Calibratiing the calibrator! (i1pro spectrometer)

[robertbanks]

<p>I have an old i1Xtreme kit, which includes the i1pro spectrometer.</p>

<p>It came with a certificate to say the spectrometer had been calibrated by Xrite in July 2007, and would need calibrating again in July 2008. It has never been recalibrated ;)</p>

<p>I used it recently to calibrate a new laptop and results don't look that good. I'm going to try using another calibration device, but is recalibrating the i1pro a worhtwhile option? How long are these things meant to last? Can I buy a replacement spectrometer?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

[robertbanks]

<p>Been hunting around the net and it seems with one this old Xrite will not re-certify and colour shift is a common problem with age :(</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

<p>If you are looking for a replacement photospectrometer, get a Colormunki. I have both an i1 Pro and the Colormunkj and have been getting better results with the ColorMunki than the i1Pro with my LED backlit iMac and my pritner. i1 is on the very verge or shipping the the replacement for the i1 pro system. </p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>old Xrite will not re-certify and colour shift is a common problem with age :(</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>is that info from X-rite?</p>

<p> </p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Run the i1 diagnostic software first. Next, having the unit certified isn’t a bad idea (once a year is insane for most users). </p>

[robertbanks]

<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>Andrew - the diagnostic comes back with no problems, as does the calibration of the spectrometer. But I've found out that getting it recertified is not an option anyway because of its age.</p>

<p>Ellis - Information on the colour shift problem is not from XRite, its from a forum on another site where a lot of people seem to have hit this problem after a year or two.</p>

<p>Re Colormunki - 4 years ago when I was looking for a calibrator the Colormunki got bad reviews...will need to do more research.<br>

Cheers</p>

<p> </p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

<blockquote>

<p><em>Ellis - Information on the colour shift problem is not from XRite, its from a forum on another site where a lot of people seem to have hit this problem after a year or two</em>.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I haven't seen problem that with mine , which is a bit older than yours -- 2005 or 2006. </p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>Re Colormunki - 4 years ago when I was looking for a calibrator the Colormunki got bad reviews...will need to do more research</em>.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Is the Colormunki 4 years old? Wow. I thought it came out in 2009. I am having great success with the Colormunki . I am using it to calibrate and profile a 2010 27' LED backlit iMac display, and an Eizo CG222W monitor using the Colormunki photospectrometer with Eizo's Color Navigator software.</p>

<p>I have also used the Colormunki to profile various papers (Canon, Museo, Canson, and Hanamuhle )used with Canon iPF6100 and iPF6300 imagePROGRAF printers .</p>

 

[lad_lueck]

<p>I've owned an i1pro for about 10 years, and this is the first time I've heard of a 'drift problem'.<br>

I found a few threads at AVS Forums talking about this, and the gist is that spectrophotometers are not as accurate at very low luminance levels as they are at brighter levels.<br>

Users need to calibrate the i1 using the supplied calibration cover, and should calibrate screens in dark rooms. If your software has the ability to do longer integration times, you can choose that for more accuracy at low light levels.<br>

Spectros are also affected by heat, so you want to allow the spectro's temperature to stabilize by placing it on the screen for a long-enough time, *then* calibrating the spectro with the calibration cover, then running the screen calibration routine.<br>

Those calibrating plasma displays need to remember that the *display* may reduce the intensity of a color patch over time to protect the display...</p>

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>I found a few threads at AVS Forums talking about this, and the gist is that spectrophotometers are not as accurate at very low luminance levels as they are at brighter levels.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>In terms of the Spectrophotometers (in this mode spectroradiometers) we can afford, that’s correct*. But that isn’t an issue of drifting, its inherent new or old. </p>

<p>*http://www.lumita.com/site_media/work/whitepapers/files/xrite-wp-3a.pdf</p>

[lad_lueck]

<p>So, Andrew, are you saying that the i1 Pro *does* have a problem with "drift", or that the 'external' issues I detailed are the greater problem?</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>There’s no drift problem I’m aware of but all such instruments are to be recertified from time to time (not every year, that’s overkill for nearly all users). </p>