2026 marks the fifth anniversary of Calibrite; the brand that was created to take over X-Rite's photo and video calibration product division. Since then, Calibrate has launched a whole new range of color calibration devices, from the entry-level and accessibly-priced Display 123 colorimeter, through its core trio of Display SL, Display Plus HL and Display Pro HL monitor calibrators, to its flagship ColorChecker Studio complete monitor and printer calibration solution.

Calibrite's latest development is a new version of its Profiler calibration software package which works in conjunction with its hardware products. Profiler 3.0 gives you complete creative control over color, letting you build custom profiles for any printer–paper combination. Whether you prefer beginner‑friendly pre-sets, or have the expertise to make the most of advanced tools for precise colour tuning, Profiler 3.0 provides a clear and logical user interface.

There are pre-sets for photo, video, and pre-press, along with one-click functions for streamlined profiling. Delve deeper and settings such as luminance, white point, contrast targets and patch sizes are all customisable, saveable to custom pre-sets, and even sharable. Profiler 3.0 also includes a suite of utilities to evaluate monitor image quality, including colour and luminance uniformity across the screen, while Monitor Validation can be used to check the color accuracy of an existing color profile.

If you want to find out how to get the most out of Profiler 3.0, as well as learn about Calibrite's range of calibration devices, then head to The Photography & Video Show 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, which takes place 14-17 March. You'll find Calibrite's products available to sample at Stand G62 (Lumesca Group).

Datacolor has just announced the launch of the SpyderExpress, its most affordable display calibration tool yet – and it looks like a great fit for photographers, designers, and anyone who relies on accurate colors when editing, but who have never dabbled in color calibration tools.

The SpyderExpress promises to deliver professional-grade color calibration in as little as 90 seconds, using a simple three-step process. That means less time fiddling with settings and more time actually creating. It’s designed to take the guesswork out of whether your screen is showing you the real picture, so your edits will look just as you intended when printed or shared online.

What’s particularly appealing is its support for Apple’s latest XDR displays, including the MacBook Pro M4 series with mini-LED technology. That makes it one of the few budget-friendly calibrators ready to handle the most advanced and widely used screens around. And for those juggling multiple monitors, SpyderExpress can handle up to three displays on a single workstation.

The real twist with this launch is Datacolor’s new upgradeable platform. Starting in October 2025, SpyderExpress owners will be able to unlock advanced features through software upgrades – features that were previously limited to pricier Spyder and Spyder Pro models. These include Device Preview, soft proofing, display matching, video tools, and expanded support for OLED and mini-LED panels. In other words, the SpyderExpress can actually grow with you as your creative needs expand.

Heath Barber, Datacolor’s Director of Product Management, summed it up nicely: “SpyderExpress gives creators the fastest way to ensure their screen reflects their vision. They can edit faster and share with confidence, knowing their work will appear exactly as intended. And when they’re ready for more, Spyder’s new upgradeable platform makes it easy to unlock powerful features with a simple software update.”

The new Datacolor SpyderExpress is available now for $119 / £119.

Check out our existing guide to the best monitor calbrators to see the alternatives.

Video monitors are undoubtedly a must-have for capturing video because they make composing, focusing, and assessing exposure much easier and more effective. The Atomos Shinobi II is the successor to the popular Atomos Shinobi, bringing with it features and functionality that make it one of the best on-camera monitors available.

Atomos is best known for its video monitors/recorders offering Raw video capture. These are, of course, most useful for higher-end users who require codecs including Apple ProRes Raw, but for those who simply need a larger screen, video monitors are a far more cost-effective solution.

Ultimately, why pay for features you don’t need, if in-camera codecs, color profiles, and video capture cover your needs? One of the great things about monitors like the Shinobi II is that they're not confined to video use; photographers working in slower fields such as product, macro, and landscape photography can also benefit from the larger screen on offer.

The Shinobi II is incredibly easy to use and offers camera control for several camera manufacturers and models, with an ever-expanding list. But it's well worth checking compatibility before purchasing if this functionality is important. You can, however, still enjoy a camera feed via HDMI.

Atomos Shinobi II: Specifications

Atomos Shinobi II: Price

The Atomos Shinobi II was announced in July 2024 and is available to buy now for $349 / £354. This is more expensive than lower-end monitors that can be larger and brighter, but what you're getting here is a quality device that's slim, lightweight and offers direct camera control. It's also priced according to other Atomos models with recorder functionality, so it sits within the correct price bracket.

Frustratingly, the Shinobi II only comes with a USB-C / PD cable included and no HDMI cable or mounting device, so you'll have to use what you already have or purchase separately. You may be wondering why this is frustrating, and it's simply because the device has a screw-on locking cable adaptor for Atomos locking HDMI cables, to provide a more secure cable connection.

Atomos Shinobi II: Design & Handling

The slim and lightweight design of the Shinobi II is a breath of fresh air with it weighing in at just 7.4oz / 210g. I don’t know about you, but I've never been a fan of attaching heavy accessories to my camera hotshoe, not to mention the imbalance it can create. The build quality is also excellent with the device being made of tough ABS polycarbonate plastic to support the 5.2-inch SuperAtom capacitive IPS touchscreen.

The up to 1500-nit touchscreen is responsive, and brightness can be adjusted to suit the conditions you’re shooting in, including bright sunlight. The user interface is also easy to navigate, although for first-time use there are some easy-to-follow video tutorials available if you need them. The most useful focuses on making sure everything is set up correctly for camera control.

On the back of the Shinobi II, there's a locking battery slot that's compatible with NPF-type batteries. There's also a vent for the passive cooling system that maintains silent operation. Power can also be delivered via the USB-C / PD port on the back of the monitor using a power bank, but this removes camera control. So, a second USB-C / PD port would be useful.

Atomos claims that you can enjoy a full day of shooting from a single battery, and Atomos NP-F750 batteries are 5200mAh. I can’t fairly comment on battery life because the NP-F550 battery used for testing was a lower quality 2600mAh capacity, so battery life wasn't the best during continuous use. Full-day use could be based on NP-F970 batteries that are 8800mAh. Either way, the ability to use three different battery capacities or a power bank is useful.

Other controls and ports include the power button and SD card slot on one side, with the latter being only for firmware and LUT installation of up to eight LUTs in .cube format, with 17 and 33 points supported. On the other side, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for sound monitoring and a remote port, with a 1/4-inch thread with anti-rotational points for mounting the monitor on the bottom. It's a fairly minimalist design with all features and functions accessed within the user interface.

On the back of the Shinobi II, there's a locking battery slot that's compatible with NPF-type batteries. There's also a vent for the passive cooling system that maintains silent operation. Power can also be delivered via the USB-C / PD port on the back of the monitor using a power bank, but this removes camera control. So, a second USB-C / PD port would be useful.

Atomos claims that you can enjoy a full day of shooting from a single battery, and Atomos NP-F750 batteries are 5200mAh. I can’t fairly comment on battery life because the NP-F550 battery used for testing was a lower quality 2600mAh capacity, so battery life wasn't the best during continuous use. Full-day use could be based on NP-F970 batteries that are 8800mAh. Either way, the ability to use three different battery capacities or a power bank is useful.

Other controls and ports include the power button and SD card slot on one side, with the latter being only for firmware and LUT installation of up to eight LUTs in .cube format, with 17 and 33 points supported. On the other side, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for sound monitoring and a remote port, with a 1/4-inch thread with anti-rotational points for mounting the monitor on the bottom. It's a fairly minimalist design with all features and functions accessed within the user interface.

Atomos Shinobi II: Performance

The Shinobi II certainly does what it says on the tin, and does it well to deliver a significantly larger screen than a camera rear LCD. The screen resolution is 1080p, but it can monitor HDMI signals up to 4K 30fps, with FHD monitoring available up to 60fps. There are also several different guides available, such as the rule-of-thirds grid and framing guides to aid with composition when outputting to social media or cine aspect ratios other than 16:9 landscape format.

The exposure and focusing guides available include waveform, histogram, vectorscope, false color, and focus peaking. All of the usual suspects are here and can be used equally successfully for photos and videos. For the former, the Shinobi II may not be the most obvious option, but as previously mentioned, it can be useful for slower tripod-mounted photography.

Camera control is one of the most useful features because it allows you to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and shutter angle (if used by the camera) on the Shinobi II screen. This provides a streamlined experience where you can also initiate in-camera video recording on the Shinobi II; a useful red rectangle appears around the edges of the screen to indicate recording.

Camera control via the Shinobi 2 is most convenient when the camera is on a tripod, gimbal, or shoulder rig mounted, but for holding the camera 'normally', the camera's direct access controls are easier to use. It just depends on how you're using the camera and, of course, personal preference. Versatility is never a bad thing, and if you don’t need camera control you can leave the USB-C / PD cable out of the equation, using just an HDMI cable for the camera feed.

The screen monitoring mode can be set to SDR, HDR HLG, HDR PQ, 709 LUT, or to a user-installed LUT for a closer to 'finished' view of your footage as it's captured. This can be in either a bit depth of 8- or 10-bit depending on the monitoring mode selected, with anamorphic desqueeze also available. You can also calibrate the monitor using Atomos Calibrator on a computer with Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro and ColorChecker Display Plus if you require this at the point of capture.

Atomos Shinobi II: Verdict

The Atomos Shinobi II is smaller and lighter than the comparable competition with everything you need to enhance and ultimately improve your shooting experience. It's not perfect, but the niggles are extremely minor and not everyone will have them.

The Shinobi II has all the features you'd expect and too many more to simply list. Camera control and the fact that it's 30% lighter and 50% brighter than its predecessor, with HDR monitoring, make it a worthy upgrade. Not to mention a compelling introduction to video monitors if you've been thinking about investing.

One of the most useful aspects of a monitor over a monitor/recorder with camera control is that it opens up a larger screen with multiple shooting aids available to videographers and even photographers. Photography isn't the most obvious use or selling point for such a device, but it's certainly something to consider for some photographers.

Alternatives

Datacolor has launched a new range of display, photo, video, and printer calibration products.

Read more: The best monitor calibrators

SpyderPro

The centrepiece of the range is the new SpyderPro colorimeter for display calibration. This replaces the previous Spyder X2 Ultra, and though it looks almost identical to the outgoing X2, the SpyderPro can calibrate a wider range of monitor types. Like the old X2 Ultra, the SpyderPro is able to calibrate standard and HDR LCD displays, but it adds compatibility with mini-LED panels, along with Apple XDR/Liquid Retina monitors, as well as OLED displays, making it the most versatile Spyder colorimeter ever. An unlimited number of connected displays can be calibrated to ensure consistency across monitors, and the SpyderPro is capable of calibrating monitors with a screen brightness of up to 2000 cd/m2. To ensure your monitor is set to the correct brightness to suit your ambient lighting, the SpyderPro can measure ambient light brightness and monitor it periodically to ensure your display is always set to the most appropriate brightness.

SpyderPro is available to buy now, priced at $269/£249.

Datacolor SpyderPro: buy now from B&H

Spyder

If you're looking for your first monitor calibrator, Datacolor has also launched a new, entry-level calibration product, simply named: Spyder. This is quite similar to SpyderPro, but where the Pro can calibrate 2000 cd/m2 HDR displays, the more basic Spyder is only compatible with monitors outputting a maximum 750 cd/m2 brightness. Spyder also only has 5 gamma curve settings and 5 white point settings, compared to the Pro's unlimited adjustment. Spyder will also only let you calibrate a single connected display, so multi-monitor users will need the SpyderPro. But if you can do without these features, Spyder is priced at a more accessible $169/£159 and is available to buy now.

Datacolor Spyder: buy now from B&H

In addition to the standalone Spyder and SpyderPro monitor calibrators, Datacolor is bundling the SpyderPro in two different kits: the Spyder Photo/Video Kit, and the Spyder Print Studio.

Spyder Photo/Video Kit

The Spyder Photo/Video Kit contains a SpyderPro colorimeter, along with a Spyder Cube, Spyder Checkr Video, and a Spyder Checkr Photo Card Set. Spyder Cube is an alternative to a traditional gray card - use it to set white balance and correct exposure. Spyder Checkr Video is a passport-sized color reference target containing several precision-calibrated reference cards. These feature various color and grayscale swatches which are used to align the white balance and color of video footage once it's imported into editing software like Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere. When shooting stills, the video color reference cards can be swapped out for the Spyder Checkr Photo Card Set so you can ensure consistent color during post production in Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Camera RAW or Hasselblad Phocus. The Spyder Photo/Video Kit is retailing now for $349/£349.

Datacolor Spyder Photo/Video Kit: buy now from B&H

Spyder Print Studio

If you want to accurately color match your monitor with printed output, you'll need Datacolor's Spyder Print Studio kit. This contains the SpyderPro and a Spyder Cube, but adds a Spyder Print colorimeter for calibrating your printer. By printing a sheet of color swatches, Spyder print can measure the exact color of each target swatch in order to build a printer profile that compensates for any printed color inaccuracies. The system can also be used to create bespoke profiles to suit a variety of printer, ink and paper combinations. The Spyder Print Studio kit is on sale now for $499/£479.

Datacolor Spyder Print Studio: buy now from B&H

BenQ specializes in products that improve people’s lives. This includes electronics, computing, and communication products, with a significant focus on things like projectors and monitors.

The product I have before me today is related to these but in many ways unique. It’s the ScreenBar Pro and is designed to provide workspace lighting for those who find themselves working in poorly lit environments.

At £119, this is far from the cheapest lamp you could buy for your desk but it does have the benefit of providing bright and even lighting across your whole workspace. This sets it apart from standard lamps, which often provide spotlighting, a type that is far from ideal for reading.

Having never tried a monitor-mounted workspace light before, I was really intrigued and excited to give it a whirl. I mounted it on top of my 32-inch Philips Evnia monitor located on my 180cm wide and 60cm deep desk. Read on for what I thought of it.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Specifications

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Price

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light attracts a cost of £119. From the price, you can tell that this is no ordinary desk light and you’ll be paying for certain privileges that are not available on standard lights.

As far as monitor light bars go, this is definitely on the more expensive end of the spectrum. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly alternative, then the Xiaomi Mi Computer Monitor Light Bar can be bought for around $40/£50 (check Amazon). Keep in mind that it is not as feature-rich as the BenQ alternative.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Design & Handling

My first impressions of the ScreenBar Pro were that BenQ have created a beautifully built device. The excellent build quality spans right across the button strip, the clamp, and the lightbar itself. I’ll take these in order of how I interacted with them.

The first was the clamp mount. Prior to attaching it to my monitor, I was concerned that it would damage my display. I needn’t have worried. The clamp includes two rubber pads that are large enough to ensure no other part of the light bar touches the monitor itself. The quality of the hinge is also up there with the best. It’s a spring-loaded hinge that is robust enough to withstand regular movement as well as the pressure of being applied to a monitor over a long period of time. It’s very good indeed.

The light bar itself continues BenQ’s commitment to excellence. The 50cm bar is constructed of Aluminum alloy, PC / ABS, Polycarbonate, and Zinc alloy, making it very strong indeed. I tried bending the bar with all my strength and it didn’t budge even a little. The LED lighting strip is protected by a thin strip of plastic, which is the biggest letdown to the overall quality. I knew I would damage it if I pushed my finger through it too hard. The bar can rotate a small number of degrees so you can direct the light towards or away from your monitor.

The final part of the product is the button bar. This is located in the middle of the light bar and contains a set of buttons for operating the light. I really like the design, with lit-up icons telling you what is active at any point in time. Unfortunately, I found the button presses to be a little temperamental and unpredictable. Buttons with some haptic feedback would definitely be preferable.

I was also incredibly impressed to see that all of the protective film, cushioning, and tape in the packaging had been made from wood fibers instead of plastic. As a result, everything could be recycled. BenQ is clearly committed to the planet.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Performance

I’ve covered a lot of how the light bar performs from a design and handling perspective in the previous section. But most people don’t buy a light bar because of what it looks like; they buy it because of the light it’s able to generate.

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro offers a fantastic level of brightness with a whopping 1,000 lux at the centre, spreading out to 500 lux at the edges. This makes it the brightest light bar on the market at the moment. It’s brightness capabilities don’t just make it ideal for dimly lit spaces but also make it usable when it needs to compete with lighter environments.

Other than the light brightness and colour, the other consideration with any light bar is the coverage area. BenQ’s offering covers an area of 85 x 60cm (at 500 lux), which was more than enough coverage for my desk and I imagine most people’s desks.

The light bar includes motion controls, which turn the light on and off automatically. This is a fantastic little feature, as you don’t need to worry about wasting and paying for precious electricity. The motion sensor performed well enough to be a reliable inclusion for the product.

I’ve previously talked about the issue with the capacitive touch controls, much of which could have been overcome with a simple remote control. At this price, I would have expected one to be included but alas, there isn’t.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Verdict

I really love the BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light and it has been a pleasure to interact with it ever since I unboxed it. The light quality is excellent and the ability to adjust the brightness is incredibly useful. The light bar lit up the whole of my desk with no problems and the light was surprisingly even across the space. The buttons didn’t have any haptic feedback and were a little unresponsive and unpredictable at times. That being said, this is a classy light bar that delivers where it matters most.

Alternatives

The Calibrite Display 123 is, at the time of this review, the most affordable monitor calibrator on the market. It's intended to be a no-frills, super-easy-to-use device that will ensure your monitor is displaying color as accurately as it can. The accompanying software has been designed with a minimal, 3-step wizard-driven interface that makes the calibration process effortless. We've seen calibrators with a similar ethos before - Calibrite's corporate predecessor, X-Rite, marketed a calibrator called the ColorMunki Smile around a decade ago which delivered a similar blend of simplicity and low cost, but sadly that was discontinued several years ago. The Display 123 picks up the baton where it left off.

Read more:
The best monitor calibrators
The best monitors for photo editing
The best video-editing monitors

Why calibrate?

You can go to great lengths to ensure accurate in-camera white balance and consistent color in software raw processing, but all this effort is wasted if your monitor is deceiving you by displaying incorrect color.

Fortunately there's a quick, easy and effective fix for this: monitor calibration. By analysing a series of pre-set colors emitted by your monitor, a monitor calibrator (sometimes called a colorimeter) will detect any color discrepancies, and your computer is then programmed to compensate for them.

After this short process you could be amazed at the color transformation many monitors are capable of, and how a screen you once thought was accurate is revealed to have been displaying a pronounced color cast all along.

Features

The features list offered by the Display 123 is intentionally short - the main feature here is simplicity, so there are no extras that could confuse the calibration process. Features you'd find on Calibrite's more exotic devices - ambient light monitoring, projector profiling etc, are absent in the Display 123. For most users, these absences won't be missed.

However, it's worth noting that the Display 123 cannot be used to calibrate mini-LED displays, or monitors with a peak brightness of over 1000 nits. This includes the latest M3 MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch models with their Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED displays. To calibrate these screens, you'll need to step up to Calibrite's Display Pro HL calibrator.

What you get here is a small, easily portable device that simply plugs into your laptop or desktop computer via its USB-C cable. Once connected, Calibrite's Profiler software takes care of the calibration process, and that's it - job done!

Build & handling

At 3.3cm high and the same in diameter, the Display 123 is easily the smallest monitor calibrator we've ever reviewed. It's a fraction of the size of Calibrite's other models, as well as Datacolor's rival Spyder products. This downsizing is partly due to the lack of an ambient light sensor, but you do get a small LED status indicator on the top of the device to indicate when the calibrator is operating.

The distinctive yellow finish is a welcome change from the muted black or white finishes of most calibrators, and fun fact, it's exact shade of yellow is Pantone 123 C - that's no coincidence!

Calibrite has fitted the calibrator with a generously long USB cable - useful, given our test PC is placed on the floor, quite a distance away from the monitor we were calibrating.

Performance

In recent years both major players in the monitor calibration industry - Calibrite, and Datacolor - have simplified their calibration software apps to be less intimidating to novice users. But the Display 123 software is in a different league of simplicity. As the name suggests, calibration is just a 3 step process.

1: Select the monitor you wish to calibrate (a maximum of two displays are supported, so calibrating a dual-screen set-up is possible), and decide if you want to leave your monitor's brightness as it is, or set it to a typical photo editing brightness of 120cd/m2.

2: Position the calibrator on your monitor. This is actually the most fiddly part of the process, as you'll need to tilt your monitor upwards so the device more readily sits flat on the screen. This is where the small size of the Display 123 somewhat works against it, as it has a tendency to tip away from the screen surface. When you're confident the device is resting flat on your monitor, you can:

3: Run the calibration procedure. The software then does the rest, firing dozens of pre-set colors through the screen for the calibrator's lens to analyse and determine how close the monitor's rendition of color is to the Profiler software's pre-determined ideal color values. This process takes just shy of 4 minutes 30 seconds. For reference, we timed a high-end Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator at around 3 minutes for its calibration process, making the Display 123 slower, but not frustratingly slow.

Once the calibration is complete, the software displays a reference image you can use to see the before and after difference in color accuracy. We found the color went from having a cooler/bluer cast to a slight but noticeably warmer tone. This is fairly typical before/after change for a modern LED-backlit display. You then save the new color profile and it'll automatically load each time you turn on your computer.

So far, so easy. But what about the quality/accuracy of the calibrated color profile generated by the Display 123? To assess how well the Display 123 had calibrated our test monitor, we measured the calibrated monitor's color accuracy using our reference Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator. It revealed the Display 123 had calibrated our test monitor to an accuracy of Delta-E 0.50 - very accurate indeed, as a 'good' accuracy score is generally considered to be anything less than 2.00.

We also calibrated the same monitor using the Spyder X2 Ultra, then measured its color profile, revealing it had managed a slightly less accurate Delta-E 0.64. To the naked eye there was no difference between the two calibrators' color profiles, but it's good to know the Display 123 can calibrate your monitor with excellent color accuracy.

Verdict

Monitor calibration is often seen as a nerdy, complicated process only undertaken by media/publishing professionals, and computer geeks. But Calibrite has proven with the Display 123 that this definitely doesn't need to be the case. Monitor calibration, at its heart, simply tweaks your monitor's color so it's free of any subtle color casts. This is exactly what the Display 123 does - nothing more.

For the vast majority of users, its lack of extra features won't even be noticed, and by eliminating them, Calibrite has made the calibration process beautifully simple. We're also happy to report that the pared-down feature-set doesn't extend to pared-down quality: when it comes to calibration accuracy, the Display 123 is a match for calibrators costing more than twice the price.

If you want to calibrate your desktop monitor or laptop display, the Display 123 will do the job simply, accurately, and cost-effectively - it's a great buy.

Calibrite has a released a new entry-level monitor calibrator called Display 123. Marketed as the most affordable monitor calibrator on the market, Display 123 is designed to be a simple, intuitive device that'll calibrate your monitor as easily as possible. Able to calibrate most laptop and desktop displays, simply plug the calibrator in via its captive USB-C cable, set display brightness to either Native or Photo (120 cd/m2) and the software does the rest, leaving you with a before and after color comparison at the end of the process.

Read more: the best monitor calibrators

The distinctive yellow device looks unlike any previous calibration device from the company, and is radically different to the rebranded X-Rite colorimeters that we've seen before. We currently have a review sample in for testing and our first impressions are just how small the device is, measuring only 34mm (1 3/8”) tall and 37mm (1.5”) in diameter - considerably more compact than Calibrite's own Display SL colorimeter, and also Datacolor's rival Spyder calibrators.

Though the Display 123 may lack the extra features of other monitor calibrators on the market, we don't think this is a deal-breaker. The primary goal of monitor calibration is to simply correct the color cast that the majority of displays will ship with, and usually goes unnoticed by the end user, as the human eye tends to subconsciously adapt to minor color casts. However, once a monitor is calibrated and the before/after comparison then shows up how inaccurately a display has previously been displaying color, the difference suddenly becomes clear and highlights the value of even a basic monitor calibrator like this.

The Calibrite Display 123 is due to ship later this month, priced at $119/£109. It will make its first public appearance on the Lumesca stand at The Photography & Video Show next week, which runs at the NEC from March 16-19.

Calibrtite has introduced its new range of display colorimeters for monitor calibration. Consisting of three new models, paired with brand new calibration software, the devices are said to have been designed for a new generation of displays.

The line-up consists of the range-topping Display Plus HL, the mid-range Display Pro HL, and the entry-level Display SL. All three models outwardly resemble past X-Rite-branded monitor calibrators, but since Calibrite took over the consumer division of X-Rite's calibration business in 2021 there has been considerable hardware and software development, culminating in the devices launched today.

Both the flagship Display Plus HL colorimeter and the Display Pro HL feature high-luminance sensors designed for more accurate calibration, including calibration of Mini-LED and OLED displays. The Display Plus HL is capable of measuring ultra-bright displays, with brightness up to a whopping 10,000 nits (cd/m2), making it suitable for calibrating Apple XDR displays. This colorimeter is pitched at filmmakers, editors, designers, photographers, and creatives who require the largest measurement capacity possible. It covers broadcast video standards like NTSC, PAL SECAM and ITU-R Rec.709, as well as BT.1886 tone curve for Rec.2020 – the standard for HDTV.

The mid-range Calibrite Display Pro HL is capable of measuring up to 3000 nits brightness, and even the entry-level Display SL calibrator - though aimed at standard dynamic range displays - can still measure up to 1,000 nits brightness, which is brighter than most conventional monitors can output.

All three new calibrators feature a native USB-C connection for easy compatibility with current and recent laptops. A Type-C to Type-A adapter is included, along with a storage/carry pouch.

Accompanying the new calibration hardware is the latest Calibrite PROFILER software. Calibrite is claiming up to 30% faster calibration than previous software, while also offering the new addition of projector and large panel display calibration. When used with one of the three new colorimeters, users can take precise control of settings like white point, luminance, contrast ratio and gamma.

The new Calibrite devices are available to pre-order now from B&H, with availability scheduled for July 3rd. Expect to pay $169/£159 for the Display SL, $279/£229 for the Display Pro HL, while the Display Plus HL is priced at $339/£299.

Read more:

The best monitor calibrators
The best monitors for photographers
The best photo-editing software

We've long been fans of Datacolor's last monitor calibrator generation, Spyder X, as we rated the value-packed Spyder X Pro the best monitor calibrator on the market. Now the time has come for a new range of Spyder calibrators: Spyder X2. Including a new expanded lens-based light sensor with support for high-brightness HDR displays, plus extensively redesigned accompanying software, as well as native USB-C connectivity, Spyder X2 promises the most comprehensive monitor calibration yet.

Read more: the best monitor calibrators

Why calibrate your display?

You can go to great lengths to ensure accurate in-camera white balance and consistent color in software raw processing, but all this effort is wasted if your monitor is deceiving you by displaying incorrect color.

Fortunately there's a quick, easy and effective fix for this: monitor calibration. Spend a couple of minutes calibrating your monitor and you'd be amazed at the color transformation many monitors are capable of, and how a screen you once thought was accurate is revealed to have been displaying a pronounced color cast all along.

Features

We're testing the top-of-the-range Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator. Both the X2 Ultra and slightly cheaper X2 Elite are compatible with HDR displays, but where the Elite is 'only' rated up to 750 nits of screen brightness, the X2 Ultra can measure up to 2000 nits - consequently, both X2 devices are suitable for photo or video use. However it's worth noting that the vast majority of consumer monitors max out at 600 nits brightness or less, so the Spyder X2 Elite should be suitable for most users.

The most obvious difference between Spyder X and Spyder X2 is the new accompanying software package. Spyder X2 version 6.0 has been extensively re-worked compared to the preceding Spyder X software, and now offers a much more modern, streamlined and accessible interface.

Spyder X2 connects via a native USB-C plug, replacing the USB-A connection used by Spyder X. A Type-C to Type-A adapter is included in the box, should you need to connect your X2 to an older computer.

Furthermore, Spyder X2 supports ambient room light monitoring, so you can adjust your monitor brightness and calibration settings accordingly. Studio Match enables multiple side-by-side monitors to be calibrated simultaneously to ensure the best possible color consistency across displays. The Soft Proofing function can simulate other displays or devices on a calibrated screen, including how printed output will look, right down to a specific printer, ink and paper combination.

As with previous Spyder products, Spyder X2 is also capable of advanced display analysis, allowing you to measure the performance of your monitor, including aspects such as color gamut coverage, brightness, contrast, screen uniformity, and the Delta-E deviance from ideal color accuracy.

Build & handling

Where Spyder X ditched the black finish of the previous Spyder 5 generation of calibrators in favor of a new white finish, Spyder X2 sticks with the same design as Spyder X. Side by side, the only way to distinguish Spyder X2 from Spyder X is its printed X2 logo, and that new USB Type-C plug. The build is robust - we've been using the Spyder X Elite as our go-to monitor calibrator for our monitor testing since it was released in 2019 and our only quality complaint is the printed lettering on the top is starting to wear off.

Performance

While the physical differences between Spyder X and Spyder X2 might not be noticeable, the software experience is very much improved. The new calibration software is significantly more user-friendly in its design, with a larger, cleaner, wizard-driven interface central to the calibration process.

You'll still need to provide some information about your monitor, most notably the type of backlight LEDs that it uses, which will require some additional research, but once you know these details, any future calibration is simple. Users of previous Spyder calibrators will find the core options and settings in the calibration process are the mostly same as in older Spyder software - it's just the layout and interface design that's been revamped.

Once you're ready to perform the calibration, rest the Spyder X2 on your display, with its sensor cover hanging over the back of your monitor to act as a counterweight. The software then fires a series of colors through the monitor which are then analysed by the Spyder X2 to see how close your monitor gets to meeting the Spyder X2's colour accuracy targets.

As for calibration speed, when the Spyder X launched in 2019, Datacolor made a big deal of how much faster it was than the outgoing Spyder 5, and indeed it was. In our Spyder X Elite review, we clocked the Spyder X at 1 minute 15 seconds for the automated calibration process, compared to a lethargic 5 minutes 17 seconds for the old Spyder 5. We weren't expecting the new Spyder X2 Ultra to necessarily be any faster than the already-rapid Spyder X, and it isn't, clocking the exact same 1 minute 15 seconds as the Spyder X Elite for a like-for-like calibration.

We did however measure a slight improvement in calibration accuracy with the Spyder X2 Ultra. Calibrating our Dell XPS 15 test laptop with a 4K IPS display and 100% Adobe RGB coverage, we measured a calibrated Delta-E color accuracy after calibration with the Spyder X of 0.64, but this improved to 0.54 when the display was calibrated with the Spyder X2 Ultra. Could we notice the difference with the naked eye? Absolutely not. But at least the X2 Ultra technically gives a more accurate result.

Verdict

The Spyder X2 is more evolution than revolution. It delivers excellent calibration accuracy and the calibration process is now considerably improved thanks to the improvements to the supplied software. Calibration speed remains the same, though that's no issue as the Spyder X was already fast enough. However, unless you're the proud owner of a very high-brightness HDR display, there's little reason to upgrade from a Spyder X device. Sure, the new X2 software interface is a welcome improvement, but the core functionality is largely the same as in the older Spyder X app. It's disappointing that OLED monitors and laptops are still not supported by Spyder X2, as this type of monitor is the new benchmark monitor image quality and is gradually becoming more commonplace.

Read more:

The best monitor calibrators
The best monitors for photographers
The best photo-editing software

The two big names in monitor and printer calibration are X-Rite and Datacolor... Correction, *were*. Datacolor is still in the game, but in 2021 the packaging, distribution, and marketing of X-Rite's photo and video calibration products transitioned to a newly formed company: Calibrite.

Until now, the rebranded X-Rite calibration products used lightly modified X-Rite software, but Calibrite has now launched brand new monitor profiling software called Calibrite Profiler. This "feature-rich and intuitive color workflow profiling solution" is said to provide a "clear and logical user interface that delivers superior monitor profiling with just a few clicks". Varying user experience levels are catered for by built-in presets designed to suit everyone from novices to experienced color pros.

"This software release represents Calibrite’s commitment to innovation and excellence in color calibration and profiling for photographers, video editors, and all content creatives. Listening to the customer and responding with simple solutions that make streamlining color workflow a practicable priority is our number one goal. And with PROFILER, this is possible.”

Brenda Hipsher, VP of Sales and Marketing for Calibrite.

The new Profiler software contains presets for photo, video, and pre-press, along with one-click functions for streamlined profiling. Delve deeper and settings such as luminance, white point, contrast targets and patch sizes are all customisable, saveable to custom presets, and even sharable.

Profiler also includes a new suite of utilities to evaluate monitor image quality, including utilities to check monitor colour and luminance uniformity across the screen, while Monitor Validation can be used to check the color accuracy of an existing color profile.

Calibrite Profiler is available for free to all Calibrite Display device owners, and X-Rite branded device users can upgrade to the new software for $9.99 / £8.99.

Read more:

The best monitor calibrators
The best monitors for photographers
The best ultrawide monitor for photo editing
The 50 best camera accessories
Best laptop for photo editing
The best digital camera: which one should you buy?
The best photo-editing software

Ten years after the introduction of the first ColorChecker Passport Photo, X-Rite has introduced a new version. Now rebranded as the the Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2, it adds an 18% grey target and updated software for creating custom ICC camera profiles for Capture One Pro as well as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

Handling

Like the original version, the ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 has a rigid plastic case that opens like a book to reveal the ‘pages’ with the targets. At less than A6 size, it’s perfectly suited for slipping in your camera bag to take everywhere. It is especially useful when you’re shooting in artificial or mixed lighting.

The ColorChecker Passport Photo 2’s new mid-grey target is paired with a spectrally neutral White Balance target, and together these enable you to set the ideal exposure and white balance in-camera. They are also useful for checking the lighting balance across a scene. 

Over the page, there’s the Classic target and the Creative Enhancement target. The Classic target has 24 patches that have been used as the industry-standard color reference for 40 years. 

Meanwhile the Creative Enhancement target has a series of light and dark grey patches to help assess exposure and ensure that the camera’s dynamic range is used to best effect. In addition, it has two rows of five warming and cooling patches that help tailor the white balance to suit your subject.

It’s easy to use the Passport Photo 2 to get the color and white balance right post-capture. The first way is to just include the Creative Enhancement or White Balance target in a test shot. Then when you’re processing your images you can click on a white patch to adjust white balance. 

Alternatively, use the ColorChecker Camera Calibration software to create a profile for your camera that you can apply in Capture One and Adobe software. This involves photographing the Classic target, converting the file to a DNG or TIFF and then importing it into the calibration software. The software then compares your camera’s colors with the standard to create a color-correction profile that you can use in Capture One or Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

• What is white balance?
• Cheat sheet: White balance presets
• Photography cheat sheet: What is white balance?
• The best monitor calibrators
• How to color calibrate your monitor with a Datacolor SpyderX

The best monitor calibrator is a must-buy for anyone working in photography. Because when you're viewing and editing your shots on screen, you don't want your eyes to be misled.

Most computer screens give a vibrant, dynamic picture, but this isn’t always the best for editing your photos. If you edit images on a monitor that hasn’t been calibrated, you may end up sharing pictures that are unintentionally oversaturated, too muted, or have an obvious color cast.

It doesn’t matter which color space you select on your camera, or how you adjust Photoshop’s settings – if the screen has a warm cast or a cool blue cast and isn’t showing you an accurate picture, then any edits you make may be subtly or substantially out.

To ensure your computer monitor is displaying colors accurately, it pays to regularly calibrate its color. To do this, you need a colorimeter, aka a monitor calibrator. You simply place this on your screen and the accompanying software will then fire a selection of pre-set colors for the calibrator to analyze. The device will detect any display discrepancies, and your computer is then programmed to compensate for them.

No amount of calibration can make a mediocre monitor into a dream display. But by using a calibrator, you’ll at least know that your monitor is performing at its best. Read on to see the best monitor calibrators available today.

The Quick List

The best monitor calibrators in 2026

Best overall

If you just want to get your monitor displaying color as accurately as it can, with the minimum amount of fuss, and for the lowest possible price, then the Calibrite Display 123 is the monitor calibrator we'd recommend. At the time of writing, it's the cheapest monitor calibrator you can buy, and yet that low price doesn't compromise its quality, performance, or calibration accuracy. The accompanying software has been designed with a minimal, 3-step wizard-driven interface that makes the calibration process effortless. Once our calibration testing was complete, we measured the color accuracy of our test monitor and found it to even better than when calibrated with a much more expensive monitor calibrator. It's worth noting, however, that the Display 123 cannot be used to calibrate mini-LED displays, or monitors with a peak brightness of over 1000 nits. This includes the latest MacBook Pro models with their Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED displays.

See our full Calibrite Display 123 review

Best all-in-one

You usually need separate devices to calibrate a monitor and printer, but the ColorChecker Studio packs both functions into a single tool. Consequently, it’s no surprise that this all-in-one device is bigger than a typical monitor calibrator, and it comes with a case to hold it on your screen during operation.

Monitor calibration is quick and easy, as is the printer profiling procedure. You don’t need to pause on every individual color patch on the two A4 test prints: just slide along each row of patches and the device automatically does its thing. Like monitor profiling, a custom profile is then saved, and you select this rather than using your printer’s default settings the next time you print.

See our full Calibrite ColorChecker Studio review

Best advanced

SpyderPro is Datacolor's latest high-end monitor calibrator, while the regular Spyder (non-Pro) is the entry-level option in the new two-product line-up.

SpyderPro is able to calibrate standard and HDR LCD displays, plus it's compatible with mini-LED panels, along with Apple XDR/Liquid Retina monitors, as well as OLED displays, making it the most versatile Spyder colorimeter ever. An unlimited number of connected displays can be calibrated to ensure consistency across monitors, and the SpyderPro is capable of calibrating monitors with a screen brightness of up to 2000 cd/m2. To ensure your monitor is set to the correct brightness to suit your ambient lighting, the SpyderPro can measure ambient light brightness and monitor it periodically to ensure your display is always set to the most appropriate brightness.

There's no doubt that the SpyderPro is a powerful monitor calibrator, but we'd only recommend it over the regular Spyder if you have a high-end display, or you really need complete control over every element of the calibration process.

Best for perfectionists

Calibrite's current standalone monitor calibrator range consists of four models, and the Display Plus HL is the flagship device. It features a high-luminance sensor designed for more accurate calibration, including calibration of Mini-LED and OLED laptop displays. The Display Plus HL is capable of measuring ultra-bright displays, with brightness up to a whopping 10,000 nits (cd/m2), making it suitable for calibrating Apple XDR displays. This colorimeter is pitched at filmmakers, editors, designers, photographers, and creatives who require the largest measurement capacity possible. It covers broadcast video standards like NTSC, PAL SECAM and ITU-R Rec.709, as well as BT.1886 tone curve for Rec.2020 – the standard for HDTV. Consequently, if you're a more novice user, you may wish to consider one of Calibrite's cheaper monitor calibrators instead, such as the entry-level Display 123 (above), or the mid-range Display SL.

Best all encompassing

If you want to accurately color match your monitor with printed output, you'll need Datacolor's Spyder Print Studio kit. This contains a SpyderPro monitor calibrator, a SpyderCube for setting white balance and correct exposure, plus a Spyder Print colorimeter for calibrating your printer. By printing a sheet of color swatches, Spyder print can measure the exact color of each target swatch in order to build a printer profile that compensates for any printed color inaccuracies. The system can also be used to create bespoke profiles to suit a variety of printer, ink and paper combinations.

If you're a purist not just for accurate monitor colors but also for synchronizing your printed color with what you see on screen, then the Spyder Print Studio is a must-have.

• Back to the top ⤴

How to choose the best monitor calibrator

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a monitor calibrator:

Speed
Monitor output fluctuates, so you’ll need to periodically recalibrate. Most colorimeters will get the job done in a few minutes and remind you when another checkup is due.

Ambient light detection
Some calibrators can measure surrounding ambient light and adjust monitor brightness to compensate. Useful when comparing printed images with on-screen equivalents.

Monitor types
The tech inside your monitor will affect how it displays colors, hence a calibration device that can accommodate subtleties like LED backlighting should produce more accurate results.

How we test monitor calibrators

Aside from the actual quality of the unit and some of the specific features it boasts, when we're testing monitor calibration devices, we're wanting to hone in on the accuracy and the speed.

First of all, there's no use having a calibrator if it's not accurate. Secondly, if it calibrates but does so really slowly and laboriously, then it becomes a chore that you'll never end up wanting to repeat.

Monitor calibration is a hugely important part of the photographic workflow, allowing you to edit your photos accurately and make sure that what you see on the screen reflects what will be printed. And yet, many photographers either forget or don't know how to calibrate their monitor. That's where calibration devices like the Datacolor Spyder X Elite come in.

Color calibration tools like the Datacolor Spyder X Elite can be invaluable in setting up your monitor easily, accurately and quickly. Calibration is done by simply placing the device on your screen, as it uses a built-in lens to measure the accuracy of the display – usually in a matter of minutes.

Why should you calibrate your monitor?

A monitor calibration device like the Datacolor SpyderX Elite ensures that what you see on screen is the most accurate representation of the shot you took. Why does this matter? Well, then when it comes to editing, you can be more confident about tweaking the tones and colors of your image to make it perfect. And if you decide to send off prints to a lab (or print your photos at home) you’ll know that the finished artworks will reflect what you saw on the monitor.

Most photographers put the utmost time and care into processing every aspect of their images. You don't want to waste time, effort and possibly a lot of money on ruined prints because your monitor wasn't showing you a calibrated view.

Fortunately, there’s never been a better time to upgrade to the professional SpyderX Elite, as it currently costs just £139 (that’s a saving of £120 off the regular price of £239) when you access the promotion.

Why upgrade to the Datacolor SpyderX Elite?

SpyderX Elite is the perfect calibration tool for creative professionals, and it can calibrate a monitor in less than two minutes. Using the SpyderProof feature, you can actually see the before and after difference that calibration has made with a simple click.

There’s also no limit to the number of monitors that can be calibrated, and it’s possible to match multiple monitors using the StudioMatch™ function – which is great if you move from a studio to editing at home, for example.

You might think that monitor calibration is only suitable for your desktop setup, but actually the SpyderX Elite is perfect for on-the-go photography. Thanks to a fully sealed sensor and lens cap, it can be used in changing light conditions and is ideal for a laptop screen.

Datacolor says it has spent three years creating the completely new lens-based color engine technology featured in SpyderX. The optical system itself is based on a large converging lens, and that means greater level of accuracy in screen colors, white balance and even shadow details.

If you're new to calibration devices and need help setting up your SpyderX Elite device, Datacolor’s customer support team is made up of real photographers, rather than a call centre, which means you’ll get expert advice and support.

You've got until 31 July 2022 to upgrade to the Spyder X Elite device and save £120. Visit the Datacolor website to find out more about the promotion and discover the full benefits of using a calibration device for your photography.

I’ve used monitor calibrators from Spyder and Datacolor. I’ve used scanner calibrators and printer calibrators. I’ve given the whole color management workflow a proper shot, and I’ve given up on the whole thing.

That’s not to say it won’t work for anyone, but the range of situations where it’s essential or even useful looks pretty narrow to me. Color management will often promise a perfection it's difficult to achieve in practice, it takes time, equipment and know-how and can introduce errors that you would never have had before.

What happened when I calibrated my monitors

I know what to do and I follow all the instructions, but whenever I calibrated one of my monitors, its new custom profile made it look dimmer and warmer than I was used to.

Fine, I thought, that’s just my eyes failing to adapt to the correct color rendition. If I gave them time, maybe a few hours, or a few days, it would be fine. But the days stretched into weeks and I just couldn’t get on with my monitors’ new colors –  they just looked unnatural. 

I concede they tied in pretty well with my photo printer’s colors when that used the correct profile too. Back then I did a lot of photo printing, especially with third-party ‘artisan’ papers (the makers would often supply ready-made profiles) and a lot in black and white too (don’t even bother trying without proper ‘gray’ inks).

But I still didn’t like the look of my monitor. I switched back to my default profile, my monitor looked ‘right’ again, and if my printer’s colors showed any difference I decided it didn’t matter or it was easy enough to tweak the image and do it again.

I don’t do any printing now, so that reason for sticking with color management is gone. I found its value dubious then, and unnecessary now.

Of course, you can get prints done at a lab, even if you don’t print at home. Here, you should take the lab’s advice about color management and the color spaces or profiles they need.

What about commercial print publishing?

Very true. Commercial print publishers are likely to follow a color managed workflow and with good reason. HOWEVER, matching profiles for print is the designer’s job, not the photographer’s. You may try to help by supplying a correctly-profiled print-ready CMYK version of your photo, but they will have to check it anyway and would probably prefer you just sent an sRGB or Adobe RGB image.

sRGB vs Adobe RGB is an interesting question. Adobe RGB is a technically ‘wider’ color space than sRGB but it brings its own problems. Few monitors support the Adobe RGB color space, and if even if you use the correct conversion profile, an sRGB monitor will only approximate the Adobe RGB colors within in its own sRGB color gamut.

Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an sRGB image that I can show would have been better in Adobe RGB – but I’ve seen lots of Adobe RGB images looking terrible because they’ve been displayed uncorrected on regular sRGB displays.

Monitor quality matters

Monitors have come a long way. If you get a good-quality 1080 or 4K monitor designed for photo and video work you’re already half way to accurate color. And don’t forget that most monitors let you tune the color output manually – a quicker and dirtier way to match your printer if you need to.

The thing is, a monitor calibrator can’t make a poor-quality monitor good. If your monitor doesn’t have a good enough contrast ratio or can’t pump out enough nits for decent brightness, a monitor calibrator won’t help you much.

Here's the point: you can’t control your users' displays

Most of us now share our images digitally rather than in print. This means you have absolutely no control over the displays that other people are using. With this in mind, when I share or post an image I use the sRGB color space and make sure it looks right on my monitor, which I have to imagine is a fair representation of other people’s. In that respect, trying to 'correct' my monitor might put it out of kilter with everyone else's.

And then there are camera phone and tablet displays, which are sometimes brighter, richer and deeper than desktop displays – and sometimes dimmer and flatter. If you’re editing images for digital consumption, your best bet is to aim for the middle ground.

The IDEA of a fully managed color workflow sounds great. The reality is complex, messy and prone too errors and misunderstandings.

I think, basically, that decades of using uncorrected monitors has trained my brain to ‘correct’ them itself, so that when I see a ‘corrected’  monitor, it just doesn’t look right and perhaps never will.

If you do make your own prints, monitor calibration makes sense. We even have a guide to the best monitor calibration kits. However, if monitor calibration doesn't work for you, it doesn't make you a bad photographer. If you produce images for digital consumption, you're fine as you are.

Read more:

• Best monitor calibrator
• Best monitors for photographers
• Best photo printers

Where many calibration tools are designed purely for monitor calibration, Calibrite ColorChecker Studio is an all-in-one kit that’ll calibrate every stage of a photographer’s workflow, from camera to monitor to print. 

Originally sold as the X-Rite’s i1Studio, the Calibrite ColorChecker Studio is  short on versatility, but do its extra features justify the hefty price premium over a more conventional alternative?

Features

The Calibrite ColorChecker Studio is based around a multi-purpose spectrophotometer that not only profiles your monitor, but can also be used profile a printer, scanner or projector.

Starting with monitor calibration. The Calibrite ColorChecker Studio software isn’t just configured to suit photo editing, as it also includes video color space options like DCI P3, Rec. 709, PAL and NTSC. Extra factors that can affect perceived color accuracy can be counteracted, with features such as Flare Correct helping compensate for the strong reflections off a glossy screen. There’s also ambient lighting analysis that enables you to configure monitor brightness to suit the ambient light around the screen.

• See the our guide to the best monitor calibrators

In addition to monitor profiling, the ColorChecker Studio can also be used to calibrate an iOS mobile device with the aid of the ColorTRUE app, tweaking your iPad or iPhone to display photos with corrected color.

Your printer can’t escape the Calibrite ColorChecker Studio treatment either, as RGB and CMYK printers can be profiled. Although monitor-to-print consistency is more critical in professional media environments, if you’re spending big bucks on ink and quality paper, it’s nice to know your printer is working to the best of its abilities.

Projector profiling follows and almost identical procedure to conventional monitor profiling, just with different positioning requirements for the Studio. It’s a useful feature not just for home cinema fanatics, but also if you’re giving a presentation via a projector and you want your audience to view it with accurate color.

Also included in the kit is Calibrite ColorChecker Studio target card. This works in conjunction with software to ensure you have consistent color from your camera during a shoot, or you can use it as a reference target when converting Raw files in Adobe Lightroom. The color target card can also be used for scanner profiling.

Lastly, the ColorChecker Studio spot color measurement feature means you can analyze the color of objects, so you can match the color of your favorite wallpaper or toy like you can at a custom paint-mixing stand at a hardware store.

Design and build

The centerpiece of the ColorChecker Studio kit is the spectrophotometer. Being such a versatile device, it’s considerably bigger than a typical monitor-only calibrator, measuring 100 x 90 x 50mm (albeit with the corners rounded off). Despite an all-plastic construction, build quality feels solid, and for a little extra protection you get a form-fitting neoprene case. You can leave this on when calibrating your monitor, and you actually need to as it contains the mounting loop to attach a weighted strap that hangs over the back of your monitor and acts as a counterweight to hold the device in place on the front of your screen.

The large circular dials on each side of the device aren’t just for show. They’re actually joined within the casing and rotate a single dial that can be gripped from both sides. Its purpose is to set calibration mode, with positions for monitor/print calibration, projecting profiling and ambient lighting detection. The fourth marking on the dial indicates the calibration position (yes, even the tool doing the calibrating needs to be calibrated itself!). 

Calibrite's software requires you to first rotate the dial to this position before you calibrate anything else. In doing so the device’s sensor is then covered. It can automatically calibrate itself, and only then can you continue. There’s a pulsating status LED on each side, and on one side only is a single large button, which you use for taking spot color measurements and while scanning color patch prints during the printer-calibration procedure.

Performance

Although the ColorChecker Studio is aimed at enthusiasts, but it’s less intimidating to use than a monitor calibrator like Calibrite i1Display Pro.

Monitor calibration is a simple procedure, with only essential options to define such as white point and luminance. Once you’ve set these – the default values are usually fine if you’re not sure what to go for – the device then scans 118 different colours fired though your screen by the calibration software, with the whole process taking just under five minutes. 

A custom color profile – or 'look-up table' – is then created and saved to your computer’s graphics card. Each time you boot up, the corrected colour profile is loaded and your monitor’s color automatically changes from its default settings to the calibrated color.

In our case the before-and-after difference was very noticeable, with our test monitor’s default color revealed as having a noticeably green cast, whereas the corrected output appeared slightly magenta-biased by contrast, but actually much more neutral after a few seconds of viewing.

Projector profiling follows much the same procedure, though you need to position the ColorChecker Studio at a specific distance and angle relative to the size of your projected image.

Printer profiling requires you to print two test pages, each containing 50 colour patches. The software then shows you how to scan each test print using the ColorChecker Studio, pressing the side button as you scan. Unlike some printer calibration devices of old, you don’t need to pause on every individual color patch; just slide along each row for 10 patches and the device automatically does its thing. 

An entire page can be scanned in under 30 seconds when you’re familiar with the process. Like the monitor profiling, once you’ve scanned each sheet, a custom colour profile is saved and you select this rather than using your printer’s default settings next time you go to print. 

Our print results showed a noticeable shift to more subtle skin tones when using the calibrated print profile, with the original default settings appearing marginally over-saturated by comparison. If you’re passionate about black-and-white printing there’s also a printer profiling mode specifically designed to help you get the most neutral mono prints possible.

Finally there’s the iOS smart device calibration. You’ll need to download the ColorTRUE app to use this feature, then you place the ColorChecker Studio on your device’s screen and the calibration process works much like it does when calibrating your main monitor. 

There is a catch though: this doesn’t alter your device’s color at a system level. Only images opened within the ColorTRUE Image Gallery will be displayed with corrected color. Some other photo-focussed apps can also display ColorTRUE color profiles, but most apps and iOS itself will retain default color settings.

Verdict

The Calibrite ColorChecker Studio isn’t exactly an all-new product, but rather a subtle tweak and rebrand of the old X-Rite ColorMunki Photo. If you’d prefer more monitor calibration control, even a fully-featured i1Display Pro can be had for a little over half the price of an Calibrite ColorChecker Studio, and its software packs more monitor calibration options.

Whether you should buy an ColorChecker Studio really hinges on how much you need printer profiling. This certainly ups the price compared to a monitor-only calibrator, but consider that to get CMYK printer profiling you’d otherwise need to splash out more.

Some of the ColorChecker Studio features, like projector and scanner calibration, are unlikely to be essential, and it’s a pity that smart device calibration is a bit half-baked. Some advanced users may also find the Calibrite software to be a little limiting, but these are all minor nitpicks with what’s otherwise a highly versatile, yet easy to use, device that offers a lot for the money.

Read more: Best photo-editing monitors

A calibrated photo monitor is an essential part of any digital imaging workflow, but price and size can be deterrents. The Acer ConceptD CM2 CM2241W could be the simple solution for photographers - saving the need to buy a separate monitor calibrator.

We all know that the monitors in desktop computers and photo-editing laptops are usually the cheapest displays manufacturers can get away with. We also know that a calibrated monitor is essential for image editing, especially if you’re planning to make accurate prints. But then the inevitable questions about photo monitors are – does it have to be so big and do I really have to spend that much money? The answers are ‘no’ and ‘no’.

The good news is that the choice of more affordable photo monitors is on the increase and Acer is the latest arrival with its ConceptD CM2 series. The CM2241W is the 24-inch monitor and this display size strikes a good balance between something that’s big enough to be useful for applications such as image editing, but doesn’t take up a whole lot of space on your desk. The panel’s 16:10 aspect ratio helps here too, as it’s a bit taller than 16:9 and works well with images in the 3:2 aspect ratio, which is basically anything from a digital camera with either a full frame or APS-C sized sensor. 

The resolution is Full HD (at 1920x1200 pixels so, to be precise, WUXGA), which might cause a raised eyebrow now that 4K displays are becoming so common, but for some applications you can, in fact, have too much resolution. It may sound contradictory, but in terms of evaluating fine detailing in a still image, less resolution can be better than more, especially at the smaller monitor sizes which result in very high pixels-per-inch (ppi) counts. The CM2241W is very much targeted at enthusiast-level photographers who simply don’t need a big 4K monitor.

The display is an IPS panel with LED backlighting, an area of 518.4x324.0 millimetres and the resolution gives 109ppi. It has 10-bit color processing, delivering a palette of 1.07 billion for smoother shading, color transitions and tonal gradations. The IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology enables a wide viewing angle of up to 178 degrees, both horizontally and vertically. The response time is 1.0ms VRB – which is very fast indeed and more than enough for video-editing applications – and the refresh rate is 75Hz. A light matte anti-glare coating helps reduce reflections and glare, but doesn’t eliminate the latter entirely.

Acer ConceptD CM2 CM2241W: Specifications

Panel Type: 61 centimetres (23.8 inches) IPS with white LED backlighting.

Display Area: 518.4x324.0 millimetres (full scan). 16:10 aspect ratio.

Native Resolution: 1920x1200 pixels (91 ppi).

Viewing Angles: 178 degrees horizontal and vertical.

Brightness: 350 cd/m² (typical).

Contrast: 1000:1 (typical).

Display colors: 1.07 billion.

Color Range: 99% of Adobe RGB 1998, 100% sRGB, 94.7% of DCI-P3.

Internal Processing: 10-bits per color.

Height Adjustment Range: 12 centimetres.

Mount Adjustments: -5.0-25 degrees tilt, 360 degrees swivel, 90 degrees pivot (for portrait format).

Connections: Display Port 1.2, two HDMI 2.0, one USB 3.1/3.2 Type B (upstream), three USB 3.1/3.2 Type A (downstream), 3.5mm audio output.

Features: Seven color mode presets (sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, Standard, Movie, Graphics and CAD/CAM), one user-defined preset and two for external calibrations, 75Hz refresh rate and 1.0ms VRB response time, Delta E <= 2 (CIE) color accuracy, 3D LUT for hardware calibration, Adaptive Sync technology, anti-glare screen coating, built-in loudspeakers. Pantone validated. VESA wall mount compatible.

Dimensions (WxHxD): 533.4x509.2x 233.6 mm (including stand at highest setting).

Weight: 5.5 kilograms (including stand).

Design & features

Externally, the CM2241W is very stylish looking with super-slim bezels, a gently rounded back casing, a silver tubular support arm, and a circular base with a timber-effect finish. Initially, the base looks like it might just be a bit too small, but it’s actually quite weighty and certainly stable enough. Monitor positioning adjustments are very easily applied, including swiveling through a full 360 degrees. The height adjustment range is 12cm and the panel can also be tilted through 30 degrees (five degrees forward, 25 backwards), plus it can be rotated through 90 degrees to a vertical orientation. 

All the connections – along with the main on/off switch and the power cord’s plug-in – are on the base and comprise one Display Port, one USB Type B (upstream) and one USB Type A (downstream), two HDMI and a stereo audio output via 3.5mm minijack socket. Two more USB Type A ports are on the monitor’s left side and these are obviously the ones you’d use for temporarily connecting devices, such as a camera or card reader. There’s no built-in SD card reader and no USB-C connector either.

The physical controls are discreetly located at the lower right of the monitor’s rear panel and comprise a joystick controller – which Acer calls the ‘Navi button’ – and four unmarked rectangular buttons. As its name suggests, the Navi button serves as the navigator for the on-screen menus (OSD), with a press action serving as the ‘enter’ command. One of the buttons cycles through the input sources and two are ‘hot keys’ so they can be assigned various functions as desired. It’s all very logical and straightforward so, operationally, the CM2241W couldn’t be easier to set up or more efficient to then subsequently use.

The display comes calibrated for the three main color spaces of RGB, Adobe RGB and DCI-P3, plus there are another four presets designated Standard, Movie, Graphics and CAD/CAM. A 3D LUT (Look-Up Table) is included, enabling hardware calibration independent of a computer’s color management system. You can store two custom calibration profiles and also one user-defined screen setup (for brightness, contrast, black boost, etc.). If you aren’t planning to delve too deeply into the arcane world of digital color management, this is really all you need.

Acer ConceptD CM2 CM2241W: Verdict

As usual, to test the Acer monitor’s performance, we ran software-based calibration using the Datacolor SpyderX Elite colorimeter. The DisplayCal scores for color gamut, tone response, white point uniformity, contrast, luminance uniformity, color uniformity and color accuracy were all excellent. In fact, this display truly excels for color accuracy, which is exactly what you want for image editing, and the really good news is that the factory calibration is pretty spot-on, so you don’t actually need to do your own profiles (which, of course, is an added expense in terms of buying a colorimeter).

Acer has been smart with the CM2241W’s design and specifications because although it’s not a combination of size and resolution that would make headlines any more, the emphasis on color accuracy means it’s very well suited to image-editing applications. Additionally, the ease of setup and adjustment – along with the likelihood of long-term calibration stability – make it ideal for the enthusiast-level photographer who just wants a consistent color accuracy that will translate to great-looking prints. It’s essentially set-and-forget, so you can get on with getting the most out of your photography. Result. 

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Color calibration is hugely important if you want to edit your best photos, because how can you edit an image effectively if your monitor is giving you a false reading? 

Image manipulation is a delicate process that involves lots of subtle tweaks. Imagine if all of those subtle tweaks were slightly off, because the colors and tones you were seeing weren’t accurate. This is especially important if you plan to print your images. A key step in printing is soft proofing, which lets you preview how your printer will print your image. However, if your monitor isn’t calibrated properly, the soft proof could look very different to what actually comes out of your printer.

That’s where color calibration tools come in. For this tutorial we’re using a Datacolor SpyderX. This clever device is placed directly onto a screen, where it uses its built-in lens to measure the accuracy of the display, which it then calibrates accordingly. It’s compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems, and plugs into a USB port, or a USB-A to C adapter.

The SpyderX doesn’t just read your monitor’s display, though; it also considers the lighting of the room you’re working in, which affects how you view your screen. Because of this, there are a few considerations you must make to perform an accurate calibration. Here’s how to boost your monitor’s accuracy.

• Best monitor calibrators

How to calibrate a monitor

01 Download the software

Download the SpyderX software from the Datacolor website. There are versions for the SpyderX Elite and Pro – in Windows and Mac flavors – so make sure you choose the right option for your setup. Follow the simple installation wizard, but don’t plug in the device until the installation is complete.

02 Start afresh

Revert to your monitor’s default settings using its built-in menu and set the colour temperature to 6500 Kelvins (if you’re able to). Mac users can enter System Preferences > Displays, click the Color tab, choose the necessary display profile, select Calibrate and then adjust the temperature in the Target White Point section.

03 Lose the light

How light falls upon your monitor will impact how you see its display. It’s therefore important to make sure that no light is directly hitting your screen, so switch off lights and draw your curtains/blinds, if necessary. Finally, set your monitor’s brightness to your preference and make sure any automatic brightness settings are switched off.

04 Select your setup

Ensure the SpyderX is connected and select Desktop or Laptop. Enter the manufacturer and model of your display, and tell the software whether you were able to adjust the brightness and / or colour temperature. Select your monitor’s backlighting technology. If you’re unsure, choose the General category.

05 Light meter

Choose your calibration settings. As this is a first-time setup, choose FullCAL. Head into the Change Settings menu and select Room Light: Room Light Switching – Automatic. This tells the SpyderX to measure the lighting in your room. The results are then factored into the calibration.

06 Calibration

Remove the SpyderX’s lens cap and place the lens on the silhouette that appears on your display. Drape the cap over the back of your monitor and use it as a counterweight. We tilted our screen back to ensure the device sat flush against our display. Hit Next to start the calibration.

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Color management specialist Datacolor are celebrating its 50th birthday this year... and are offering big discounts on its SpyderX Range of monitor calibration kits to mark the anniversary.

The best-selling SpyderX Pro is cut in price by $40 or £50 depending which side of the Atlantic you live - bring the cost of scientifically ensuring your screen is showing your images in the right hues to just $129.99 or £109. The offer is running until 01 March. 

The SpyderX Pro unit can can calibrate your screen in under two minutes – which will encourage you to use it regularly (every month or so is best). The unit comes with some advanced features such as features like ambient light monitoring and multi-monitor support.

The price of the next model up in the range, the SpyderX Elite is cut by $70 / £80 to $199 / £169 in the birthday sale. This offers the same fast functionality of the SpyderX Pro  which is , but additionally allows to calibrate projectors and provides video-centric profiles for those who want to use screens for serious movie editing.

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Reproducing colors equally in all of your images online can be a challenge, as there are many factors which can alter their appearance. The overriding issue is that of computer screens; it is impossible to predict how each of your viewers will see your images, as every monitor has a different color bias. 

Secondly, the internet does not display a full range of colors, so most native color spaces won’t display properly on photo-sharing platforms. Furthermore, every platform can vary in how it translates the digital information in your image files to an on-screen image.

With all of these obstacles it can be a frustrating experience when trying to make your online portfolio look its best, especially when you have spent time carefully shooting and editing your work. Here are some simple steps to put into action, to immediately minimize online photo-sharing stress and give your photos the display quality they deserve.   

1. How to calibrate your monitor

Consistent color starts with a calibrated monitor. Buy a color calibration device from $50/£50 and use this to easily standardize your screen’s color reproduction, removing any subtle color shifts that may be unsightly on a viewer’s monitor.

• The best monitor calibrators

2. Use an sRGB color space

Convert all images bound for the web to sRGB. In Photoshop go Edit > Convert to Profile and choose sRGB IEC61966-2.1. This smaller color space will display more accurately in web browsers, making it easier to approximate online color whilst editing.

3. Use a camera color profile

The image you see on the back of your camera is actually a jpg preview of your RAW image. If shooting RAW, apply a camera color preset in Camera Raw or Lightroom, to help maintain color from shoot to showcase.

4. Edit in a neutral setting

An often overlooked mistake in the color correction workflow is to make adjustments in a room with lighting that lacks color balance. Editing in a room with lots of warm lighting can cause your eyes to over-correct the color in your image, leading you to introduce an opposite color cast. Similarly a room that is too dark or too light will cause mis-processing of exposure and color. A room with no direct sunlight and neutral grey walls is ideal.

5. Test images on each platform

An advisable step before posting images online is to test-view each photo-sharing site for color reproduction. Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and 500px can all introduce slightly different color shifts, that are not easy to predict and which can vary depending on image content. Highly colorful photos suffer the most, as color shifts are likely to be more noticeable. Simply change the privacy settings of these images so only you can see them and use them as a reference for future posts. 

6. Test images on matte and glossy screens

Textured and glossy surfaces reflect light differently and therefore the glossiness of screens influences how our eyes perceive the color they display. Test-viewing images on both types of computer monitor can at least remove one variable from the challenge of non-standard monitor calibration. 

7. Overcompensate with color in Photoshop

A skill to be mastered when running online image portfolios is the treatment of color in post-processing. Once you have followed the previous steps and are able to better predict what kind of color shifts you are likely to see when sharing photos on each social site, you  must learn to compensate for these when editing. An often necessary technique is the over-editing of color and tone, to offset the lack of color and misrepresentation of hues online. 

Conclusion

Photographers new to online sharing must adapt to a web-based editing mindset. Processing for online viewing greatly differs from editing for print. Remember your photos will always be seen back-lit on-screen and assess your color accordingly.

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Datacolor has just released two new colour calibration kits based around its latest SpyderX monitor calibrator. What's more, until 14 July 2019, both kits can be had with an introductory offer of 20% off.

SpyderX Capture Pro

The new SpyderX Capture Pro is a comprehensive kit containing four products designed to calibrate each element of a photographic workflow.

Until 14 July, you can get the SypderX Capture Pro for $320/£283 - a 20% saving of $80/£72 compared to the RRP of $400/£355.

The centrepiece is the impressive SpyderX Elite monitor calibrator (check out our full review) which offers advanced features like ambient light monitoring to adjust your monitor’s colour and brightness in response to the intensity and colour temperature of surrounding light. There’s also multi-monitor and projector support, but the biggest SpyderX improvement is its new lens-based sensor system, which helps boost calibration accuracy and speed. Datacolor claims it’s 4x faster than the previous Spyder5, and in our testing it was quicker still.

When it comes to judging accurate colour and contrast during a shoot, the next element of the Capture Pro kit comes into play. Place the SpyderCUBE in a test shot and it acts like a conventional white balance target, helping you set white balance, highlight and shadow levels. A Black Trap hole in the base defines absolute black, and the cube is topped off by a chromed ball that displays catchlights. The cube itself is easily pocketable, making it generally more convenient than a traditional grey card.

Datacolor’s SpyderCHECKR is tool of choice for more precise colour correction in post processing. With the slim 23 x 17cm device displayed in a test image, the accompanying software will detect its 48 colour patches and automatically adjust the shot to compensate for any colour casts. Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw can then apply this colour profile to all images shot in the same conditions.

The final element in the Capture Pro kit addresses something often taken for granted: autofocus accuracy. Some lenses can front or back focus just enough to soften your focal point at large apertures. You can correct this by focusing wide open on the SpyderLENSCAL target. Its angled ruler reveals the actual point of focus, and how far it is from being accurate. This figure can be programmed into Canon cameras featuring AF Microadjustment, while AF Fine-Tune performs the same function in Nikon cameras. It wouldn’t be too tricky to construct a DIY version of this gadget, but Datacolor’s clever flat-pack design and robust build will likely stand up to long term use.

SpyderX Studio

The second new SypderX kit is the SpyderX Studio. Like the Capture Pro kit, this also contains the SpyderX Elite monitor calibrator and Spyder Cube, but also adds Datacolor's Spyder Print printer profiling tool that makes quick work of ensuring the colour of your printed photos will match that of your on-screen images.

The SpyderX Studio has an RRP of $500/£399, but until 14 July it's available with a 20% discount for just $400/£319.

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You can go to great lengths to ensure accurate in-camera white balance and consistent color in software raw processing, but all this effort is wasted if your monitor is deceiving you by displaying incorrect color.

Fortunately there's a quick, easy and effective fix for this: monitor calibration. Spend a couple of minutes calibrating your monitor and you'd be amazed at the color transformation many monitors are capable of, and how a screen you once thought was accurate is revealed to have been displaying a pronounced color cast all along.

Buyers' guide: Best monitor calibrators

Datacolor is one of two big names in monitor calibration, and its Spyder series of monitor calibrators have long been highly respected for their accuracy and ease of use. In fact we use a Spyder5 Elite colorimeter for checking the factory color accuracy of monitors we review.

Now Datacolor is back with its successor to the Spyder5 series: SpyderX, promising enhanced accuracy and increased calibration speed.

Features

At first glance there isn't a great deal to separate the SpyderX from its Spyder5 predecessor , apart from the change from a black to white plastic casing, of course. Both are a similar size and shape, though the SpyderX's thickness tapers to a slimmer point as it reaches the USB cable.

The big change is visible on the underside, as the SpyderX uses a brand new lens-based sensor system rather than the honeycomb baffle on the Spyder5. The result is a claimed increase in calibration accuracy, especially in the lightest and darkest image regions, and a sub-2-minute calibration time, making this the fastest Spyder calibrator ever.

Datacolor also maintains the accompanying calibration software is even easier to use than before.

• Single click & wizard calibration capability
• Multiple monitor support
• Ambient light monitoring & profile switching
• Before and after calibration review
• Advanced display mapping & analysis tools
• Unlimited calibration setting choices
• Expert console calibration
• Video & cinema calibration targets
• Soft proof of print results
• Projector calibration
• Display matching in studio
• Visual fine tuning for side-by-side display match

Performance

Setting up the SpyderX is as easy as installing its corresponding software from the link on the enclosed information card and entering the serial code printed inside the product packaging.

The calibration software is almost identical to that used by the old Spyder5 Elite, though this isn't necessarily a bad thing. While the interface design is starting to look a bit dated, the software does manage to combine extensive functionality and features with plenty of informative explanation and a logical wizard-driven calibration process. Or there's a full-on Expert Console if you want to delve in and adjust every conceivable calibration option. The software caters well for any level of user expertise.

Once you've clicked through the various monitor set-up parameters - including extensive options for defining your display type and monitor backlight technology - it's time to start the calibration itself. The SpyderX colorimeter rests on your display, with its sensor cover hanging over the back of your monitor to act as a counterweight. The software then fires a series of colors through the monitor which are then analysed by the SpyderX to see how close your monitor gets to meeting the SpyderX's colour accuracy targets.

And it's at this point you really experience the SpyderX advantage. Our test monitor was a Dell XPS 15 laptop with a 4K IPS display and 100% Adobe RGB coverage. Calibrating with our Spyder5 Elite took 5 minutes 17 seconds, whereas an identical calibration with the SpyderX was completed in a blistering 1 minute 15 seconds. Given monitor calibration isn't a once-only procedure - you should calibration roughly once a month to ensure consistent color accuracy - such a noticeable time saving is very handy indeed.

As for color accuracy, switching back and forth between our Spyder5 and SpyderX color profiles showed no noticeable colour differences. While the SpyderX is undoubtedly at the forefront of calibration technology, the Spyder5 is still a highly accurate calibration tool, so it should come as little surprise that the two are closely matched for accuracy.

Verdict

With each new revision of a monitor calibrator inevitably comes talk of quicker calibration times and increased accuracy. While the latter is more of an incremental upgrade over the outgoing Sypder5, the SpyderX does at least provide a huge speed benefit and is a worthwhile upgrade if you need to calibrate multiple monitors or regularly calibrate your main display. We can forgive Datacolor for not having done much to improve its calibration software, as it was already satisfying to use.

As for which version of the SpyderX you should buy, the Pro edition costs £159/$170/€179 and makes the most sense for photographers, as you still get the same lens-based sensor tech as in the Elite, along with ambient light monitoring and multi-monitor support. 

The Elite adds projector profiling, pro-orientated advanced calibration options, and its video color space targets are useful for video editing, but it commands a £249/$270/€279 price tag.

However, if you just want good calibration accuracy and are happy for the calibration process to take a bit longer, the Spyder5 Pro and Elite can still be found, for a tempting £99/$150 and £178/ $250 respectively.

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Monitor calibration rarely makes it to the top of photographers' 'to do' lists. Like the most basic DIY job, it's pretty obvious that a properly calibrated monitor will be worth the effort. But with so many other things to do, it's seldom a task that gets prioritised. 

The truth, however, is, that when you’re viewing an image on a non-calibrated monitor, you’re simply not seeing the true image; you might be missing crucial detail, or not seeing colours the way they should appear. After all the hard work you've put in shooting your images, why would you view and edit them on an uncalibrated monitor?

Enter the Spyder5 colorimeter, which calibrates your monitor to the industry colour reference standard, ensuring that you always see accurate colours and maintain all the key details of your photograph, helping you to save time and avoid over-editing.

Simple set-up

Setting up and using the Spyder5 really is simple. Once unboxed, you just follow the link to download your chosen Spyder5 software (Express, Pro, Elite, Pro+ or Elite+). Then once registered with the serial number, you'll be taken to the set-up wizard which runs you through a step-by-step process to make sure you're ready for calibration. The initial checklist covers whether you have allowed your display to warm up for the right amount of time, checked that no intense light is falling onto the screen, and will detail the monitor settings needed for a successful calibration process.

Once you’ve passed the quick checklist, you’ll be asked to plug the Spyder5 into your USB port, confirm your display type, and then calibration can begin. 

Instantly noticeable differences

By placing the Spyder5 over your screen in the way demonstrated, you can sit back and relax. Just a few minutes later, calibration will be complete. You'll be invited to name and save the profile, as well as to set up a reminder for a recalibration. Given how monitors change with age and affect the display and your images, a monthly recalibration is recommended. 

Once the process is over, you can easily switch between a calibrated and uncalibrated view to compare the differences, and even drag your own photos in to see the before and after effect. You’ll instantly be relieved you took the time to calibrate when you see the noticeable differences in your images.

For anyone who prints or displays their images, monitor calibration is a must. So don't do your images a disservice: make sure your monitor's calibrated, and your photographs are accurately capturing memories to treasure forever.

Datacolor are making calibration even easier this winter with a number of huge promotions. Save up to £130 on the following:

• Spyder5PRO + FREE SpyderCUBE – for accurate RAW conversion on a calibrated display. Standard price: £197*.  Promotional price: £157 incl. VAT
• Spyder5ELITE + FREE SpyderCHECKR24 – for accurate camera calibration on a calibrated display Standard price: £270. Promotional price: £228 incl. VAT
• SpyderCHECKR – Datacolor’s premium calibration chart with replaceable colour cards, FadeCHECKR and tripod mount. Standard price: £122. Promotional price: £87 incl. VAT
• Spyder5CAPTURE PRO – the ultimate bundle for photographers that provides all the essentials needed to manage colour from capture to editing in a photographic workflow; camera calibration, colour balance control and monitor calibration – this bundle, presented in a solid aluminium case, offers it all. Standard price: £343. Promotional price: £263 incl. VAT
• Spyder5STUDIO – a comprehensive toolkit for fine art printers, offering SpyderCUBE as the smartest grey card on the market, display calibration and printer profiling in a solid aluminium case. Standard price: £396. Promotional price: £262 incl. VAT

*Online store prices in €. Exchange rates may vary.

Visit Datacolor to find out more and take advantage of these savings.