Eye-One Display2 - Page 2

I've been using the Display2 for a couple of days now on both a Sony CRT and a Sharp DLP front projector. I'm very impressed with this meter. The results are VERY close to what I get with the EyeOne Pro and measurably better than what I get from the Spyder2.

Highly recommended.

Yes, I know because I asked them. They don't and they have no plans to. Big mistake IMHO.

I tried it both ways. It didn't seem to make much difference.

I decided to do some more formal testing. What I discovered was interesting. There was more deviation between the Display2 taking measurements of the screen and directly from the lamp with the diffuser installed than there was between the Eye One Pro and the Display2, both taking measurements off the screen.

Meters: Gretagmacbeth Eye One Pro and Display2
Software: CalMan 2.12
Display: Sharp XV-Z20000
Screen: 100" Stewart StudioTek

EyeOne Pro Gray scale



Eye One Pro Color Points



Display2 Gray scale off-screen



Display2 Gray scale from lamp



Display2 Color Points off-screen



Display2 Color Points from lamp



Based on these results, it seems as though the off-screen mode is preferable. The diffuser seems to have a problem with red at high IRE to the extent that I would think a calibration in this mode would yield visibly different results than from using the meter off the screen.

Even more surprising is how close the Display2 and Eye One Pro spectroradiometer are in performance. Between 20-100 IRE the Display2 reads slightly less red at 100 IRE, but I doubt that the difference between the calibrations would be visible. With respect to chromaticity, the area of traditional strength of spectroradiometers, there is a small difference in green and blue. Again, I seriously doubt whether these differences would be visible.

This confirms my earlier assessment that this is a very impressive inexpensive meter. I'd also like to mention that CalMan is a great tool, especially for the price. When they release version 3, which will be a standalone application that can take real-time measurements, I may end up retiring ColorFacts.

I'm confused. Isn't the whole point of the diffuser to enable pointing the sensor directly at the lens of the projector and not taking readings off the screen?

My initial tests intrigued me, so I decided to take a look at two other low-cost meters, the Milori Trichomat (Sequel Imaging Chroma IV) and the Spyder2. Since I don't have a license for the Spyder2 for CalMan and it doesn't support the trichomat in any case, I used ColorFacts.

Again, the results were surprising and quite revealing. First, neither of these meters have a diffuser, so the user is free to use them either pointed at the screen or directly towards the lamp. I quickly discovered that the meters behave differently in this regard. The trichomat did not yield good results when pointed towards the screen, so it should always be used in the direct reading mode. The Spyder2 was the opposite. It worked better when taking readings off the screen. Odd.

You can use my earlier readings from the EyeOne Pro and Display2 as a reference.

Trichomat gray scale reading



Trichomat chromaticity



Spyder2 gray scale



Spyder2 chromaticity



As you can see, the trichomat, though not as accurate as the Display2, does a reasonably good job when pointing directly at the lamp. The Spyder2, on the other hand, is not very accurate. Based on earlier testing, I determined that the trichomat does a better job than the Spyder2 with CRTs.

All in all, I can't recommend the Spyder2. The Display2, especially the LT version, is very inexpensive and performs much better. In fact, at least with a DLP projector it performs essentially the same as the much more expensive EyeOne Pro spectroradiometer.