Product Description

Spyder2express

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1611 in Software
• Brand: ColorVision
• Model: S2E100
• Released on: 2007-08-07
• Platforms: Windows XP, Mac OS X
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.75" h x 8.50" w x 10.25" l, 1.35 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Spyder2express - a must have for photographers, designers, gamers, or anyone who wants accurate colour on screen

Providing quick and accurate monitor calibration, it gives you precise and realistic on-screen colour, true-to-life flesh tones plus flawless shadow detail and highlights in just three steps.

The Spyder2 and its advanced algorithms work behind the scenes to give you the best colour experience possible.

Spyder2 Monitor Calibration System

• Award-winning Spyder2 colorimeter, the standard for on-screen accuracy, precisely calibrates all CRT, LCD and laptop displays to industry standards
• Easy software wizard guides you through the calibration process in just a few steps
• New state-of-the-art optical science provides a five-fold increase in colour sensitivity over previous technology with a patent-protected light baffle for accurate characterization of LCD displays
• Sleek hardware design offers effortless LCD, CRT, and laptop calibration while protecting delicate LCD screens
• Sophisticated Grey Balance and Tonal Response Algorithms provide demanding users with exceptionally smooth gradient steps and neutral greys
• Unique before-and-after viewing feature allows you to compare your display with and without calibration
• Outstanding reliability backed by a two-year hardware warranty

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Solved My Colour Management Problems
Ordered yesterday, arrived this morning and monitor calibrated one hour later. Initially it gave me wierd results even though I had reset the LCD monitor to factory settings (as advised in the Spyder software). Then I realised I had the graphics card (Nvidia) set to use the previous Adobe Gamma profile (which was never that successful as you had to do it by eye). Reset the card to the "standard" profile re-calibrated using the Spyder and the monitor is now perfect. Best it has been and I have checked it against several websites that show calibration charts.

The previous reviewer may not have set his graphics card correctly before calibrating as this is what I did wrong and got some weird colours on the screen.

Good basic bit of kit, works well.
Having spent 15+ years as a film based photographer. I got one of these as I am starting to work with a D-SLR and want to be able to get good consistent print results.

I have to say this is very simple to use, you just install the software and follow the on screen promps from the wizard. The only thing to remember is to remove the existing colour profile from the monitor before you start calibration the first time so as to have clear base values for the meter to work from.

The screen will look a bit dull and warm (yellow) when calibrated ( well mine did ), but after a few minutes using it you get used to this, and the colours are actually spot on. This will pay for itself with the savings in wasted paper and ink in no time. If you do digital photography get one.

First-time Proper Calibration
I had done software calibration on my Mac before but didn't think anything else was really necessary. However, I got some feedback that my photographs viewed differently on other people's calibrated monitors, and a picture printed for an exhibition came out very differently from what I expected.
On advice, I decided to properly calibrate my monitor to ensure consistency in the processing of my digital photographs.

I was shocked at the price of these devices and settled on this 'home user' model as a result. The downside is that the calibration is only basic and not Industry-standard. If you are looking for a professional level, you need to buy the more expensive version. The software in the 'pro' versions is much more complex and there are additional options and configurations.

It arrived promptly and was very simple to set up and use. You will need to know how to change a few monitor settings before you start (such as Brightness, Contrast, etc.). As others have said below, you need to have your monitor set to default to start with otherwise it can throw the calibration off. The instructions explain this in more detail.

The calibration/profiling takes about 5 minutes and is very simple. On a CRT monitor the Spyder has suction cups to stick it to the screen, on a LCD/laptop screen it simply dangles over the top and you align it as required.

One useful thing is that after it runs the calibration it shows you a range of 'before and after' images. I was surprised to see that my monitor had quite a strong 'blue' tinge that made images look quite cold. The new settings are much warmer and whites are clean. However, without the direct comparison I don't think I'd be able to see the difference.

Hopefully, images should now look consistent and give me a standard point from which to configure printing. I obviously can't control how other people have their monitors calibrated but I should at least have a benchmark for processing.

This is simple enough for pretty much anyone to use, though it isn't necessarily something that everyone will feel the need for.

You do need to remember to re-calibrate every so often though (monthly possibly) as the settings 'drift'.