was able to get all but one of working on one machine in harmony without my system crashing – well done X-Rite!
In the sections that follow I’ll discuss how a variety of products performed when calibrating this display. To be fair I had the display turned on for over 6 hours before doing the calibration so the display was fully up to temperature. My methodology for testing on a 64-bit Windows 7 system with was as follows:
Making sure that NEC SpectraView II wasn’t running, I’d plug one and only one sensor directly into the same USB port on the NEC PA241W.
I’d launch the software, go to Edit | Preferences and click Auto Detect to make sure that the sensor type selected was correct. I visually confirmed the model name as well.
I’d run the calibration and also confirmed that the sensor shown during the placement step was the same as what I was using.
At the conclusion of the calibration I pasted the results in this article. I ran each test two or three times more to see if it was statistically any different.
Eizo EX1 (Datacolor Spyder 3)
This was by far the worst result and multiple runs didn’t produce significantly better results. When analyzing a calibration the first thing you want to do is look at the Delta E value. Many say that 2.0 or less is acceptable, but closer to 0.50 or less is realistically possible these days. Chromix has the following statement in their definition of Delta E:
A Delta E of 1 or less between two colors that are not touching one another is barely perceptible by the average human observer; a Delta E between 3 and 6 is typically considered an acceptable match in commercial reproduction on printing presses. (Note: Human vision is more sensitive to color differences if two colors actually touch each other.)
The 1.20 Delta E below my expectations because I’m accustomed to looking at a calibrated display that typically has a Delta E of 0.50 or less. The targeted 6506K white point is being calibrated to 6633K which in practical terms meant my display had an unusual blue cast to it and was not calibrated accurately enough for print soft proofing.
The contrast ratio (the larger the first number, the better) was lower than expected as well at 258:1. As a result I have to give this device, on this display using this software (which granted it’s not purposely built for) a UNSATISFACTORY grade. This device plugs in and runs, but I wouldn’t recommend it for accurate color calibration on this display using this software.
Of course I’ll be fair in reminding you that this device is designed for use in calibrating an Eizo FlexScan SX2762W with the EasyPIX software, so I am using it in an unsupported fashion. When using it on the Eizo with the EasyPIX software I got a Display Luminance of 99.7 and a temperature of 6507K. Easy PIX doesn’t report contrast ratio, but overall the results were acceptable on the Eizo. There was still a touch more of a blue cast on the Eizo than the NEC, but I’d say this device does well for what it is designed for, so perhaps there’s some tweak in it for Eizo that doesn’t translate well to NEC and/or SpectraView.
If you are considering a Datacolor device I’d suggest borrowing a friends Datacolor Spyder 3. You can’t return calibration devices so do your own tests to make sure you are happy before purchasing if possible. In fact, the the new Spyder3 Elite might perform better, so try it if you can.
X-Rite ColorMunki PHOTO Spectrophotometer
I was unable to test the ColorMunki Display colorimeter due to the OS not recognizing it for some reason. I plugged it in and tested on my MacBook Pro and Lenovo W510 with no problem so it was an issue specific to my Windows 7 system and this device (perhaps because I had installed the i1Display Pro).
At any rate, I was curious to test its big brother the ColorMunki PHOTO to see how this spectrophotometer would do compared to its big brother, the i1Pro. I ran the test three times and got statistically the same result each time so I was a little disappointed to see that the Delta E was 0.94. Of course this is below 1.0 so in theory this is acceptable.
Ironically with this one the contrast ratio was 615:1 so I’m not sure what to make of that result. The white point was only 14K off its target and the luminance was just 0.4 over 100.0 so to my eyes the result seemed ACCEPTABLE.
NEC SpectraSensor Pro
This device is made by X-Rite for NEC so it should do the best job, right? I must admit that I was shocked when I ran the results and saw that the Delta E was 0.72. At 6543k and a contrast ratio of 513:1, the calibration felt “about right”, but the data proved it was off more than the maximum 0.50 Delta E that I prefer to see for everyday use. Ironically if I used the i1 Pro sensor type in the preferences dialog I was able to get the Delta E to drop to 0.68.
The Delta E was well below 1.0 so I’m going to give this device a GOOD rating.
My only explanation here is that there’s probably some manufacturing tolerance that comes in to play so this is probably considered within specification so it shipped. Your copy might be better than my copy so I wouldn’t consider this to be a wide enough margin for you to refrain from getting this. In fact, I’d let price be your guide because as I said – under 1.0 is going to be impossible for most to notice.
X-Rite i1 Pro
Note, the UVCut version was used in this test, but a non-UV version exists.
This is the most expensive sensor I have on hand, but it is a spectrophotometer so it can do paper profiles too. It did a VERY GOOD job with a 0.32 Delta E and a 469:1 contrast ratio. Of course it cost about 4 to 5 times as much as the other devices so it should do well right?
X-Rite i1Display Pro
Before running these tests my gut feel was that this was the best device, and my testing verified that was correct. In fact I ran this test 3 times just to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake. With a Delta E of 0.23 it performed the best and gave me the result that to my eyes seemed most accurate when soft proofing. Again, there’s probably some variation from unit to unit, but it’s no doubt this one is a dandy.
Conclusion
X-Rite is an industry leader in color management solutions, and a brand I trust. This article simply confirms my belief in their products is valid.
My bottom line advice is that if you aren’t going to be doing your own printing then you don’t need a spectrophotometer. If you are using a monitor that supports hardware calibration then get whatever bundled calibration device is offered with it and the display makers software. If you are going to be doing software calibration then go for the i1Display Pro (Adorama, B&H) if you can afford it, but if not then go for the ColorMunki Display (Adorama, B&H).
Amateur printers should get a ColorMunki PHOTO (Adorama, B&H) as the best cost effective solution. See my color management article to learn why. If you are print master then I’ll have more for you soon in my i1Publish article, so stay tuned to this blog to learn more.
Disclosure
Eizo, NEC, and X-Rite all provided me with calibration devices used in this article. The Eizo EX1 was not intended for this testing, so it was only included because I had it on hand. If you make a purchase using the links in this article I may get a commission, so thanks for supporting my blog by using my links when you are ready to make your purchase.
NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.
If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
i1Display Pro ($269.00 MSRP) Professional Display Calibration for the Most Demanding Color Perfectionists
X-Rite has announced some cool new calibration devices this week that are great for wide gamut displays and projectors. These are not meant to replace the current ColorMunki Photo which is a spectrophotometer that can be used to create printer profiles, but rather these replace the old Pantone Huey and i1Display2 devices.
ColorMunki Display ($189.99 MSRP) Advanced Display Calibration Made Easy for Color Perfectionists
Each solution comes complete with our most technologically advanced colorimeter bundled with new display and projector profiling software to ensure unrivaled color accuracy and consistency now and in the future.
Cutting Edge Instrument Technology
X-Rite's next generation colorimeter delivers unrivaled color accuracy, repeatability, and device longevity.
new optical system
new filter technology
new spectral calibration architecture
new intelligent form factor
supports all modern LCD display technologies including CCFL, White LED, RGB LED, and Wide Gamut display technologies as well as projectors.
Innovative Software Features
ColorMunki Display and i1Display pro each incorporate new software technologies to make the match between your display and printer more perfect:
Ambient Light Measurement - automatically determine the optimum display
Ambient Light Smart Control - automatically monitor changes in ambient light conditions
Flare Correct™ -compensate for flare light (or glare) falling on surface of display
Intelligent Iterative Profiling - an adaptive technology that produces optimized results for maximum color accuracy
Automatic Display Control (ADC) technology automates the adjustment of your display's hardware (brightness/backlight, contrast, and color temperature) eliminating manual adjustments
i1Display Pro using i1Profiler Software
Both of these products come with the i1Profiler software which is really cool. Check out the video demo above.
Trade In – Trade Up! Program
Between June 20 and September 30, 2011, photographers and creative professionals can receive up to $40 cash back when they trade in their old monitor calibration system towards a new X-Rite solution. It’s as easy as 1 2 3 – Buy, Send and Receive your Money!
Buy
Send In
Receive
ColorMunki Display (CMUNDIS)
any colorimeter
$25.00 rebate
i1Display Pro (EODIS3)
any colorimeter
$40.00 rebate
Simply purchase one of the qualifying products shown above and submit the following to the address indicated on the rebate form:
the completed rebate form
a copy of the dated sales receipt for the ColorMunki display or i1Display Pro
UPC code cut from the ColorMunki display or i1Display Pro packaging
the colorimeter to be traded in (can be any X-Rite, PANTONE, competitor or private label colorimeter)
This offer is valid for purchases made and shipped within the US or Canada only. All rebate requests must be received on or before October 15, 2011 to qualify. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers.
Order Yours Today
Click here to pre-order a ColorMunki Display from B&H, or click here to order the i1Display Pro.
Please visit back here for purchase links when I announce when they are in stock at B&H. At that time you’ll not only get the best price (probably lower than MSRP) you’ll also be able to take advantage of a trade-in or trade-up program.
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If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.
If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
Have you ever noticed that the biggest problem with doing white balancing is that typically the end result is a bit dull? See my ExpoDisc article for a good example of various techniques that all offer accurate white balance, but nothing that is visually outstanding.
We want “good” color, but that doesn’t always translate to 100% accurate color. Since good is subjective, the color masters at X-Rite have come up with a fantastic solution to solve this problem – the ColorChecker Passport.
Even though I have seen images on the web and on X-Rite’s web site, I’ll admit that I really didn’t know what the ColorChecker Passport really does. When I got mine and opened it up I saw a lot of pretty colored squares then I changed the page and saw a grey card (hey, I know what that is!) and then I saw business card looking document that certifies the quality of my ColorChecker (huh?). Okay, now what?
See it in action
The box cover and web site for ColorChecker Passport shows a girl holding one and I’ve seen videos and screen shots of people taking photos of models holding one of these, but I still wasn’t quite sure how it worked. In this case a video is worth a thousand words, so check this out to see what I mean:
The video above is great because it shows the end to end solution in action (best viewed in an external window).
Creating a DNG Camera Profile from Lightroom
Camera Calibration supports custom camera profiles as shown above
The reason why you want to create a DNG Camera Profile is so that you can have an entry show in in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom under the Camera Profiles section as shown above. This allows you to apply that profile to most or all for photos to get a good starting point for your images (way better than using the white balance eye dropper tool). Click the image above to see our new entry that will be created in this section.
Step 1 – Choose File Export or the appropriate preset
If you chose File Export you will get this intimidating looking dialogue, but it is really only asking you for the name of the profile you are creating. Choose your names carefully!
If your image wasn’t suitable for creating a profile, you will get this message:
but if you did everything right you’ll be glad to see this message:
You can tell by the ColorChecker Passport in the photo below that the color is very accurate and when you hover over the image you’ll see the photo before the camera profile has been applied. Move your mouse in and out to see before/after differences where you will see the color shift. There is a tungsten light cast on the hat that is just my error, so ignore that as no tool (that I’m aware of) can easily compensate for a scenario that requires two light balances.
Accurate Color with DNG Profile created using ColorChecker Passport
Assuming you have a calibrated display that is displaying the sRGB colorspace properly (wide gamut will be WAY over saturated), you should notice that the final edited version of this file is not very accurate – in fact, it is way off – but if you ignore the color checker some might say that isn’t a bad thing. The idea here is that color management is important for getting you on a accurate starting point,and some may wish to carry that theme all the way through the photo.
After Subjective Editing in Lightroom 3 Only using Nik Software and Imagenomic Portraiture Add-ins
Some might find it somewhat worthwhile to just click the 18% gray swatch after their edits to bring the colors closer in line to reality, but you can see by the color checker that because this isn’t a raw file then that level of detail is lost. Perhaps the colors improve with the 18% gray click, but they are still way off.
After Subjective Editing and clicking the 18% Gray patch with the white balance eye dropper tool
Which is right? Neither & both – it’s subjective. Some will find both repulsive as they are inaccurate color, some will like the top and some will like the bottom image. What you do know is that you now have a tool to help you to see how you are deviating from the true colors.
Skin Tone (Portrait) White Balance Adjustment
Have you ever done a white balance adjustment and thought your photo look worse afterwards? You are not alone because 18% gray may be great for getting an accurate white balance for your image, accurate doesn’t mean visually appealing.
In the the table below I’ve sampled a white balance from each of the skin tone/studio white balance targets as well as the default 18% gray target to show the difference each has on the skin of the model. Which one is best is a subjective discussion because accurate and visually pleasing are generally mutually exclusive.
What you will notice is that as you make your skin tone pleasing the rest of your image goes to hell, so I’ll show later how to deal with that issue.
You may click the photos for a larger version AND you can click the hyperlinks to see what square I clicked in Lightroom.
From what I hear from some friends who use the ColorChecker Passport is that they generally prefer the white balance 2 setting (two from bottom or left depending on how you have oriented your passport in the shot). For this shoot I chose 5 because I really liked the skin tone of the arms for this model.
It should be noted that the blocks right next to the skin tones are for landscapes, so this same technique can be use to get a more visually appealing landscape result. Here’s a video link that shows how this works.
After getting the white balance set properly from Lightroom I ended up with a great skin tone, but everything else sucked. To correct this without using Photoshop, you can use Nik Software’s Viveza which allows you to drop U-Point controls (aka control points) to mask out parts of the image so you can only change the things you are interested in without worrying about creating masks around difficult things like hair.
Edit in Viveza directly via Lightroom
Since this image was just for the web, I exported it as a 8-bit sRGB. That’s not recommend for a typical workflow. 16-bit ProPhoto is better.
As you can see from the U-Point control below, I just placed one on the background and made it cover 100% of the photo and then I could make adjustments which fixed the background. I then added a couple points on the model to make sure that the background was the item being adjusted and not the model (for this modification). If you hover over the image you’ll see the mask that Viveza 2 creates for you (remember: white reveals, black conceals) to allow the background to be modified but the foreground is mostly left alone.
One click on the background and an adjustment will get you a nice white background again
This same technique was repeated in many places such as the white fur at the top of the dress underneath the passport. Here’s a mask showing the area edited:
Viveza 2 revealing the mask it creates behind the scenes for this U-Point control
Some tough areas such as the hat will require multiple control points that are best grouped together so that they may all be adjusted using the same values:
Control Point Groups are useful when you need a bunch of controls in a tight area such as the fur areas on this outfit
The exact number of U-Point controls you will need depends on your photo, but for this one I used a record setting 28 controls (actually more if you count the group). Here’s an image that shows where I made some adjustments (the eyes were adjusted to brighten the iris and whites):
Once I had my colors where I wanted them it was time to have fun editing the photo. For a photo like this I would typically start by using Nik Software’s Dfine or Imagenomic Noiseware to remove the noise from this ISO 800 shot. Next up I would want to get some skin softening which could be done in Nik Software’s Color Efex using the Dynamic Skin Softener filter or by using Imagenomics killer skin softening application – Portraiture 2:
Portraiture 2 rocks for softening skin and it has great built-in masking support
After a few spot healing corrections and applying adjustment brush strokes to enhance the eyes, I felt I had done all I needed to do for this photo in Lightroom so all that was left was sharpening. I started by using Lightroom 3’s sharpening which is said to be a big improvement, but I don’t think it really is. Here’s that I settled on in Lightroom (cranking it any higher gave me nasty artifacts around the shadows and eyes):
Lightroom 3.0 Sharpening still doesn’t cut it in my book
I didn’t like the results so I just went to the history window and did an undo. I then decided to use Sharpener Pro using a new TIF file so that way I could do different sharpening techniques on my edited image at some point in the future (i.e., one for print one for display). Here’s the results of my effort (which did include a U-Point control by the eye to remove sharpening in the shadows):
To my eyes, there’s no comparison – Sharpener Pro is still the best tool on the market for sharpening your images
The Final Result (Before & After)
While this photo has some defects that I’d typically fix if I were using Photoshop, you can see that there’s a huge difference between the before and after below:
Before and After using only ColorChecker Passport, Lightroom 3, Nik Software and Imagenomic Portraiture Add-ins
These results were good enough for me, so I called it a night. It’s pretty impressive what you can do in only Lightroom with add-ins these days huh?
Now naturally you wouldn’t edit your subject holding the target. This was just a test shot that did, but considering the scope of this article I elected to use it. Another example from this series can be found in the article entitled Photo Thoughts: Sexy Mrs. Claus which also leveraged the ColorChecker Passport camera profile created for this article as well as this one:
Sexy Mrs. Claus 2011
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial integrated in with my mini-review of the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport!
Conclusion
I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to use this tool. I found that in practice I generally take my shots and then when I’m done I do my ColorChecker Passport shot at the end because that’s the best way to avoid disrupting my workflow. Naturally when I remember, I take my passport shot first. While I love my ExpoDisc, I think that this tool offers me more of what I need and can really save time.
I highly recommend this product for those who are passionate about color accuracy.
I was provided a free ColorChecker Passport by X-Rite for the purpose of reviewing it for this article. I may also get a link if you make purchases from the retailers linked in this article.
The photos in this article are Copyright Ron Martinsen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.
If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!
This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.
The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity
One click on the background and an adjustment 
