Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Yes
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.4 x 4.25 x 4.7 inches; 3.19 Ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ S2E100
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ April 2, 2004
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ ColorVision
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000ES4PYU

Customer Reviews:
3.5 172 ratings

Product Description

The most effective entry level monitor calibration, just plug in by USB, let it calibrate, remove from monitor…done! Easy as 1-2-3!

From the Manufacturer

Calibrate your display--just like professionals. Spyder2express calibrates monitors in three easy steps--simply plug it in, specify your display type, and it does the rest, automatically calibrating your monitor or laptop. Check the before-and-after. You'll see the improvement!

Features:

CRT, LCD, and laptop displays to industry standards
Easy software wizard guiding you through the calibration process in just a few steps means you don't have to be a color guru
New state-of-the-art optical science provides a five-fold increase in color sensitivity over previous technology with a patent-protected light baffle for accurate characterization of LCD displays
Sleek, dual-phase hardware design offers effortless LCD, CRT, and laptop calibration while protecting delicate LCD screens
Outstanding reliability backed by a two-year hardware warranty
Sophisticated gray balance and tonal response algorithms provide demanding users with exceptionally smooth gradient steps and neutral grays
Unique before and after viewing feature lets you compare your display with and without calibration

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Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5

172 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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BobP

Good Basic Colorimeter

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2007

Verified Purchase

Pros: Good, well contructed, colorimeter for the novice, easy to use software walks you through every step. I notice a definite improvement in my new 22" WS LCD's picture. I had tried Adobe Gamma and Quick Gamma, but these programs rely on your eyes for making brightness and contrast corrections, and setting gamma. My eyes are not as sharp as they were 20 years ago.

Cons: The new updated software, version 2.3, has been out since June, 2006 but Colorvision is still shipping with the older version. Go to their website [...]), download 2.3 (110.3 MB), install it, and use the keycode on your 2.2 version to run it. The 2.3 version changes the target white point for LCDs to 6500K instead of Native. I personally prefer 6500k anyway. Gamma 2.2 and 6500K are the only choices with the Express. If you want more choices you will have to purchase the more expensive Pro version.
After calibration and exiting the software I got a "Can not find color profile" error message. Rebooting solved this.
With the counter-weight adjusted, I still had to tilt my LCD monitor back 15 - 20 degrees before I could get the Spyder to lay completely flat on the screen.

69 people found this helpful

Helpful

User Friendly

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2007

Verified Purchase

The Spyder2 express is extremely easy to use with instructions that are very easy to follow. I use it on a new 22" LCD. I did notice an immediate improvement in the colors on my monitor especially in the skin tones. I do a lot of photography and I recently sent out for some test prints and they came back with good results in relation to what I saw on my monitor. The important thing to remember with photography is that a print reflects light and a monitor emits light so they will never be an exact match. Also are you incorporating printer profiles into your editing? I would recommend this product and I also like it because the software is upgradeable through the website while using the same hardware. I only gave it four stars because I know there are better models out there but at a much higher price. It all depends on your budget and how critical your color accuracy is. Hint: If your color accuracy is that critical you probably aren't reading this and already own a much higher end model than this.

3 people found this helpful

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Bob

Didn't work had to return it

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2007

Verified Purchase

First of all, when I reached the step where it asks me to attach it to the screen at the designated spot, I did that- clicked "continue" only to recieve an XP style ERROR with a useless, long string of numbers and letters impossible to decipher. I tried EVERYTHING, I am no newbie! It just would not initialize. So, how many stars can I give it? There's no choice for ZERO.

The best chance for success is to use the suction cups, but if you have an LCD screen (who doesn't?) it warns you not to. So, how do you get it to lay flat just by hanging it? I used the "counterweight supplied, plus I held it in place with my hand, still no dice. OK, I'll bite. So I try it with the suction cups and take a chance, nope, still would not initialize(I rebooted, etc). BEWARE of using the suction cups, very difficult to remove without damaging screen!!! Oh, there is NO MENTION of LAPTOPS. I have a MacBook Pro. I use it for photography and graphics, HELLO??? They say it is crucial to set the monitor to default brightness- most laptops have NO default... you set it to where you want. There is no "reset to default" settings. DO not bother with this device. It's the same hardware for all levels... same problems.... getting the pro won't change what I describe here.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael

Works great, same device as pro version

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2006

Verified Purchase

I decided to buy a monitor calibration tool because I do a lot of digital photos and they always look different on different computers. Sometimes I boost the colors only to find at work the colors are way too strong. It's frustrating, my 1 year old has "orange" hair. On some monitors it's brown, on others it's red. If this sounds like you (the color problem, not the orange haired baby) then this device is for you.

This is a great entry level monitor calibration tool. The software is great and calibration is easy. Now images look the same on all my computers. And the best part is this device is the same device as the pro version. First, that means you're not getting a cheap device! Second, it means you can upgrade the software to pro version if you need to. This is why I selected this model. The eye-one is not upgradeable, and it's more expensive.

Overall, I highly recommend this device.

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leo Castillo

Great product, but doesn't work with OS X Lion

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2011

Verified Purchase

Hi, I've had this product for three years now and it's served me well. However, it uses PowerPC/Rosetta code for the calibration software, which has been dropped in OS X Lion. I asked Datacolor about it and the said this was a "7 year old product that was designed before new displays like wide gamut and glossy screens came out" and has been "replace by the Spyder3". They may or may not make a solution for Lion but they said it was not easy and they're looking if they can still do it. Will it happen? I don't know.

For now however, at least at the moment this review was made, the Spyder 2 WILL NOT WORK with OS X Lion. Caveat emptor.

Leo

2 people found this helpful

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A. Hayes

First-time Proper Calibration

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2008

Verified Purchase

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27 people found this helpful

YellowTone

Colour Calibration on a Budget, single display only!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

Update: it's late 2016 and I'm still using this, it has proven a very worthwhile purchase. In tandem with my now ancient Samsung SyncMaster T240 monitor this has kept me colour calibrated for over 7 years. It's not quite professional level but as a working photographer this has been just the ticket to get my screen colours almost spot on.
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Previous Review:
This served me well and for a professional, the price was very affordable.

It does exactly what you'd expect and does it every time EXCEPT: when I upgraded from Windows SP to Windows 7 (and I was a late adopter of Microsoft's latest OS) I was left for a few months with no working drivers because ColorVision decided to drag their feet updating the software for what was at the time, a 2 year old operating system.

This isn't really good enough and I'd consider this when needing to buy more colour calibration hardware in the future.

This is a budget device and doesn't let you calibrate a dual display, it will only let you use the recorded profile, whether it suits the display or not. Though perhaps I'm being stupid here, I gave up and stuck my main 1920x1200 display.

One person found this helpful

Ken Jensen

Good monitor calibration device

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

The ColorVision Spyder2 Express is now outdated by development of computer screens and operating systems. On older systems with older monitors it is actually a pretty good screen calibration device, but it is not for professionals, and not extremely accurate.

I will, however, get you closer to more natural and accurate colors, closer to what professionals see on their screens.

Mr. Dennis Harker

Solved My Colour Management Problems

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2007

Verified Purchase

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

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

36 people found this helpful

woodworker

logiciel et appareil

Reviewed in Canada on January 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

facile d'utilisation

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