Display Calibrator?

[Phimp]

I'd like to get a hardware display calibrator to make sure my three computer displays are all as closely pictured as possible. I also do a lot of photo editing (Canon 40D) and printing (Epson 3800 Pro), along with graphi & web design, so color accuracy is fairly important.

I don't want to spend a stupid crazy amount of money, I mean.. right now I'm debating whether or not I should even buy one or just deal with the ghetto matched colors of the screen. So under $100 would be awesome.

Also, these work by connecting via USB to the computer and basically create an icc color profile right?

Aren't these kinda funky acting sometimes, especially in Vista?
Like, it might be applied to Windows Media Player, but not Media Player Classic, or Firefox rendering, but not Photoshop, etc. Because that would be kinda stupid, and last time I played around with .icc profiles that's what I ended up with lol

Alright, so suggestions would be fantastical!
Oooh, or if someone has one that they wouldn't mind letting go of on the FS subforum =D
(wonder what the return policy is on these at BestBuy. lol)

 

[nsx241]

The color profiles are only applicable if the application itself is color aware (there aren't many - firefox and photoshop are). Media player is not. As far as I know, Windows Vista itself is not color aware, but windows 7 is (?). As for the calibrator, I use a spyder 3 (elite) and it works well for me. The other commonly used one is eye one display 2. Then there are the professional suites which are probably out of your price range. The devices themselves are rather simple, it's almost always down to the software that utilizes them (and also what you're really paying for).

You might also want to consider a calibrator for your printer (if you're really serious about it), as often it might look great on your monitor, but not after you print it.

 

[Phimp]

How do the cheaper options compare?
Such as a Pantone Huey?

Also, different color profiles can be applied to each display on a computer correct?
I have three displays, so I just want to make sure...

 

[mlewis]

You can assign a different colour profile to each display but under Windows you will need each display attached to a different LUT in the graphics card for it to work properly. Part of the calibration data gets loaded into the graphics card LUT at startup. This will mean a seperate graphics card per screen unless you can find one with more than one LUT in it.

 

[nsx241]

How do the cheaper options compare?
Such as a Pantone Huey?

Also, different color profiles can be applied to each display on a computer correct?
I have three displays, so I just want to make sure...

Can't comment since I've never used them, but based on net reviews, they're not very good.

 

[Keldun]

How do the cheaper options compare?
Such as a Pantone Huey?

Also, different color profiles can be applied to each display on a computer correct?
I have three displays, so I just want to make sure...

I have found reviews of the pantone huey pro and other calibrator that might help you here not sure how close it is to the non pro version though but the pro reviewed here actually looked correct considering the price.

 

[asyork]

If you print professionally, it wouldn't hurt to get a calibration suite that can calibrate your monitor to your printer, like one of the X-Rite kits. It'll cost you an arm and a leg though. Seeing as how you spent a decent amount on the camera and printer already, that may be fine. The Spyder Elite 3 tends to be well reviewed if you want to go cheaper.

I was under the impression that if you assign an ICC profile to the monitor, that it will affect everything shown on it. It appeared to be the case with mine, but I didn't really compare with and without. I just didn't notice the horrible clipping of whites and blacks in anything after I calibrated.