Operation of particular instruments

Please note that instruments are being driven by ArgyllCMS drivers, and that any problems or queries regarding instrument
operation should be directed to the Argyll's author(s) or the Argyll mailing list, and not to any other party.

The following instruments are directly supported:
(Please note the installation instructions for each platform - they contain important information for getting your instruments working.)

JETI:

    specbos 1211 & 1201                    - Tele-Spectro-Radiometer
    spectraval 1511& 1501                   - Tele-Spectro-Radiometer

Image Engineering:

    EX1                                               - Tele-Spectro-Radiometer

Klein:

    K10-A                                           - Display Colorimeter. Reported also to work with the K-1, K-8 and K-10

X-Rite:
    DTP20 "Pulse"                             - "swipe" type reflective spectrometer, that can be used untethered.
    DTP22 Digital Swatchbook            - spot type reflective spectrometer.
    DTP41                                         - spot and strip reading reflective spectrometer.
    DTP41T                         - spot and strip reading reflective/transmissive spectrometer.
    DTP51                                         - strip reading reflective colorimeter.
    DTP92                                         - CRT display colorimeter.
    DTP94 "Optix XR" or "Optix XR2" or "Optix Pro"- display colorimeter.
    ColorMunki Design or Photo or i1Studio
                                                        - spot and "swipe" reflective/emissive spectrometer (UV cut only).
                                                            [ The OEM XEROX PhaserMeter is also reported to work. ]
    ColorMunki Create or Smile            - display colorimeter. (Similar to an Eye-One Display 2)
    Lenovo W - built in laptop Huey display colorimeter.
    Eye-One Display 3 - i1 DisplayPro and ColorMunki Display
                                                          [ The OEM i1Display Pro, NEC SpectraSensor Pro,
   Quato Silver Haze 3 OEM, HP DreamColor & Wacom i1d3 are also reported to work.]
Eye-One Pro2      - spot and "swipe" reflective/emissive spectrometer.

Gretag-Macbeth (now X-Rite):
Spectrolino - spot reflective/emissive spectrometer
SpectroScan - spot reflective/emissive, XY table reflective spectrometer
SpectroScanT - spot reflective/emissive/transmissive, XY table reflective spectrometer
Eye-One Pro "EFI ES-1000" - spot and "swipe" reflective/emissive spectrometer
Eye-One Monitor - spot and "swipe" emissive spectrometer
    Eye-One Display 1 or 2 or LT        - display colorimeter
    HP DreamColor or APS                 - display colorimeter. (Treated as a Eye-One Display 2)
    CalMAN X2                                  - display colorimeter. (Treated as a Eye-One Display 2)
    Huey        - display colorimeter

Sequel imaging (Now X-Rite):
     MonacoOPTIX           - display colorimeter (Treated as an Eye-One Display 1)
                                                           [The Sequel Chroma 4 & 5, and Sencore ColorPro V, IV & III also work.]

Lacie Blue Eye:                                  - see Eye-One Display

DataColor ColorVision:
     Spyder 2              - display colorimeter (Note that the user must supply firmware)
                                                          [The Spyder 1 also seems to work.]
     Spyder 3              - display colorimeter.
     Spyder 4              - display colorimeter (Note that the user must supply calibration data)
     Spyder 5              - display colorimeter (Note that the user must supply calibration data)

Other:
    Colorimètre HCFR                        - display colorimeter
    ColorHug & ColorHug2               - display colorimeter
    Palette/SwatchMate Cube           - reflective colorimeter

Other instruments can be supported indirectly, since patch result files created by other packages can be imported into Argyll.

General information about:

    Strip reading instruments
    X-Y Table instruments
    Spot reading instruments

There is a list of contributed ccss (Colorimeter Correction Spectral Sample) files.
There is a list of contributed ccmx (Colorimeter Correction Matrix) files.

Strip reading instruments

When used with a DT20, DTP41, DTP51, Eye-One Pro or ColorMunki strip reading instrument, chartread will first establish communications with the instrument, and then set it up ready to read the strips. The strips are labeled A to ZZ, and for each strip it will prompt:

    About to read strip XX :

where XX is the strip label, and this is followed by the available options to navigate, read the strip, or finish. Note that the normal (forward) direction of strip reading is one that starts at the strip label.

For the DTP51 you should feed the strip into the instrument, and the microswitch will trigger the read.

For the DTP41 you should line the appropriate strip up in the machine, and press its button.

For the Eye-One Pro you should set the guide to the appropriate strip, place the instrument ahead of the first patch on blank paper, and then press and hold the instruments button. When you hear a beep from the computer, you can then move the instrument steadily over the patches, releasing the button after the instrument is past the last patch. Moving the instrument too fast or changing speeds may cause a mis-read, or a scan with few samples read per patch.

For the ColorMunki with the default chart, the patches are the same width as the silver portion of body (white version), or the textured portion of the body (black version). Place aperture of the the instrument (located at its center) in the white space ahead of the first patch, and then press and hold the instruments button. When you hear a beep from the computer, you can then move the instrument steadily over the patches, releasing the button after the instrument is past the last patch. Moving the instrument too fast or changing speeds may cause a mis-read, or a scan with few samples read per patch. For the high density ColorMunki chart (printtarg -h), the patches are arranged so that three rows are exactly the width of the body of the instrument. If you are careful you can use this to guide the center of the instrument over each row, or you may prefer to use something like a plastic ruler to help guide the instrument.

Using the DTP20 or the Eye-One Pro or ColorMunki with a randomized chart layout, the strip may be scanned from either direction. If a randomized chart layout has not been used for the Eye-One Pro or ColorMunki, then the chart should only be read in the one direction (use chartread -B).

Note that you may have to check that system alert sounds are enabled and at a suitable volume to in order to hear the beep prompt. For the Eye-One Pro and ColorMunki, a second beep will sound after a successfully read strip, or a double beep will sound, indicating a failure or warning that needs attention. See also the note on Linux in installation.

If the strip is read successfully there will be a single "success" beep, and the line will be followed with:

    Ready to read strip XX :
    Strip read OK

If there is an error of some sort there will be a double "fail" beep, and a message will be issued, and you will be asked whether to abort the chart reading, or retry the
failed strip:

    Ready to read strip XX :
    Strip read failed due to misread (Not enough patches)

    Hit Esc to give up, any other key to retry:

If you are unable to successfully read a strip after several retries, you can skip that strip using the 'n' key, and save
the chart readings without that strip.

If the strip is read successfully, but the patches values don't seem to be what is expected, you will get a double "fail" beep and the following type of warning:

    Ready to read strip XX :
    (Warning) Seem to have read strip YY rather than XX !
    Hit Return to use it anyway, any other key to retry, Esc, ^C or Q to give up:

This could be because you have accidentally read the wrong strip (a common mistake), or it could be that the device response is so different from what is expected that warning is erroneous, or you may get a lot of these sorts of warnings if you are accidentally reading the wrong chart. You may also get this sort of warning if you are not using bi-direction reading (chartread -B), and read the strip from the wrong end.
If you are absolutely sure you lined up the correct strip, then hit return, otherwise line the appropriate strip up again, and hit some other key (ie. space).
Erroneous warnings are less likely if a previous profile for a device was given to targen to set more accurate expectations.

You may also see the following type of warning:

    Ready to read strip XX :
    (Warning) Patch error YY.YYY (>35 not good, >95 bad)
   There is at least one patch with an very unexpected response!
    Hit Return to use it anyway, any other key to retry, Esc, ^C or Q to give up:

Similar to the previous warning, this indicates that while the right strip appears to have been read, one of the patch readings is quite different to what is expected. This may indicate an error of some sort (ie. damaged test chart, or bad instrument positioning), or may be erroneous if the actual device response is quite different to the expectation. Erroneous warnings are less likely if a previous profile for a device was given to targen to set more accurate expectations.

You can also navigate the next strip to be read using the 'f' key to move forward and the 'b' keys to move backwards. The prompt will indicate whether this strip has already been read or not, or whether all strips have been read. You can also use 'n' to move forward to the next unread strip. After each successful reading it will move forward to the next unread strip. When you are finished, use the 'd' to indicate that you are done. You can choose to finish before all the strips are read, and the patches that have been read will be saved to the .ti3 file. This is useful if you are unable to read a particular strip successfully, or if you are unable to finish the chart in one session, and you can later resume reading the chart by using the chartread -r flag. [You could resume reading the chart patch by patch using the chartread -r -p if you are unable to read a strip successfully.]

When reading in patch by patch mode, there are a few additional navigation options, such as F to move forward 10 patches, B to move backwards 10 patches, and g to go to a specific patch.

You can abort the whole process at any time by hitting Escape, and the readings will not be saved.

X-Y Table instruments

When you are using an XY table type instrument, such as a Gretag SpectroScan, chartread will first establish communications with the instrument, and then set it up ready to read the chart. You will be prompted for each sheet with a message such as:

    Please make sure that the white reference is in slot 1, then
    place sheet 1 of 4 on table, then
    hit return to continue, Esc to give up

After hitting return you will be prompted to line up three squares on the sheet, one at a time:

    Using the XY table controls, locate patch A1 with the sight,
    then hit return to continue, Esc to give up

On completing this, the instrument will commence reading each sheet.

Spot reading instruments

When used with a DT22 or SpectroLino or use the patch by patch reading mode (chartread -p) with the Eye-One Pro or ColorMunki instrument, or use the external values mode (chartread -x), chartread will first establish communications with the instrument, and then set it up ready to read the patches. The patches are typically labeled by column A to ZZ, and row 1-999. Each patch will prompt:

    Ready to read patch 'XX' :

where XX is the patch label, and this is followed by the available options to navigate, read the strip, or finish.

Place the instrument on the indicated patch, and trigger a reading using one of the available methods (typically using the instrument switch of pressing a key).

There should be an audible prompt on a successful or failed reading.

Note that you may have to check that system alert sounds are enabled and at a suitable volume to in order to hear the beep prompt. For the Eye-One Pro and ColorMunki, a second beep will sound after a successfully read strip, or a double beep will sound, indicating a failure or warning that needs attention. See also the note on Linux in installation.

If the patch is read successfully, the line will be completed with:

    Ready to read patch XX :
    Patch read OK

If there is an error of some sort, a message will be issued, and you will be asked whether to abort the chart reading, or retry the
failed patch:

    Ready to read patch XX : read_strip returned 'Strip misread' (Bad reading)

    Strip read failed due to misread
    Hit Esc to give up, any other key to retry:

You can navigate the next patch to be read using the 'f' key to move forward and the 'b' keys to move backwards, while 'F' and 'B' will move forward and backwards by 10 patches. The prompt will indicate whether this patch has already been read or not, or whether all patches have been read. You can also use 'n' to move forward to the next unread patch. When you are finished, use the 'd' to indicate that you are done. You can choose to finish before all the patches are read, and they will be saved to the .ti3 file. This is useful if you are unable to finish the chart in one session, and you can later resume reading the chart by using the chartread -r flag.

You can abort the whole process at any time by hitting Escape, and the readings will not be saved.

Display Type

Many of the colorimeters have a display type selection parameter. Depending on the instrument, this may combine two related functions: 1) Changing the measurement mode to suite either refresh-type, or non-refresh displays, and 2) Changing the calibration to suite a particular displays spectral characteristics.

A refresh type display uses a technology that presents different portions of the image at different times, doing so at a high enough rate that this is normally imperceptible. This time varying characteristic can interfere with measuring a display color unless the instrument makes allowances for it, typically by making its measurement period a multiple of the display refresh period. Display types that refresh are CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), Single chip DLP (Digital Light Processing) and Plasma displays. An example of a non-refresh display technology is LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), although is a few cases the back-light illumination may have a low enough frequency flicker to benefit from the refresh mode.

Instruments in which the display type selection only changes the measurement mode (i.e. i1d3), will typically have some other independent option to set the calibration type. Simpler instruments combine the measurement mode with a calibration selections, typically refresh+CRT and non-refresh+LCD. Some instruments are a hybrid of both (Spyder4), where the display type can select between generic refresh/non-refresh that can then use a .CCSS to set the calibration type, or a combined selection of non-refresh and a particular display type.

See Comparison_of_display_technology for some background on different display technologies.

Refresh Rate Measurement

Most of the colorimeters that have a refresh display type selection, also have an ability to measure the refresh rate of a display. Some of the spectrometers also have a display refresh rate measurement capability when in an emissive measurement mode, even though they don't use this to support a refresh display mode. You can do a display refresh rate measurement in spotread using the 'F' key. The particular instruments have a range of accuracy when making this measurement. A rough guide is as follows:

Instrument	Typical error in Hz.
spectrobos 1211/1201/1501/1511	0.05
Klein K10-A	0.05
DTP92	0.1
i1 Display 2	0.5
Spyder 2	0.7
Spyder 3	3
Spyder 4	3
i1 Display Pro	0.05
i1 Pro Spectro.	0.05
ColorMunki Spectro.	0.05

specbos 1211 and 1201 Tele-Spectro-Radiometer

Availability:

The specbos 1211 and 1201 from JETI are currently available instruments. These are reference grade instruments capable of emissive and ambient measurements, and are often used for monitor, projector and cinema calibration & characterization, lighting measurement and colorimeter calibration, amongst many other uses.

The JETI specbos 1211 and 1201 makes use of the FTDI FT232R Virtual COM Port Drivers (VCP), that may need installing for your operating system. See installation instructions.

spectraval 1511 and 1501 Tele-Spectro-Radiometer

Availability:

The spectraval 1511 and 1501 from JETI are currently available instruments. These are high grade instruments capable of emissive measurements, and are often used for monitor, projector and cinema calibration & characterization and colorimeter calibration, amongst many other uses.

The JETI specbos 1511 and 1501 makes use of the newer FTDI FT231XS Virtual COM Port Drivers (VCP), that may need installing for your operating system. See installation instructions.

Bluetooth: These instruments can be operated via Bluetooth by first pairing the instrument with your computer and enabling the Bluetooth serial port, and then allowing the ArgyllCMS tools to identify the instrument over the serial port.

Image Engineering EX1

Availability:

The Image Engineering EX1 is a currently available instruments. This is a high resolution spectrometer intended for the measurement of light sources.

Klein K10-A Colorimeter

Availability:

The Klein K10-A from Klein Instruments is a currently available instrument. It is noted for it's speed, high precision, and ability to measure to very low light levels.This is a high end instruments capable of contact and tele - emissive, and ambient measurements, and are often used for monitor, projector and cinema calibration and characterization.

Note that unlike the operation of other instruments, the Ambient mode is purely manual - the diffuser must be fitted and then the appropriate calibration setting chosen (Typically with "Lux" in the name).

By default, more measurements are taken and averaged together when the light level is low. This can be disabled and a single measurement taken per reading, to gain maximum speed by using the -Y A flag.

The K-1, K-8 and K-10 are also reported to work.

The Klien K10A makes use of the FTDI FT232R Virtual COM Port Drivers (VCP), that may need installing for your operating system. See installation instructions.

ColorMunki Design or Photo, i1 Studio reflective/emissive spectrometer

Availability:

The ColorMunki Design or Photo or i1 Studio from X-Rite is currently available in two different packages from the manufacturer. These packages differ in what features the manufacturers software provides, as well as cosmetic differences between the instrument (white and black). This comparison chart illustrates the differences (Note that the ColorMunki Design comes with Pantone libraries). Used with Argyll, there are no differences in operation of a ColorMunki instrument, irrespective of which package it came with. The ColorMunki Design has the lowest RRP, but the Photo package may be cheaper with discounting .

Limitations & Features:

Unlike the Eye-One Pro, the ColorMunki is only available in a U.V. Cut (ie. "Ultra Violet filtered") model. This means that it is not suitable for use with the Fluorescent Whitener Additive Compensation option in Argyll (see here for a discussion about what FWA compensation is).

Like the Eye-One Pro, this instrument does support the high resolution spectral mode.

There are some OEM versions of this instrument around too, and the XEROX PhaserMeter instruments (part of the Xerox PhaserMatch 5.0 package) are also reported to work.

OS X and X-Rite drivers

Please note the installation instructions.

Tips & Tricks:

In handling the instrument when about to make a reading, be very careful not to accidentally press the switch - it is large and easily pressed by accident. A guide of some sort (ie. a plastic ruler) can help a lot in keeping the instrument over a line of patches.

Patch recognition:

For the best chances of good patch recognition, the instrument should be drawn smoothly and not too rapidly over the strip. (This can be a little tricky due to the two small rubber feet on the bottom of the device that aid its spot reading guide.) If there is a misread, try slowing down slightly. Generally a higher quality set of readings will result if slower scans are used, since there will then be more samples averaged for each patch.

In chartread, the -T ratio argument modifies the patch consistency tolerance threshold for the ColorMunki. In recognizing patches in a strip, the instrument takes multiple readings as the strip is read, and then divide the readings up into each patch. It then check the consistency of the multiple readings corresponding to each patch, and reject the measurement if they are too inconsistent. For some media (ie. a coarser screens, fabric etc.) the default tolerance may be unreasonably tight, so the -T ratio argument can be used to modify this criteria. To loosen the tolerance, use a number greater than 1.0 (ie. 1.5, 2.0).

Note that printtarg provides the -h option that allows the choice of two different patch row widths with ColorMunki test charts. [Some people have successfully used the i1Pro patch layout with the ColorMunki, by making a guide to keep it over the much narrower patchs.]

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively X-Rite XRGA.

DTP20 "Pulse" reflective spectrometer

Availability:

The DTP20 from X-Rite was discontinued during 2007, but may still be available from old stock or second hand.

Special features:

The DTP20 has a couple of unique features that Argyll can take advantage of. One is that it can operate un-tethered (off line). A whole chart can be read un-tethered by first clearing any previous readings in the instrument, then reading the chart TID strip, before reading all the other strips. The instrument can then be connected up to chartread, which will recognize the chart, and download all the measurements.
If there is no chart in the instrument when chartread connects to it, then it will use the strip by strip tethered mode, just like the other strip instruments. If the right number of spot readings are present in the instrument, these will be used by chartread too.

Un-tethered spot measurements can also be read in using spotread, which will notice the stored readings, and offer to print them out, or they can be ignored, and tethered readings taken. This will clear any saved spot readings.

Note that tethered (on-line) strip reading will only work if the firmware in the device is version 1.03 or greater. You can check the firmware version by running with the verbose option: -v

Chart printing:

Because the DTP20 measures exact distances using the markings on its ruler, it's critical that the chart be printed out exactly the right size. If the chart gets re-sized at all in the process of printing it, the DTP20 is likely to fail in reading it. If you have a problem with this, you might want to increase the page margins using the printtarg -m parameter, or find a printing path that preserves the test chart size correctly.

Operation:

When reading in tethered (on-line) mode, that the instrument takes several seconds to download the measurements after each strip, and that the indicator will be in "rainbow" mode while this occurs. Wait until the indicator turns solid green again before starting to measure the next strip.

To reset the instrument and clear any stored readings: press the button three times in quick succession. The indicator will turn solid blue. Then hold the button down until the instrument beeps and the indicator goes out. Release the button and the indicator should flash then return to solid green (ready).

To calibrate the instrument, place it on its calibration tile, then press the button three times in quick succession.The indicator will turn solid blue. Click the button another three times in quick succession, and the indicator should turn yellow. Then hold the button down until the instrument beeps and the indicator goes out. Release the button and the instrument should flash and then turn solid green.

If the chart is particularly small, the patches may end up printed very close to the edge of the chart, and therefore it may be difficult to confine your scan to the chart, and passing
the instrument over the edge of the chart may prevent it reading successfully. One way of working around this is to place the chart on a larger piece of paper of the same type.

The speed of scan can be quite critical with this instrument. In particular, it doesn't work very well if the scan is too slow. You don't want to go too fast either, as this reduces the number of samples per patch.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical X-Rite standard (XRDI).

DTP22 Digital Swatchbook reflective spectrometer

Availability:

The DTP22 from X-Rite is a discontinued instrument. It may still be available second hand. It is capable of reading colored patches one at a time.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical X-Rite standard (XRDI).

DTP41 reflective, DTP41T reflective/transmissive spectrometers

Availability:

The DTP41 and DTP41T from X-Rite is a discontinued instrument. It may still be available second hand.

The series II instruments (DTP41B and DTP41TB) offer both serial and USB connection. Note that currently only serial operation using Argyll is possible with these instruments.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical X-Rite standard (XRDI).

DTP51 reflective colorimeter

Availability:

The DTP51 from X-Rite is a discontinued instrument. It may still be available second hand.

Operation:

The DTP51's switch is triggered by inserting a strip into the slot.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical X-Rite standard (XRDI).

DTP92 CRT display colorimeter

Availability:

The DTP92 from X-Rite is a discontinued instrument. It may still be available second hand. It will only read CRT technology displays.

Operation:

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

c CRT display A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type [Default, CB2].

DTP94, "Optix XR" or "Optix XR2" or "Optix Pro" display colorimetrers

Availability:

The DTP94 from X-Rite is a discontinued instrument, although it is still being supplied to OEMs. It may still be available as old stock, or second hand. It was sold as an instrument without software as the DTP94, and packaged with software from the manufacturer as the "Optix XR" range.

Operation:

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

    l     LCD display         A Liquid Crystal Display, that is of the Non-Refresh type [default, CB1].
    c    CRT display         A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type [CB2].
    g    Generic               Generic display [CB3]

Spectrolino reflective/emissive spectrometer

Availability:

The Spectrolino from Gretag MacBeth (Now X-Rite) is a discontinued instrument. It is often available second hand. If buying it second hand, make sure it comes with all it's accessories, including white reference, spot reading adapter, display reading adapters, filters (UV, polarizing, D65), serial cable adapter and power supply.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical Gretag MacBeth standard (GMDI).

SpectroScan reflective/emissive and SpectroScanT reflective/emissive/transmissive spectrometers

Availability:

The SpectroScan and SpectroScanT from Gretag MacBeth (Now X-Rite) is a discontinued instrument. It is the combination of an X-Y table and the Spectrolino instrument. The SpectroScanT is capable of measuring transparency. It is often available second hand. If buying it second hand, make sure it comes with all it's accessories, including white reference, spot reading adapter, display reading adapters, filters (UV, polarizing, D65) and power supply.

If measuring transparencies using a SpectroScanT, the Enter key on the instrument may be used to trigger each reading. It will be recognized after each previous reading has been completed.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical Gretag MacBeth standard (GMDI).

Eye-One Pro2:
Eye-One Pro 2

Availability:

The Eye-One Pro2 (AKA Eye-One Pro Rev E) from X-Rite is a currently available instrument. It is available in several packages from the manufacturer. These packages differ partly in what accessories come with the instrument, but primarily in what features the manufacturers software provides. This comparison chart illustrates the differences. Used with Argyll, there are no differences in operation of an Eye-One Pro instrument, irrespective of which package it came with. The lowest cost package is the i1 Basic Pro 2.

There is support for some of the new features of the Eye-One Pro2 (also known as the Eye-One Pro Rev E), in particular the Rev E measurement mode, spectrometer stray light reduction, wavelength calibration, and improved black level tracking. Note that there is no support currently for using the Eye-One Pro2 Ultra Violet measurement mode, since ArgyllCMS can simulate M0/M1/M2 measurement modes using both older (Rev A-D) and newer instruments without this. The new support can be disabled and an Eye-One Pro2 operated in legacy mode by setting the environment variable ARGYLL_DISABLE_I1PRO2_DRIVER. See Eye-One Pro reflective/emissive spectrometer below for details on the operation of this type of instrument.

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively X-Rite XRGA.

Eye-One Pro and Eye-One Pro2 reflective/emissive spectrometer

Availability:

The Eye-One Pro from X-Rite (was Gretag MacBeth) is a discontinued instrument.

The EFI ES-1000 (which is a re-badged Eye-One Pro) is also reported to work with Argyll.

Unless you know what you're doing, and have a very specific reason to buy an instrument fitted with a UV (Ultra Violet) filter, make sure that you buy an instrument without the filter. A UV filtered instrument can't deal intelligently with FWA (Fluorescent Whitener Additive) effects in paper. (Look here for more information about FWA compensation.) Using FWA compensation you can make measurements using ISO 13655:2009 M0, M1 and M2 conditions. The M2 condition emulates a UV cut instrument.

There have been four revisions of the Eye-One Pro, Rev. A, B, D and E (AKA Eye-One Pro2 - see above). The rev B, D and E are capable of sampling twice as fast as the Rev. A version of the instrument, and are also available with an ambient light reading capability.

NOTE for those running on older versions of Linux with a Rev. D, there was a problem with the Linux USB stack that causes the instrument to stop working once it has been used. The only workaround is to unplug and replug the instrument in again, whereupon it can be used one time again. A fix for this problem was in the Linux 2.6.26 kernel release.

See also How can I have confidence in the i1pro Driver ?

Patch recognition:

For the best chances of good patch recognition, the instrument should be drawn smoothly and not too rapidly over the strip. If there is a misread, try slowing down slightly. The Rev A and B. instruments have a slower sampling rate than the latter revision instruments, and hence must be used a bit more slowly. Generally a higher quality set of readings will result if slower scans are used, since there will then be more samples averaged for each patch.

In chartread, the -T ratio argument modifies the patch consistency tolerance threshold for the Eye-One Pro. In recognizing patches in a strip, the instrument takes multiple readings as the strip is read, and then divide the readings up into each patch. It then check the consistency of the multiple readings corresponding to each patch, and reject the measurement if they are too inconsistent. For some media (ie. a coarser screens, fabric etc.) the default tolerance may be unreasonably tight, so the -T ratio argument can be used to modify this criteria. To loosen the tolerance, use a number greater than 1.0 (ie. 1.5, 2.0).

Native Calibration Standard:

Reflection measurements are natively historical Gretag MacBeth standard (GMDI) for RevA-D,
and natively X-Rite XRGA for Rev E.

Special features:

A feature unique to Argyll when used with the Eye-One Pro, is the high resolution spectral mode. This returns spectral measurements at 3.333 nm spacing, rather than the default 10nm spacing, and also extends the range of wavelengths very slightly. This high resolution may assist in giving better accuracy for "peaky" emissive sources such as illuminants and displays. The high resolution mode is selected by using the -H flag on the command line to dispcal, dispread, chartread, and spotread. It can also be toggled on and off within spotread using the h key.

Note that while finer spectral resolution will worsen the signal to noise ratio of the individual spectral values, the signal to noise ratio of the resulting tri-stimulus color values will be identical to normal resolution mode, since the same overall integration is performed.

See Does the i1pro High Resolution mode improve accuracy ?

High res. and standard res. spectrum.

C.R.T high res. and standard res. spectrum.

Eye-One Monitor emissive spectrometer

Availability:

The Eye-One Monitor from X-Rite (was Gretag MacBeth) is a discontinued instrument. It was a lower cost version of the Eye-One Pro without reflective measurement capability. See Eye-One Pro reflective/emissive spectrometer for details on the operation of this instrument.

Eye-One Display 1, Eye-One Display 2, Eye-One Display LT, ColorMunki Create, ColorMunki Smile colorimeters,

Instrument Availability:

The ColorMunki Smile colorimeter is a currently available instrument.
The Eye-One Display LT and Eye-One Display 2 are discontinued products, although they may still be available from some retailers, second hand, and may still be shipped with some displays as part of their calibration capability.
The ColorMunki Create colorimeter is a discontinued product, although they may still be available from some retailers or second hand,can also be used. They will appear as an i1Display2 colorimeter.
The HP DreamColor colorimeter can also be used, and will appear as an i1Display2 colorimeter [note that it is calibrated for the DreamColor display].
The HP APS (Advanced Profiling Solution) colorimeter is also reported to work, and will appear as an i1Display2.
The CalMAN X2 colorimeter is also reported to work, and will appear as an i1Display2 colorimeter.
The Lacie Blue Eye colorimeter is also reported to work, and will appear as an i1Display2 colorimeter.

The Eye-One Display 1 is a discontinued instrument.

The Eye-One Display LT came with a less expensive package with more limited software from the manufacture.
The Eye-One Display 2 package came with more software features, but the instruments are virtually identical, and will operate identically using Argyll.
The ColorMunki Create package is another alternative, and will operate identically using Argyll.

Operation:

The Display Selections for the ColorMunki Smile are:

    f    LCD with CCFL back-light         A Liquid Crystal display that uses a Cold Cathode Fluorescent back lighting. [Default, CB1]
    e    LCD with LED back-light          A Liquid Crystal display that uses Light Emitting Diode back lighting.

other instruments will offer:

    l     LCD display         A Liquid Crystal Display, that is of the Non-Refresh type. [Default, CB1]
    c    CRT display          A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type. [CB2]

i1 DisplayPro and ColorMunki Display colorimeters (i1 Display 3)

i1 Display Pro

Instrument Availability:

Both instruments are currently available.

The ColorMunki Display is a less expensive package with more limited software from the manufacture, and has hardware that takes a noticeably longer time to make most measurements (a minimum of 1 second), but both instruments will take longer for very dark samples, and under these conditions the speed difference is less significant. Because of the measurement speed limitation, the measurement of display refresh rate and synchronization of its measurements to a refresh display is not possible with the ColorMunki Display.

The i1Display Pro package comes with i1Profiler, and the instrument is generally faster than the ColorMunki Display, but other than this and the software package, the instruments appear to be virtually identical. (Note though that the ColorMunki Display is unable to measure the refresh period, so is less repeatable in this mode than the i1Display Pro).

Both instruments are capable of using CCSS (Colorimeter Calibration Spectral Sample) files, and this also gives the instrument the capability of using a non-default standard observer. CCSS files can be created using the ccxxmake tool, and installed or translated from the .EDR files that are provided with the instrument CD using the oeminst utility using a spectrometer as a reference.

There are some OEM versions of this instrument around too, and the SpectraCal OEM i1Display, ChromaPure, NEC SpectraSensor Pro, HP DreamColor and Wacom Color Manager instruments are also reported to work. They will appear as a be a the same as the i1Display Pro.
[Note that if you have an OEM version of this instrument, it's worth checking if they come with any extra .edr files, that can then be translated for use with ArgyllCMS using oeminst.]

On MSWindows, if you have installed the Manufacturers applications, you may have to shut the i1Profiler tray application down before Argyll can open the instrument.

Operation:

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

    n     A non-refresh type display [Default, CB1].
    r     A refresh type display - The refresh period is measured, and the integration time adjusted appropriately. [CB2]

With the manufacturers .edr files & reference Argyll .ccss files installed, the following selections are:

    n      A non-refresh type display [Default, CB1].
    r      A refresh type display - The refresh period is measured, and the integration time adjusted appropriately. [CB2]
    c      CRT (Hitachi CM2112MET, Diamond View 1772ie)
    l       LCD CCFL IPS (CCFL AC EIZO HP with CORRECTION)
    L      LCD CCFL Wide Gamut IPS (WG CCFL NEC241 271)
    b      LCD RGB LED IPS (RGBLED HP SOYO)
    e      LCD White LED IPS (WLED AC LG Samsung)
    p      Projector (Marantz HP Panasonic Projectors Hybrid EDR)

By default the integration time is adaptive, taking longer when the light level is low. This can be disabled and a fixed integration time used to gain maximum speed at the cost of greatly reduced low light accuracy, by using the -Y A flag.

Note when measuring CRT displays:

The small magnet in the ambient light cover used to signal what position it is in, can interfere in the operation of the CRT display, particularly if the ambient cover is in it's natural position at 180 degrees away from the measuring lens. One way of minimizing this is to swing the cover down so that it touches the display adjacent to the lens, thereby moving the magnet away from the display surface. A more thorough but inconvenient way of avoiding this problem is to unclip the ambient light cover and slide it down the cable.

Huey colorimeter

Availability:

The Huey and Huey Pro are discontinued instruments. They may still be available as old stock, or second hand.

Operation:

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

l LCD display A Liquid Crystal Display, that is of the Non-Refresh type. [Default, CB1]
c CRT display A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type. [CB2]

MonacoOPTIX colorimeters

Instrument Availability:

Availability:

The MonacoOPTIX from Monaco Soft is a discontinued instrument. It may still be available as old stock, or second hand. It was sold packaged with software from the manufacturer. The Sequel Chroma 4 appears to be a similar instrument, and both seem to operate as if they were an Eye-One Display 1 using Argyll.

Operation:

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

c CRT display A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type.
l LCD display A Liquid Crystal Display or alternate Calibration, that is of the Non-Refresh type.

Spyder 2 colorimeter

Availability:

The Spyder 2 has been superseded by the Spyder 5, but may be available second hand.
[The Spyder 1 has also been reported as working, but this has not been confirmed.]

Operation:

Important Note about the ColorVision Spyder 2 instrument support:

This instrument cannot function without the driver software having access to the vendor supplied PLD firmware pattern for it.
This firmware is not provided with Argyll, since it is not available under a compatible license.

The purchaser of a Spyder 2 instrument should have received a copy of this firmware along with their instrument, and should therefore be able to enable the Argyll driver for this instrument by using the oeminst tool.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

l LCD display A Liquid Crystal Display, that is of the Non-Refresh type. [Default, CB1]
c CRT display A Cathode Ray Tube display, that is of the Refresh type. [CB2]

Linux USB hub problems:

Note that the Spyder doesn't appear to operate at all well on Linux if attached to a secondary USB hub. You may have such a secondary hub built into your motherboard. If Argyll has difficulty in reliably talking to the Spyder, try connecting it directly to the computer rather than via a usb hub, or try using a USB port on your computer that connects directly to a root hub. This is probably due to a bug in the Linux EHCI driver, and a fix is due to appear in the Linux kernel sometime after July 2011. The name of the fix is "EHCI: fix direction handling for interrupt data toggles".

Spyder 3 colorimeter

Spyder3

Availability:

The Spyder3Elite, Spyder3Pro and Spyder3Express have being superseded by the Spyder 5, but may still stocked by some dealers, and may be available second hand. The Spyder3Elite and Spyder3Pro appear to be identical hardware with different software from the manufacturer. The Spyder3Express lacks the ambient sensor.

[Note that this instrument doesn't seem particularly suited to measuring CRT displays, since it no longer seems to synchronise its readings to a CRT refresh, and you can no longer remove the LCD filter, reducing its sensitivity compared to the Spyder 2 in CRT mode. The Spyder 2 or one of the other instruments may be a better choice if you particularly need to measure CRTs or Refresh displays.]

Operation:

The ambient light sensor can be used with the Spyder3Elite and Spyder3Pro instruments, but is only capable of monochrome readings.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

n | l A non-refresh type display [Default, CB1]
r | c A refresh type display. [CB2]

Spyder 4 colorimeter

Spyder4

Availability:

The Spyder4Elite, Spyder4Pro and Spyder4Express have being superseded by the Spyder 5, but may still stocked by some dealers, and may be available second hand. The Spyder4Elite and Spyder4Pro appear to be identical hardware with different software from the manufacturer. The Spyder4Express lacks the ambient sensor.

Operation:

These instruments are capable of using using CCSS (Colorimeter Calibration Spectral Sample) files, and this also gives the instrument the capability of using a non-default standard observer. CCSS files can be created using the ccxxmake tool using a spectrometer as a reference.

Important Note about the DataColor Spyder 4 vendor display type/calibration support:

This instrument does not have a full range of display type calibration selections available without the vendor supplied calibration data for it.
This calibration data is not provided with Argyll, since it is not available under a compatible license.
You can use CCSS files as an alternative (see above), or as the purchaser of a Spyder 4 instrument you should have received a copy of the calibration data along with the instrument, and should therefore be able to enable the full range of display type selections in Argyll by using the oeminst tool.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

    n | l      A non-refresh type display with a generic calibration [Default, CB1].
    r | c    A refresh type display with a generic calibration.[CB2]

The Display Selections for this instrument when the manufacturers calibration information has been installed is:

    n           A non-refresh type display with a generic calibration [Default, CB1].
    r         A refresh type display with a generic calibration.[CB2]
    f             LCD, CCFL Backlight                         - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with standard Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlight.
    L         Wide Gamut LCD, CCFL Backlight      - wide gamut Liquid Crystal Display with Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps backlight.
    e             LCD, White LED Backlight                  - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with a White LED backlight.
    B            Wide Gamut LCD, RGB LED Backlight - wide gamut Liquid Crystal Display with RGB LED backlight.
    x             LCD, CCFL Type 2 Backlight              - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with alternative Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlight (Laptop ?)

The ambient light sensor can be used with the Spyder4Elite and Spyder4Pro instruments, but is only capable of monochrome readings.

Spyder 5 colorimeter

Spyder4

Availability:

The Spyder5Elite, Spyder5Pro and Spyder5Express are a currently available instruments. The Spyder5Elite and Spyder5Pro appear to be identical hardware with different software from the manufacturer. The Spyder5Express lacks the ambient sensor.

Operation:

These instruments are capable of using using CCSS (Colorimeter Calibration Spectral Sample) files, and this also gives the instrument the capability of using a non-default standard observer. CCSS files can be created using the ccxxmake tool using a spectrometer as a reference.

Important Note about the DataColor Spyder 5 vendor display type/calibration support:

This instrument does not have a full range of display type calibration selections available without the vendor supplied calibration data for it.
This calibration data is not provided with Argyll, since it is not available under a compatible license.
You can use CCSS files as an alternative (see above), or as the purchaser of a Spyder 5 instrument you should have received a copy of the calibration data along with the instrument or have been directed to download it from the manufacturers website, and should therefore be able to enable the full range of display type selections in Argyll by using the oeminst tool.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

    n | l      A non-refresh type display with a generic calibration [Default, CB1].
    r | c    A refresh type display with a generic calibration.[CB2]

The Display Selections for this instrument when the manufacturers calibration information has been installed is:

    n           A non-refresh type display with a generic calibration [Default, CB1].
    r         A refresh type display with a generic calibration.[CB2]
    f             LCD, CCFL Backlight                         - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with standard Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlight.
    L         Wide Gamut LCD, CCFL Backlight      - wide gamut Liquid Crystal Display with Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps backlight.
    e             LCD, White LED Backlight                  - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with a White LED backlight.
    B            Wide Gamut LCD, RGB LED Backlight - wide gamut Liquid Crystal Display with RGB LED backlight.
    x             LCD, CCFL Type 2 Backlight              - normal gamut Liquid Crystal Display with alternative Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlight (Laptop ?)

The ambient light sensor can be used with the Spyder5Elite and Spyder5Pro instruments, but is only capable of monochrome readings.

Colorimètre HCFR colorimeter

Availability:

The Colorimètre HCFR Probe is a kit instrument from HCFR.

OS X

Please note the installation instructions.

Operation:

The accuracy of this instrument does not seem to be comparable to the commercial instruments when used for measuring displays, particularly in the area of measuring dark colors, and I've seen the best results when used with a CRT display. It may well give good results in calibrating projectors, since this was what it was designed to do.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

    l     LCD display         A Liquid Crystal Display [Default].
    c    CRT display         A Cathode Ray Tube display.
    R Raw Reading       Raw sensor readings, used for calibration [CB1]

ColorHug

Availability:

The ColorHug is a low cost display colorimeter instrument from Hughski.
ArgyllCMS will also work with the ColorHug2.

Operation:

Due to the nature of its sensor, the ColorHug accuracy is quite dependent on the instrument calibration matrix. (The ColorHug2 is much more forgiving though). A custom .CCMX will greatly assist it's accuracy, although a workaround is to calibrate your display using its native white point, rather than aiming for some absolute white point such as D65.

The Display Selections for this instrument are:

   l                   LCD, CCFL Backlight [Default]
   c                  CRT display
   p                  Projector
   e                  LCD, White LED Backlight
   F                  Factory matrix (For Calibration) [CB1]
   R                 Raw Reading (For Factory matrix Calibration) [CB2]

Palette/SwatchMate Cube

SwatchMate Cube

Availability:

The Cube from Palette/SwatchMate is a currently available entry level Colorimeter, with somewhat limited accuracy. The ArgyllCMS driver provides two alternative calibrations that noticably improve this accuracy.

The Calibration Selections for this instrument are:

   m                 Matt surfaces [Default]
   g                  Gloss surfaces
   N                 Native Calibration

The Cube makes use of the newer FTDI FT231XS Virtual COM Port Drivers (VCP), that may need installing for your operating system. See installation instructions.

Operation:

The Cube must be connected via USB for operation with ArgyllCMS, and can be connected either by USB or using Bluetooth LE when used with ArgyllPRO ColorMeter on capable Android devices.

The Cube goes to sleep fairly rapidly and must be woken up by pressing the top of it before connecting via USB to be recognized by ArgyllCMS, although once connected, and with an ArgyllCMS utility running, it should stay awake.

When connecting via Bluetooth to ColorMeter, the foreground application will be the one that connects to it.

The ability to measure values into its own memory and recover them later is not supported, since it is not possible to use the ArgyllCMS calibrations with this feature.

Calibration:

As well as the normal white calibration step, the ArgyllCMS driver offers two option supplemental calibration steps that can improve accuracy, but both require appropriate calibration conditions. You can use spotread with the 'k' command to trigger this calibration.

The black calibration requires a light trap, and the easiest way of providing this is to place the Cube in a location that is dark (i.e. not illuminated directly by any light) and some distance from any surface. A practical approach I have used is to place the measuring end in a thick black sock, and hide it from direct illumination while this calibration step is done.

The gloss calibration requires a black glossy surface. I have used a paint catalog gloss paint black sample square for this, but some other completely black glossy surface of sufficient size such as a glossy black plastic item or a smooth surface painted in gloss black paint should also work.