i1Pro - why revision D? Can revision be known through Serial Number?



Quote:
Originally Posted by SCProCalibrator  /t/1518471/i1pro-why-revision-d-can-revision-be-known-through-serial-number#post_24372931


Are revisions D and E the only ones that are recommended? Why? My research indicates that there is no difference between any revisions of i1Pro in regards to accuracy, but there are differences in speed. So, for someone who wants to profile their colorimeter - would it matter what revision it is?


I found a great deal on one but it doesn't say which revision it is, only provided a serial number... Is there something specific I can look for on the photo of it or can revision be found out through the serial number? SN 0103443, part # 36.79.02.


I also found out that these devices have to be tested and diagnostics doesn't tell you much, so how would one go about actually finding an affordable and fully functional, accurate, i1Pro?

Click to expand...

In April 2005, GretagMacbeth (now part of X-Rite) began shipping a revised version of the i1 Pro Spectrophotometer in all end user packages.


The Revision B instrument is much faster than the older Revision A instrument, yet there is no difference in accuracy between the two.


The Revision B instrument also has improved Teflon pads on the bottom to reduce paper scratching if you use the old style ruler.


In August 2006 Rev D was introduced, with changes made to the material content to comply with the Europe RoHS legislation.


Parts of the components were replaced with new materials to make them lead-free.


There was no change to performance in Rev D instruments; in terms of speed and accuracy they are the same as Rev B.


In order to clearly identify the i1 Pro devices in the field a new revision had to be introduced.


But without verifing that meter you found versus a reference, you can't know if it's out of specs of if it has a problem.


i1Diagnostics is an i1PRO diagnostics software that is doing some Reflectance measurementents using his calibration base and some Emission measurements using your PC monitor.


Reflectance Mode is used measure reflective light (printing/paper industry); to measure displays the Emissive Mode is used.


i1Diagnostics can't tell you enough informations about it's performance on Emissive measurements (for Displays).


You can't see from i1Diagnosis if the meter has drift.


If the user send it to spectracal, they will compare it using a Minolta CS-2000 for xyY deviation, If he will send it to X-rite they will use some reference colored tiles (for reflectance) and using a known to them calibration lamp with Minolta CS-1000 for emissive.


Look if you see any REV mark at top right corner of the i1PRO Sticker like the attached picture.



Quote:
Originally Posted by SCProCalibrator  /t/1518471/i1pro-why-revision-d-can-revision-be-known-through-serial-number#post_24380348


But can a correction file/matrix be made for a spectrometer?

Click to expand...

If you mean "profiling" it to a more accurate device like a Jeti, then sure. XYZ is XYZ no matter how you get to it. The question is why would you want to do that when you could accomplish the same thing with a cheaper colorimeter.


The strength of the i1Pro and i1Pro2 is that it's good enough that you don't need to resort to these crude "brute force" correction schemes. (Assuming that the device hasn't been damaged.)


PS: OTOH, The downside to "profiling" the i1Pro(2) via XYZ transformations is that you essentially turn it into a very expensive colorimeter and thus the "profile" is only "good" for the specific display that the profile was created upon.


So in short, the answer to the question is yes ... but you probably wouldn't really want to.

I bought i1Pro only to profile my i1Display Pro, but if I knew that revisions other than D had the polarization and accuracy problems I would have looked harder for D or E... Now I will know the revision once I receive the probe... When you say straight up and down you don't mean I have to lay the display down with its screen facing up and place the probe on top of the screen, right? I just needs to hold the probe strictly up-side up and down-side down when making measurements - that is what I think you were trying to say.


When holding everything properly, how inaccurate is your revision A, compared to revisions D, and E? I researched and everywhere I looked, the only difference noted was the speed, which does not matter to me since I will use i1Pro only to profile i1Display Pro. There were some other notes about removing lead and scratch-making thingy, which again, does not apply to colorimeter profiling.


I know its not possible to predict just how accurate any specific i1Pro is, but if it was well taken care of, is it more or less likely that profiling my i1Display Pro with i1Pro will make my measurements more accurate? I know that one CCFL TV I have calibrated with i1Display Pro has a very neutral grayscale, but the 2 LED monitors I have end up with crimson grayscale after calibration, even though measurements show 100% accurate RGB WB at any gray level. Just to experiment, I downloaded a correction matrix for that monitor and my colorimeter, made with someone else's i1Pro. I know that a correction matrix needs to be performed for each display and each colorimeter, but the calibration results from using the downloaded matrix looked much better. Grays were actually gray, not crimson.


The business part is the difficult part - the calibration is not difficult, but simply tedious, yet fun. I did all the CCFL, LED, Plasma TVs I could (including ambient measurements) - from relative's to friend's to neighbor's and their friends - they were all cake, except for one, which was just extra tedious. I've only done a couple of projectors, but aide from needing a tri-pod and dealing with some quirky settings it was just as doable as TVs. I have not done any OLED and CRTs, but I don't expect there will be many people seeking to calibrate their old TV. I also have HTPC hardware & software installation, customization, optimization knowledge because I keep up with the latest and greatest for my own setup. I have no audio knowledge though, except for the basics. I want to get into the whole home-theater business, not just the calibration part. I feel like I can't grasp it all because it goes as far using the right material for walls, floor, ceiling, etc. I'm sticking to calibration part for now. I'm also afraid I am too old to be good at it - 27 already, but I wouldn't give up my career unless I was actually making more money this way. Its my hobby, but why not turn it into a financially-beneficial hobby?

 

As far as i1Pro2 goes - my research (most forum discussions and articles) showed that unless the original i1Pro was kept in a truly bad/moist environment and was dropped/tempered with, there was a very high chance that there would no accuracy drift/degradation and that it would just as accurate as i1Pro2 or ColorMunki Spectrometer, but cheaper. I think X-Rite and SpectraCal have stated something similar (don't quote me please) after looking at re/certification reports data. Together with i1Display Pro, a good laptop, a tri-pod, a good bag, at least a basic pattern generator, several calibration discs, a commercial software package (or two), positive attitude and charming personality should be a good start... I think.



Quote:
Originally Posted by randal_r  /t/1518471/i1pro-why-revision-d-can-revision-be-known-through-serial-number#post_24388795


If you are considering a Jeti, keep in mind of the true cost. Not only do you consider the initial out lay to purchase the unit but after so many reads you will have to send it back to the company to have it reset. Michael Chen has such a unit and has informed me that the cost of a reset was about $1200.

Click to expand...

Hello, these informations about JETI is not correct, there is not any limiter in measurements. JETI is only suggesting a factory new re-certification on every year.

Quote:
Originally Posted by randal_r  /t/1518471/i1pro-why-revision-d-can-revision-be-known-through-serial-number#post_24388795


This means doing continuous reads are out of the picture. If you were buying new and just starting out I would highly recommend the enhanced version of the i1Pro2 from SpectraCal. It is NIST complaint and is referenced against a CS2000 spectrometer.

Click to expand...

SpectraCAL is not performing any NIST Certification to any new i1PRO2 Enhanced meter at SpectraCAL's NIST certified lab, using their own Minolta CS-2000.




The NIST document has performed at X-Rite factory in China and the NIST document that a new meter is coming with is a certificate of performance by taking some reflectance measurements using some Ceramic BCRA Calibration Tiles @ D50, 2°.


That NIST document it's not guarantee to you the performance of the i1PRO2 in emissive mode (for displays) and also X-Rite is not giving any other informations about if or how they are testing the meter at emmisive mode, propably they are using a calibration lamp with Minolta CS-1000 as a reference.


SpectraCAL is only providing you an extra LED table (that is loaded from inside CalMAN software, it's not stored inside the meter since they don't have access (you can't use that table to other calibration software) and this correction is coming from an average difference of some sample of i1PRO2 meters vs. Monolta CS2000 to an average number of difference on some narrown band LED displays.