The use of photographic boxes

Are you always dealing with the editing of flat photos or videos like me? I believe everyone will inevitably encounter the same problem in their work, that is, different monitors have different colors, color temperatures and brightness. If you use dual monitors, it will be even more troublesome. It will be difficult for us to manually adjust the consistency, so the efficiency and accuracy of the work will definitely be greatly reduced! At this time, we all need a product that can help correct the screen display-monitor calibration tool!

One: Spyder X Starscream Shooting Set Unpacking

In the field of color management, Datacolor has always been our trusted brand, and this Spyder X Starscream shooting suit is a convenient and economical way to realize our visual image. The main body of the Spyder X Starscream shooting suit is placed in an exquisite "safe", and the envelope of the outer box is sealed with the symbol of the 50th anniversary of Data Color.

When we opened the box, we saw a 24-color card at the top. The red spider color corrector cube spider was placed in customized foam, which can protect the product from being bumped.

In addition to the three-piece color correction kit (SpyderX color corrector, 24-color card and Rubik's cube spider), it also includes cleaning wipes, storage bags and so on.

Two: SpyderX Elite Starscream X Color Calibrator

At present, there are two products in Datacolor SpyderX series, PRO and ELITE. The hardware of color calibration is the same, but the functions and options provided by the software are different. Whether it is a professional designer or a studio, you can choose PRO or Elite Edition. For detailed version differences, please refer to the product comparison table provided by SpyderX website.

This is SpyderX Elite, which has the function of ambient light detection. It can detect the intensity of ambient light before correcting the color screen to suggest the best screen brightness and make the color correction more accurate. On the other hand, it is easier to operate the software. In addition to step-by-step instruction operation, the program also provides interactive explanation, which can explain the color correction settings in detail, so that users can clearly understand the setting intention of each step. After color correction is completed, you can view the differences before and after color correction in full screen.

Let's take a look at it next!

Compared with previous spider products, the new generation Spyder X color calibrator adopts a more fashionable white design. In use, it is quite dynamic with the common professional displays in black and metallic colors. Functionally, the new generation Spyder X Elite adopts the solution of optical lens and image engine, which makes the whole color calibration process faster and more accurate. Moreover, SpyderX Elite is equipped with an ambient light sensor, which can measure indoor light all day, and has a three-level ambient light adjustment function, allowing users to adjust the brightness and contrast of the display to an ideal level.

The back is designed with an annular rubber pad, which can stabilize the lens cover when placing the back of the monitor.

On the side of the color calibrator, there is a tripod interface, which can be installed on the camera tripod, making it more flexible to use! It can also be used to calibrate products such as projectors.

SpyderX's design is quite special. The color calibrator and lens cover are connected together by USB cable. When the lens cover is opened, it becomes a weight plate, and the lens cover is covered when it is used.

The USB interface connected to the computer comes with a wire harness with a diamagnetic ring to avoid interference. Design in place.

SpyderX color calibrator is very simple to use. It can calibrate the colors of display devices such as notebooks, PC monitors and projectors. Then let's check the color together!

SpyderX website provides two softwares, SpyderX Elite and SpyderXCheckr. When using SpyderxColor Calibrator, we need to download SpyderX Elite. Windows and MacOS can support it, even Apple's latest M 1 chip Mac has no problem.

SpyderX Elite's software is quite easy to use, and official website also provides a user guide and quick start guide, which is quite thoughtful. SpyderX Elite has the same function as before. Through step-by-step software operation guidance, everyone can quickly complete the color correction work. If you have questions about the set options and functions, there is an interactive explanation on the right side of the software, which will explain the purpose of this function setting and the suggested setting options in more detail!

During installation, you cannot access the color calibrator device. The whole software installation is very simple. Follow the prompts and proceed to the next step.

After the installation is completed, we need to enter the serial number to activate (at this time, we need to connect Starscream X to the USB interface of the computer), and then we can use the software normally after activation.

More importantly, before calibration, the display needs to be preheated by about 1 hour, and in the process of color calibration, it is ensured that there is no strong light directly on the display. After everything is accurate and ready, we open the software and choose the type of monitor. My school approved my computer monitor, so I chose a desktop here.

Here you will be prompted to enter the brand and model of the monitor, and the brand is easy to choose. Just drop down the menu and choose the brand of your monitor. And the model of the monitor. If you only know the approximate model, you can enter the approximate model, which is only used for later calibration of the file name; Of course, we can also check the "advanced display settings" of the system, check the specific display model, and then input it into the color correction software.

Select the control function of the display according to the prompt.

Continue to select the backlight mode of the display.

This software will guide you how to operate it. If you are a novice, it is recommended to use a progressive assistant. Calibration of multiple monitors and selection of studio matching mode; And if you are already an expert, you can choose the fully customized setting mode of the professional console.

It is suggested to set the parameter information here and try to adjust it before calibration, so that the test process will be faster.

After all the steps are confirmed, you can close the screen to correct the color!

First, SpyderX devices should be placed on the desktop to detect the ambient brightness.

It is best to do color calibration in the dark, otherwise the software will predict that the indoor brightness level is "high". After adjusting the brightness of indoor ambient light, the subsequent adjustment will be more accurate. Or your monitor has a hood, or you can install it in advance.

Then hang the color calibrator on the monitor and put it in the displayed position according to the instructions, and you can start calibration!

During calibration, the software will prompt you to adjust the brightness setting.

At this time, different colors will be displayed on the screen for making judgments and recording data. After the calibration is completed, you can save the file, so be sure to file it here!

After the color correction is completed, you can check the contrast before and after the color correction through the pictures built in the software (16) or by loading local pictures. By comparing different pictures, we can see that the overall tone after color correction is slightly warmer than before, the color saturation and contrast are also improved, and the brightness and details are also slightly changed. Of course, the effect of color correction is closely related to the quality of the display itself, and the contrast of different displays after color correction is definitely different.

Contrast before and after color correction (left: before color correction; Right: after color correction)

Contrast before and after color correction (left: before color correction; Right: after color correction)

Contrast before and after color correction (left: before color correction; Right: after color correction)

After calibration, a new configuration file and color gamut information will be generated. In addition, by looking at the data and comparing the brightness, white point, phosphor point, DeltaE and luminosity before and after calibration, we can see that the basic color calibration has completed the target value.

SpyderX Elite not only has the basic color correction function, but also has a very practical function, which is display analysis! It can visually show the basic quality of the display in the form of charts, which is very practical.

The options for display analysis include: color gamut, hue response, brightness and contrast, white point, screen uniformity, color accuracy, etc. When testing, you can select the items to be tested and test them separately.

When analyzing the monitor, we also need to follow the prompts to complete various operations. Move the color calibrator to the specified position as needed, and then wait.

Gamut test

Tone response test

Brightness and contrast test

White spot test

Screen uniformity test

Color accuracy

You can save the file after displaying the analysis, so you must archive it here!

After analyzing all the tests, the software will generate charts of all the tests for users to view. Of course, the effect of color correction is closely related to the quality of the display itself, and the contrast of different displays after color correction is definitely different. This is for demonstration only.

First of all, in the color gamut option, you can display four color gamuts: sRGB, Adobe RGB, P3 and NTSC. After SpyderX Elite analysis, the author can see that it has 100% sRGB coverage, 88% AdobeRGB coverage, 93% P3 coverage and 83% NTSC coverage. This kind of color gamut coverage, no matter using any operating system, can get a gorgeous color experience.

The curve used to measure the pitch response is as close to 2.2 as possible. After actual measurement, the response curve of the display is very close to gamma 2.2, which ensures the contrast and color accuracy of the screen, but the color temperature is slightly cold in SRGB mode.

Under different brightness levels, the contrast of the display is stable, the color temperature is stable at 6600, and the overall color temperature is cold.

Color brightness uniformity test, which tests whether the colors in each area of the display screen are consistent. My computer center is closest to D65 (standard value). When the brightness is 83%, the color of the display panel is excellent, and the maximum difference quadrant appears at the upper left of the screen with a difference of 2.5. In terms of brightness balance performance, at 83 brightness, the panel shows normal intermediate brightness overflow, and the largest quadrant appears in the lower left corner, which is 12%, which is good and almost imperceptible in daily use.

Color accuracy test, the smaller the value, the better. The standard value is Δ e less than 2. This is a big surprise for me. In 48 color tests, the average color scale value is 0.67, the highest difference is 1.48, the lowest difference is 0.22, and the average value of E is far less than 2, so the accuracy of color is excellent.

By testing the screen, SpyderX can analyze and calibrate the quality of PC monitors (such as notebooks, projectors and other display devices), so that we can know our monitors more accurately. For professional monitors, color calibration is essential!

Three: Spyder Checkr color correction spider 24 color card

Three-piece color calibration set, SpyderX color calibrator, 24-color card and Cube Spider, the latter two are mainly related to color calibration in shooting. Among them, the 24-color card (Spyder Checkr) is a two-color card with a size of about 20 14cm2. One side is a color card of 24 reference colors, and the other side is a neutral gray card (used to calibrate white balance).

The front of the 24-color card is a standard 24-color reference color card, and all colors are in the sRGB color space, ensuring that it can be used in various cameras and camera output devices.

On the back is 18% gray board, because the color temperature and exposure of each lens and scene are different, a single product with a gray scale map can provide on-site light color and optical density data, which can be used to adjust camera settings.

Spyder checker Color Correction Spider needs to be used with software Spyder checker, which can be supported by both Windows and MacOS. The installation and activation steps are the same as those of SpyderX Elite, so they are not repeated here. Just follow the software installation tips step by step.

We take the standard 24-color color card on the front of the color card as an example. Let's take a normal exposure color card first, and then cut the color card part in the photo in Lightroom until the cut position sticks to the black edge.

After cropping, select Photo-Edit SpyderCHECKR Edit in the application in the Lightroom software menu. If you can't find this software, you can add SpyderCHECKR software to Lightroom software preferences.

At this point, the SpyderCHECKR program will start automatically.

The cut color card image will be automatically imported into SpyderCHECKR program. As the picture shows, there is a blue label on all four sides of the color card. We align the square with the sampling point as much as possible to ensure the accuracy. Finally, we save the calibration and name the file.

SpyderCheckr software will automatically read the color block value and compare it with the preset value, and output the correction file. SpyderCheckr has three modes: saturation, chroma and portrait. The latter two modes are optimized for shooting products and portraits, and can output three software presets: Lightroom, ACR and Phocus.

After opening Lightroom software, we can see the preset file on the left and find the color card preset just saved. Then take a few more photos and compare the effect with the color card preset.

After using the preset color card, you can see that the HSL/ color part has changed.

By comparing the original Lightroom picture (left) with the corrected picture (right), the red, magenta and purple parts of the picture preset by using the color card are closer to the real situation and have higher saturation.

Four: Spyder Cube Cube Spider

Cube Spider is actually a professional photometry tool, miniature, durable and waterproof. Equipped with a lanyard, small and convenient to carry around!

Detail characteristics:

Although it is a small object, it is still different from the traditional gray card. The traditional gray card is to measure light first and then take pictures. If you need gray, white and black, repeat the shooting. Spyder Cube Spider only needs to take a photo with Spyder Cube Spider first, and then Spyder Cube Spider will record rich light information, which can be adjusted with rich white balance values in post-processing photos.

Then, in use, we first need to take a picture of a cube spider with Spyder Cube in the shooting scene.

After opening the software, we chose lightroom's white balance selection pipette tool to calibrate the white balance in the photo with Spyder Cube Spider. Pick up the colors on the gray, white and black surfaces of the cube gray card with a straw to calibrate the white balance, and then you can adjust the desired effect through the highlights and exposure options in the upper right corner of lightroom. The processing effect is really fast and accurate.

When you use Spyder Cube Spider to calibrate the white balance of the first photo, you can calibrate the white balance of all photos taken in the same scene in a few seconds by selecting the automatic white balance mode for subsequent photos.

Summary:

The 50th anniversary photography set of SpyderX Starscream is of great significance in color management. Whether it is still life shooting, advertising photography, or the calibration of display equipment, it is necessary to have strict requirements on the color and white balance of photos or films. Therefore, according to the current comprehensive experience, I think the 50 th anniversary photography suit of SpyderX Starscream is worth it!