SPYDER3EXPRESS

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• Have fun with your images confident that you are seeing true colors using tools on which the professionals rely
• Easy Software Wizard: You don't have to be a color expert to calibrate your display
• Unique Before & After Viewing Feature: Compare your display before and after calibration
• Reliable & Consistent Color: A result of years of research and development provides sophisticated software
• State of the Art Optical Science: Patented optics make your colors match accurately and simply outstanding reliability

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About This Product

The Datacolor Spyder 3 Express adjusts the color on your monitor so your photos appear more accurately. Easy-to-use right out of the box, this award winning proven technology helps you calibrate your display - just like professionals. There's a reason your on-screen colors aren't always true. Chances are, your monitor color is the problem, not your camera or your printer. The Spyder 3 Express is an revolutionary simple monitor color correction tool that automatically adjusts the color of your monitor so what you're seeing is more true. It is designed for Photo Enthusiasts, Advanced Amateurs, Passionate Photographers and DSLR users of all kinds.

Customer Reviews

• Works very well

• Rating:
• Review: The Spyder3 was easy to set up, operate and did a good job of calibrating my LED monitor. Perhaps professional photographers would require more but as an avid non-professional photographer, given its performance, I see no reason to spend more.

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• Perfect for the advanced amateur digital photographer

• Rating:
• Review: I am an advanced amateur digital photographer, and I found that this product was perfect for me. I weighed the feature differences between the Express/Pro/Elite version and decided the Express was good enough for me. Here's why:
  
  -Although the Express does not natively support multiple monitors, I was able to work around this (as another reviewer has mentioned). If you calibrate with multiple monitors plugged in, the calibration only affects the primary monitor. However, if you first unplug your primary monitor and start Windows with only your secondary monitor plugged in, you can calibrate your secondary monitor. Then restart Windows with both monitors and recalibrate again, this new calibration (and all future ones) will only affect your primary new monitor, leaving the first calibration done to your secondary monitor intact. Since I only edit photos with my primary monitor, I really won't ever need to recalibrate my secondary ever again.
  -I didn't think the integrated light sensor, which the software uses to adjust your calibration in real time, was necessary or likely to be very accurate.
  -Unless you have a fantastic monitor, it probably isn't worth going nuts with expensive calibration equipment.
  
  The software guides you through the calibration process in a logical manner. It recommends that you reset your monitor to factory defaults. However, I found through additional reading online that most factory monitor settings are way too bright. The brightness control on your LCD affects its backlight intensity, which the Spyder software can not change on its own. Therefore, you should adjust your monitor's luminance to an appropriate setting (most recommend 120 cd/m^2) before proceeding with the calibration. The Elite software has functionality to allow you to measure your monitors luminance as you adjust it. However, you can download free software [...], which works with your Spyder Express puck, to do the same thing. Install the software and then copy Spyder3.dll from C:\Program Files\Datacolor\Spyder3Express into C:\Program Files\ColorHCFR (Spyder3.dll must be the original that was creating during install from the CD, not the version created during online update). Plug in your Spyder Express puck and run Colorimetre HCFR. File->new, View images and press next, Spyder 3 and then press finish. The software will fill your screen with different shades of grey so your puck can read the luminance. If you have dual monitors, you may need to go to Measures->Generator->Configure and pick which target screen. Position your puck on your screen (as in a standard calibration) and click the play button on the toolbar and then go. After it runs through its series, it will show you the results in the table. You want the value in the Y row (the luminance values) and 100%Gray (pure white) to be close to 120 cd/m^2 or whatever luminance you are shooting for. If you just hit the play button, it will show your luminance output in the lower left window in real time. Put your puck over a pure white area of the screen to get your monitors luminance.
  
  One thing I noticed is that my screen is much darker after calibration than before. Apparently this is normal.

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• An economical Must Have

• Rating:
• Review: As a photographer you must have a calibration system and this one works wonderfully for a fraction of the cost of the high end units. I am so far very pleased.

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• so far so good.

• Rating:
• Review: Just got this a few days ago. very easy to instal and use. I am waitng CPQ to send my first order of prints that have been calibrated with this software and we'll see.

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• A must-have device for LCD monitors

• Rating:
• Review: The Spyder product allows you to easily adjust your monitor's color scheme to match real world output expectations. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the out of the box colors on almost all monitors these days don't match up very well to "true" colors. Your average person (myself included) mistakenly adds too much blue to the palette, giving a more satisfying "bright" feel to the display. Manufacturers know this, which is why many ship monitors these days heavy on the blue and light on the red. Unfortunately, while it seems right at first blush, this configuration distorts pictures and videos and, over time, creates eye strain. After adjusting your monitor, it will seem too dark, but if you give it a few days you will find out that not only do you adjust to the warmer tones, you also experience significantly less eye strain when staring at the monitor for long periods of time.
  
  The instructions are fairly idiot proof. Open the package, install the software from the CD, and attach the device to your screen for about 3 minutes or so. The software will sample light output and create a custom color profile for your monitor. Before the changes become permanent, you have an opportunity to flip between the original and new color settings to see the effect on a collection of photos. Like I said, my initial reaction was that the new settings were too dark, but after a couple of days my eyes adjusted and now I can genuinely say I much prefer the new settings over the old.
  
  My only gripe is about the software, which comes with a serial number and has to be activated to function. The reason for this is very simple. While the Spyder works well, it is essentially a one shot use product. $100 for something you will likely only use a handful of times in 5 or 10 years. By marrying the software to your computer, the manufacturer is ensuring that you can't turn around and sell the product to someone else 5 minutes after you buy it. While I understand the necessity from their point of view, it still burns a little that you eat thru a C note for something you will use so infrequently. Still, in the end it makes my job, which is computer intensive, much more bearable since it is much easier to watch the screen for long stretches, so overall I have to say I still think it's a worthy purchase.

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