Customer Reviews

X-Rite Eye-One Display LT

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Recently, I've read several books about Photoshop CS2 and digital photography and the general consensus of the authors relating to color management is that calibrating one's display device is essential. The overriding recommendation is to use hardware calibration (colorimeter) or, at the very least, an eyeball method (Adobe Gamma, QuickGamma).

Mindful of this information, I calibrated my home CRT, LCD and laptop and my work CRT with free a software program (QuickGamma) that was recommended by several digital camera and Photoshop sites. Previous to this I had used Adobe Gamma but I quickly found that QuickGamma produced superior results. Another thing I noticed was that it was much easier to calibrate the CRT's than either the LCD or the laptop using either eyeball method. When I printed photographs with my home inkjet there seemed to be a pretty good match between the CRT display and output but when I moved pictures from different computers there were noticeable shifts.

With my interest piqued, I decided to purchase a hardware calibrator the Eye-One Display LT (Light?) to see if I could match images between displays and to determine if I could achieve a closer color match between my printer and displayed image.

The Eye-One was easy to use and set up on all displays once I got the hang of the wizard that explains each step. As other reviewers have mentioned a software update is available from Pantone's site and this adds some functionality to the software and is a recommended update. Depending on your displays capabilities the Eye-One allows the user to optimize the, brightness, contrast, color temp, gamma, and RGB set points and then creates a custom profile for your display. With the LT version the color temps available are 5000, 6500 and 7200 and the gamma points are 1.8, 2.2. The next version up allows greater flexibility in these areas but the LT's numbers should be adequate for most users.

Using the updated software, I was able to compare before and after pictures. I also printed several pictures out using the new profile and checked them against my monitor. The results showed marginal improvement over the QuickGamma profile (approx 5%). So with my home CRT, I was not greatly impressed with the results. After profiling my laptop and LCD, however, my feelings changed. Both displays became more vibrant and accurate and, in addition, there was greater consistency between all my displays with regards to color reproduction.

Overall, a nice piece of hardware and software that is intuitive to use and is particularly effective at creating profiles for LCD's and Laptops.

Note: The calorimeter included with the LT is the same as the one included with the more expensive Eye-One Display 2. The only difference between the 2 packages is the included software, which can be upgraded if needed.

Update 1/7/10: I just recently used the Eye-One to calibrate my Panasonic HDTV. Along with the free software Color HCFR and Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics disc (which I rented from Netflix), I achieved excellent results with little to no hassle. Just Google "GREYSCALE & COLOR CALIBRATION FOR DUMMIES" and you will be provided with an excellent walk through. This additional functionality has made a great product even better.

I own the Eye-One and owned its nominal predecessor, the SpyderPro. No question; the Eye-One if vastly superior. When I have it engaged and a am using an up-to-date profile, my prints match my screen essentially every time, first time. [yes, calibrating every few weeks is useful if not necessary] It is sometimes hard to see the actual change in colors just looking at the screen (and if your screen is far out of calibration, it is a painful adjustment to get used to the calibrated ones -- for half an hour or so). The latest version of the software is very good indeed; the first one was pretty rough around the edges.

It clearly shows just how bad "eyeball-based" calibration programs are.

A shortcoming: I wish they had used to photometer in the sensor head to monitor ambient light the same way the Huey ($69.95) does, but the Eye-One gives you a better profile. The next version up is better, but for anybody who doesn't have to prepare copy for commercial publication, the LT offers all the control you'll need!

This is a great meter. I use it with the free downloadable software HCFR. I fully calibrated my Epson Home Cinema 1080UB projector with this, and the picture is stunning, just stunning. There is a fantastic write-up on how to calibrate your TV or projector here:

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457

It was also very plug and play to calibrate my LCD computer monitor. I used the supplied software to calibrate the computer monitor and it made a nice profile for the monitor that loads everytime the computer starts up. Very nice.

Dan

The Eye-One LT can become an Eye-One Display 2 through a firmware update which then unlocks additional software features. The firmware update costs around double the price difference between the LT and the Display 2. If you are a casual user wanting to go cheap, the Eye-One LT is for you. If you're a tweaker, save yourself time and money and buy the Eye-One Display 2.

With that said, the tool worked quickly and easily on my HP LP2475W, MacBook Pro, and Dell D620. The picture quality was dramatically improved. The best picture on the MacBook Pro did come after upgrading to the Display 2 so that I could use the native color temperature of the MBP. It also allows calibration of brightness.

In my opinion, it was worth it. Some of my older pictures look better than ever and now I know that what I'm seeing on the screen is what it's supposed to look like.

I give this three stars because it does work well, but the "out of the box" experience is poor and it takes a fair amount of work plus trial-and-error to figure out how to use it properly.

The Eye-One display LT can be used to calibrate CRT and LCD monitors. Inside the box there is the calibration "dongle" (looks a bit like a mouse), counterweight (clips onto the USB cord), ambient light cover, CD with software, and a brief, multi-lingual "getting started" guide.

The getting started guide is pretty much useless because it has errors and doesn't provide enough detail: it tells you to connect the dongle and then install the software, for example. Clearly, this has led enough astray that the manufacturers have added a luminous pink sticker on the internal packaging saying "Install software before connecting!" Missing is a key piece of information: which of the six programs on the CD to install -- and it isn't obvious (you actually want Eye-One Match -- the "calibration" program doesn't do what you'd think)

I highly recommend watching the training video on the CD as it gives you a much better set of instructions and it's far clearer what to do. The software does actually work quite well, but you have to know what you're doing -- you won't be able to figure it out completely unless you've seen the video.

Getting the dongle to lie flat on my LCD screen was a real challenge, because the thick plastic coated USB cord won't bend around the sharp top edge of my screen; it tends to lift it off. In the end I used the counterweight (supplied) to hang the cord down flat. And thus, after two false starts, on my third calibration attempt I got a good result.

So, now that I am fully trained, the device works as advertised and I have a properly calibrated monitor. Prior to calibration, the screen was over-bright with highlights blown out and with way too much contrast. Now it matches color-managed prints I've made.

I purchased this item after using a Huey Pro borrowed from a friend. The Huey Pro did a very bad job calibrating my Viewsonic 2025wm. On the hand, the EyeOne display did a fantastic job. The only negative comment I have regarding this product is the confusing brand names it is known by - This product is called by so many different names it gets really confusing. GretegMacbath EyeOne, X-Rite EyeOne, Pantone EyeOne....and sometimes it is referred to as i1 too!

I have installed this product on both Windows XP and Mac OS X Leopard. On both platforms it has performed flawlessly. The software that comes with this product is very simple to use, and I think for beginners its a lot easier to start of with this LT version. I found it difficult to find information about how to upgrade to the pro version (which then means you have the EyeOne Display 2), but somewhere I read that you need to run the diagnostic software and upgrade thro' that. As of now I don't need to upgrade, so not tried it yet.

All in all a good product worthy of a five star rating.

I bought this product specifically because Argyll CMS supports it. Setting up and calibrating the screen on my laptop was very simple: I followed the instructions on this page[..] and was up and running in about 15 minutes. Having a correctly calibrated monitor has made all the difference in the world, reds would be too saturated and shadows would print too dark. Now all the colors look the same on the screen as on the camera. I have not tried printing, but since the colors now look "right" with little adjustment, I suspect this will mean that the prints will no longer have off colors. The images look the same on both GIMP and Digikam, which was not the case before. The only problem is that the screen looks a little too dark now, but I figure that will be resolved once I correct the lighting in my work area and re-calibrate the monitor in a couple of weeks.

Overall the price was good and the device was recognized immediately by Ubuntu without any extra drivers needed, so no headaches there.

I bought this, and because my computer monitor is on an iMac, I can't get the white point right. My calibrations always turned out VERY red. When I asked xrite, they now want me to spend $99 on an upgrade. Their product isn't working, and I'm expected to shell out another $100 for it?! THAT'S INSANE! I'm not happy with xrite, and I'm NEVER buying their brand again. I won't want to chance it not working, and having to spend more money on a product that I had a set budget for!

I used this product with the Color HCFR program to calibrate my HDTV. For this purpose it did a wonderful job and I couldn't be happier.

However, the program that comes with it is absolutely horrendous. I attempted to use it to calibrate my computer monitor. It did it automatically, and when it was done it was so bad that it hurt my eyes. It was way to bright, and while it said the color was "balanced" it was waaayyy to blue.

While this would be a 5 star product, the included software is so bad I could only give it 4 stars.

However, if you plan on using the Color HCFR program to calibrate your HDTV or monitor, I believe this product is very hard to beat for the price.

I am not very gadget saavy, but this was so easy to use that even I could do it.

You install the software, then set the calibration device on your monitor and it does EVERY thing for you.

The end results were great. I had set my calibrations manually and they were obviously too blue and the contrasts too heavy. This is MUCH better. I had no idea my menu bars were the color I am seeing now. Much more natural tones, hues and contrasts.

This will really help me in my photo-editing.