Datacolor SpyderPro – Calibración avanzada del monitor para una gestión del color optimizada – Calibración de pantalla fácil de usar para la precisión del color y la coherencia del color, versión 2024

I have 6 monitors, 5 of them standard wide-gamut LCD and 1 OLED, and this device didn't work on any of them. I spent hours trying to get it to work. When trying to calibrate it would repeatedly crash with a mysterious error message, leaving the profile configured to an extremely incorrect state (e.g. bright green). I had to disable white balance correction to work around that. Even then it produced a different brightness and white balance every time I tried to use it, and it was never correct. It also provided no way to revert the ICC profiles to their original setting after saving it. The multi-monitor features also failed spectacularly, they often would not even render on the correct monitor (they'd place the window across two monitors and partially offscreen), and I wasn't able to complete a multi-monitor calibration even once. On top of that their registration process requires your email address and they provide no means of updating or removing it, which caused us a lot of trouble, we had to email them to request for them to remove it. This device has ruined my life and left me in tears and I sincerely regret ever buying it.

I've used Datacolor products for years. This is no slouch and completely worth the money. My favorite feature is being able to calibrate all the monitors that I have on the same system to look similar, regardless or make, model, or resolution.

I'm going to be honest; I had some issues installing the device. I've spent countless hours trying to troubleshoot the software. Every time, it would not detect my calibrator, only to find out that I had downloaded the wrong Spyder tool. I downloaded the Spyder tool instead of the SpyderPro tool. This is very unintuitive simply because they could just merge all their calibration tools into one to make things simpler. Once I set it up and got it to work, it did an amazing job calibrating my monitor. I am a photographer, so having a color-accurate monitor is a must for me. I am happy to own this tool. It is unfortunate that you use it once and that's it; you don't need it anymore unless you are planning to calibrate more monitors. Overall, this is a great way to calibrate old monitors.

In my photography and videography work, color accuracy is a big deal. I shoot a lot of product photos, and the slightest color mismatch can distort a brand's identity. For video, it's also as critical to create a seamless transitions. So, for me, monitor color calibration is a must. I've used several calibration tools, and I'm very familiar with them. I've been using the Spyder non-pro version for a while as well, and if you're wondering whether this pro version offers more features, then stay tuned. I was wondering about the same, and since the price difference between the two is almost $140, then is it really worth upgrading to the pro version?From an unboxing experience, the package has a small form factor, but I found all the essentials neatly organized: the colorimeter itself or the sensor, which feels solid and well-built, along with a counterweight attached to the sensor and USB cable that keeps the device steady when it’s mounted on your monitor. There’s also a USB-C to USB A adapter, and a quick-start guide to get you up and running. No case, which is unfortunate.I know that many photographers and designers feel intimidated by the process of monitor color calibration. I felt the same before I calibrated my first monitor. Believe me, it's not that hard. The sensor and the software will do all the heavy lifting for you, and this device is no exception. Setting it up was refreshingly simple (I was already familiar with it). There are also YouTube videos which will help. First, you download the software from Datacolor’s website, set up an account if you don’t already have one, and follow the steps to install. Once that’s done, you place the sensor on your screen, using the counterweight to hold it in place. The software then walks you through the calibration process, which includes fine-tuning your monitor’s brightness, contrast, and color settings. The SpyderPro does a great job of simplifying this, even for people who might not consider themselves particularly tech-savvy. It lets you save calibration profiles for different lighting environments and offers reminders for regular recalibrations to keep your colors consistent over time.Now, if you're in between this and the non-pro version, I can tell you based on my experience with both, that the SpyderPro really stands out when compared to non-pro model. The Pro version’s sensor allows you to calibrate monitors with brightness levels up to 2000 cd/m², which is critical if you work with high-brightness HDR displays, whereas the non-Pro version is limited to 750 cd/m². Another key advantage is the flexibility in settings. The SpyderPro offers unlimited gamma curve and color temperature options, while the non-Pro caps these at five preset choices. For me, though, the most critical difference is the ability fo match monitors side-by-side. Datacolor calls it StudioMatch. With this feature, I can ensure my dual monitors are calibrated to match perfectly! It also gives me confidence that my colors are consistent no matter which screen I’m working on. Additionally, the Pro version includes tools to view calibration history, create custom caliberation targets depending on the environment, and offers calibration standards for both video and photo workflows, features that simply aren’t available with the non-Pro model. For me, it's worth the additional cost. However, if you're a beginner, I think the non-pro model will do just fine.When comparing the SpyderPro to Calibrite’s ColorChecker tools, it really comes down to workflow and personal preference. The SpyderPro shines with its ease of use and streamlined setup, while Calibrite devices offer a slightly more advanced profiling experience and integrate well with the broader X-Rite ecosystem. Both deliver excellent color accuracy, but I find the SpyderPro to be more user-friendly for day-to-day use, especially for those balancing photo and video work.All in all, the Datacolor SpyderPro hits the sweet spot for me without overcomplicating the process. It find it to be quick, precise, and easy to use. It fits my need for fine-tuning colors for an ad campaign or grading footage for a short film. If you’re considering monitor color calibration, the SpyderPro is definitely worth a closer look.

Pros:- Beautiful skin tone after SpyderPro colour calibration- Decent build quality- Two sensors for precise colour and ambient light measurement- Studio Match feature works well for colour-matching multiple monitors for graphic designs- Screen Uniformity and Colour accuracy testsCons:- Spyder software running slowly on old Windows 10 desktopThe Datacolor SpyderPro Colorimeter for Monitor Calibration is of decent build quality. It contains two sensors: one at the bottom to precisely measure the screen’s colour and the other at the top to measure ambient light levels. The Spyder 6.1 software can be downloaded from Datacolor’s website via the QR code provided. It appears that both Spyder and SpyderPro use the same Spyder 6.1 software, which is fine.Some features in the Spyder software are only available for SpyderPro. The most obvious one is the “Studio Match” feature which allows you to colour-match all the monitors connected to a single computer. Let’s call this monitor group “the first group”. Furthermore, monitors not connected to the same computer can also be colour-matched to the first group via a SpyderPro data file. This data file contains all the monitor brightness information of the first group of monitors and can be used to match the brightness of monitors not connected to the same computer.In addition, SpyderPro can perform Screen Uniformity and Colour accuracy tests while Spyder cannot.To use the SpyderPro, you must first register the product. The registration process is straightforward, and you will need the serial number printed at the bottom of the box. Once registered, you will get a license code which you will need for future Spyder software reinstallation. As I had Spyder 4 Express installed already, I uninstalled it before installing Spyder 6.1.I installed Spyder 6.1 on my old Windows 10 desktop with a fairly new Samsung monitor, and the calibration worked out quite well. All the colour and skin tone test charts looked right to my eyes. I am delighted. However, the Spyder software did not run very smoothly on my old Windows 10 desktop. There were often “not responding” messages from the Spyder software, and I had to wait many times during calibration or even clicking a button. Having said that, the app mostly did not crash. I just had to wait longer. However, I am giving the benefit of the doubt to the Spyder software because my desktop is about 10 years old. The problem likely comes from my old PC and not the Spyder software.After all, the Spyder 6.1 software and the hardware colorimeter did function well on my old desktop running Windows 10. I was able to calibrate my recent Samsung monitor mostly to my satisfaction. While I did not see a huge change before and after calibration, I did see many subtle changes in colour. I think the reason is that my Samsung monitor had already been factory-calibrated together with my manual tweaking, so the starting point was already quite good.There are a few tips that will make the calibration more accurate, but most are not mentioned in the user manual. I will outline them below:1) Within the basic calibration settings: Gamma selection. The recommended value is 2.2. You can double-check this value for your own monitor by running a display analysis using the Spyder software itself. The Tone response will plot the gamma curve for you, and you will be able to confirm if your monitor indeed has a gamma of 2.2.2) Within the basic calibration settings: White Point. The white point target after calibration. The recommended value is 6500K. This is the standard white-point target for digital designs and photo editing. It has a wider compatibility. Some people like the 5000K white point because that is more comfortable for the eyes. 5000K is good for print matching too but the calibrated screen will look yellow. I personally find 6500K gives me the most accurate skin tone for photo editing.3) Within the basic calibration settings: Brightness. Set it to 120 cd/m2 as a starting point. This is the screen’s target brightness. This 120 cd/m2 brightness level is often used for photo-editing purposes. However, at this level, any typical ambient lighting will affect the colour viewing accuracy. You will often need to use a monitor hood or dim the room lighting. As in my case, I set it to 120 cd/m2 before calibration, but Spyder was not happy with my bright room lighting. Therefore, it suggested I bring up the monitor brightness during calibration. I had to bring it up to about 200 cd/m2 for Spyder to be happy. The elevated level of monitor brightness will prevent the ambient light from affecting the calibration. After the calibration, I just turned the brightness back down to my comfortable level.After playing with SpyderPro more, I found calibrating under “room light off” at night worked better for me. It seemed to give me the pleasing skin tone I was looking for. As an added benefit, I was able to calibrate the monitor as dim as 90-120 cd/m2. The lower calibration brightness target is better for me as my eyes can’t take bright lights. At the same time, the calibration time is much shorter if you calibrate under “room light off” option. Don’t forget to turn off your room light during calibration if you select this option.After reviewing SpyderPro’s monitor colour calibration capability, let’s move on to SpyderPro’s exclusive “Studio Match” feature. This feature is supposed to colour match across different monitors connected to the same computer. I tested this feature with two monitors connected to the same Windows 10 computer. The main monitor is my Samsung S8 monitor with 100% sRGB gamut. The other one is an old HP monitor with a 97% sRGB gamut. It is important to start with monitors having as close to 100% sRGB gamut as possible otherwise you will have less success with “Studio Match”. I found this out the hard way as I used a small 67% sRGB gamut monitor for the first time and it never matched my Samsung S8 monitor. Therefore, before you begin with “Studio Match”, I highly recommend that you perform a monitor gamut analysis on all the monitors to ensure that they are close to 100% of the sRGB gamut. This gamut analysis feature is within the Spyder 6.1 software.The “Studio Match” feature will first measure the maximum brightness of two monitors and select the lower brightness as the common denominator for colour calibration. You cannot leave the computer unattended during the “Studio Match” process since the software will ask you to move the SpyderPro sensor between the 2 monitors alternately. Using the Samsung and the HP monitors, I am happy to report that the “Studio Match” was successful. All the colour charts looked the same between the two monitors. However, when I looked at a few portraits, I could clearly tell the skin tone is more magenta on the Samsung than on the HP. This colour difference might be caused by the 97% sRGB gamut on the HP but I am not sure. This experiment tells me that while “Studio Match” can colour match well across screens for graphic designs, matching skin tones across different monitors can be more challenging. Be prepared to do some minor manual OSD colour tweaks to fully match the skin tone.Overall, the Datacolor SpyderPro Colorimeter is a decent product for monitor calibration and analysis if you know how to use it properly. The “Studio Match” feature, exclusive to the Pro version, works well in matching both the brightness and colours across two monitors for graphic design applications. Now, my Samsung monitor appears to have more accurate colours and skin tones after calibration. I am delighted. It has been a great acquisition for me!