Eye-One Display 2 by GretagMacbeth

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Eye-One Display 2
by GretagMacbeth

Introduction
December 4, 2006

Eye-One Display 2 Introduction • What's In The Box / Closer Look
Eye-One Display 2 Monitor Calibration • Monitor Calibration (Part 2) • Monitor Calibration (Part 3)
Eye-One Display 2 Specifications • Eye-One Display 2 Conclusion

Eye-One Display 2
Dynamic Range: Black point: 0.05 cd/m2
Dynamic Range: White point: up to 1,000 cd/m2
Interface: USB data and power supply
Weight: 90g (3.1 oz)
Warranty: 1-year warranty
MSRP: $249.00 | Click For Best Price

Calibrating your CRT or LCD monitor was once thought to be a daunting and laborious task. Many photographers would just avoid the process altogether because it was very difficult to achieve a proper color balance across even the basic hardware points, which were the monitor, imaging software, and printer. However, things have changed over the years, and color calibration has become much more simple and less strenuous. GretagMacbeth's Eye-One Display 2 is one of those products which is highly advanced, but yet intuitively easy to use at the same time.

Using The Eye-One Display 2

Setting up the EOD2 is rather easy. Just open the package up, insert the cd, and within a few clicks, the program will begin installation. It is preferred you DO NOT connect the Eye-One to a USB port until you've installed the software, and I decided to abide by GretagMacbeth's advisory.

Screenshot 1 is of the options from the GretagMacbeth CD-ROM itself. Four different programs can be installed and a brief summation of what they are for is below:

Eye-One Match: Calibrate your Monitor, Projector, Scanner, Printer, Digital Camera, and more.
Eye-One Share: Create your own color palette (used to send the color palette to those who would need to retrieve the color profile to properly reproduce your own custom colors); measure ambient light
Eye-One Diagnostics: Diagnose your Eye-One Display 2 (or other product) for consistency
Eye-One ColorPoint: Plug-in for MS PowerPoint presentations; allows you to create color management solutions for digital projectors

Once installed, you will see a status menu on your left, and an interactive help menu on your right as you select different choices when the program starts (as seen below in Screenshots 2-4). The interactive help menu provides a great amount of information and I was clicking through it for several minutes and reading the info.

Eye-One Display 2
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4

For purposes of this review, we'll be concentrating on the monitor calibration options, which will be covered in the next section. If you would like to skip the introduction and other sections, and go directly to the monitor calibration section, feel free to do so.

Why Calibrate? How Often?

You may have put off purchasing a calibration device for your monitor and other computer peripherals because you've been told why calibrate your system when it is done rarely anyway. Well, not so. Typical calibration of a monitor and printer should be done once a month to make sure there is a consistent color output. Even with LCD monitors, the colors will tend to drift periodically and a calibration tool will let you know what is going on, as well as giving you the tools to fix it.