For those who are more serious about their work, especially people in which tasks everyday is dealing with lots of colors like photographer and designer, calibrating the computer monitor regularly will be a great help in maintaining the correct color. Spyder 5 PRO Vs Colormunki Display are a good colorimeter with helpful software to ease the job and fairly affordable price among similar tools but, before shopping see what they can offer below so then we can choose the best option.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– Why Calibrating Computer Display/Monitor
– How to Calibrate Display/Monitor
– What are Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display
– What Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Look like
– How are the Colorimeter of Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display
– What Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display can offer
– Are Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Easy to use
– Spyder 5 Pro Vs Colormunki Display
Display Calibration
Almost everything can be done in a computer today from making school project to designing a new product and its package. This crucial tool is available in almost every house whether it is just for entertainment or for more important task to complete and many of us actually can’t work without one. For those whose work is dealing with lots of color such as photographer and people who work at printing, it is also necessary to make sure your computer display to show the correct color.
This is not an issue for people whose work is only viewing text documents, graphs, or numbers but if your field require a correct depiction of color, calibrating the computer or laptop monitor from time to time is necessary to keep it showing the proper color. Our eyes are already familiar with the display so we don’t think there is anything wrong with it but when those printed photos are delivered, we see that it is different from what we have edited before.
It is because the color displayed by our monitor is not always the true setting that they should be at and they actually come differently depending on how the factory preset them to be. Even when we are done calibrating them for the initial time, it will change over time which is why it is recommended to do them from time to time routinely so we are getting the best from our monitor. Older type of display is more prone to the problem and while newer display performs better, they still need to be calibrated routinely.
Calibrating Display or Monitor Methods
Calibrating the monitor is not a quick process and we will definitely need some time to finish the whole steps. The easiest method is by using the available settings in your computer because both Windows and OS X are already coming with their own method. They have gamma adjustment which is a setting that will affect your brightness and color ratios together with contrast and color levels. These steps rely on our eyes only so the accuracy is not very promising just like measuring temperature with our skin.
Other cheap option is going to some certain websites because in comparison they are providing more test images but still, it is relying on our eyes. If you are a professional and need to match the color in your monitor whether it is only one or several, then we will need a dedicated calibrator sold or rented to make them properly displaying the colors. Not only comes with the colorimeter, they are also paired with reliable software that in general easier to process through rather than working on the process manually.
About Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display
If you are going to work with colors and need it to be as accurate as possible so when they are submitted and printed they will appear exactly the same as what we have edited, it is necessary to have a display calibrator. The problem is they can be quite expensive and it makes many of us have to consider the option properly before settling with one for a unit usually around $100 at the cheapest yet, there are also renting offers out there.
Unlike many other computer complementary tools, not many companies offer display or monitor calibrator out there so it is actually quick to surf between the option and two of the most well-known brands are undoubtedly Datacolor and X-Rite. If you are browsing for display calibrator, these names will be familiar as well because the options are usually between these two and not only enthusiast, many professionals actually also use them and are satisfied with the result after done with their initial calibration.
Like many other peripherals, there are more than one model on the catalogue and if you want an easy then fast calibration, the Spyder 5 PRO and Colormunki Display will be a very interesting models to look at. These two calibrators are a direct competitors because they almost have the same capabilities and similar price range but we also found that the latter is currently a more affordable option which is why it is not surprising to see many customers are more interested in this version from X-Rite.
Spyder 5 Pro is among the Spyder5 family and actually one of the best as well just slightly below the popular Elite version. The main colorimeter is similar in both of these top models but the price difference is showing you a difference in their software as well because in general the big brother is accompanied by a more powerful software. On the other hand, Colormunki Display is the lower model of i1Display Pro that you can check on our Spyder5PRO Vs X-Rite i1Display Pro here.
It is made for those who are not yet ready to commit and spend a little bit more or people who want to try and see the benefit of display calibrator. Many people are even comparing these brothers and feel like Colormunki Display is actually i1Display Pro in disguise because they work equally seamlessly despite the lower price tag.
Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Design
Both of them come in a box and inside we will find the main device to detect the ambient light and then checking your monitor but this tool is different. As you can see on the sample picture above, the Spyder 5 PRO is overall bulkier than Colormunki but the latter is thicker and will stick more when placed in front of your monitor. This colorimeter is also unique because we can rotate it and make it stand on its own; used when calibrating the projector.
Spyder 5 PRO have nothing more inside the box and the software to be used with this tool is downloaded from their site while the activation code is sent together inside. Colormunki Display on the other hand is still packed with the drivers and software.
Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Colorimeter
Checking their colorimeter, the new Spyder 5 PRO is using the one like we can find on Express and Elite mode because it is the new well-designed 7-channel RGB colorimeter and has a much wider reading window. The latter Colormunki Display is also using a new colorimeter from X-Rite and it is the 3-channel RGB one with organic glass filters which is a guarantee for the good durability and featured with a little weight as well so it can sit well when put on front of your screen.
Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Features
Datacolor is offering their display calibrator with simplified ambient light management and of course the fast acting recalibration which is claimed to only take time around two and a half minutes as well as has many possible settings. Colormunki Display on the other hand is introducing the new Flare Correct technology which is meant to measure and compensate for the reflection of the surface of our monitor. In addition, it also has Automatic Display Control to accelerate the characterization process and avoiding the manual setting.
Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display Ease of Use
The calibrating step will start with installing the driver and let it recognize the hardware you are using but Spyder 5 PRO will need you to specify some available options first such as ICC and Delta E as well as reminder choice while with Colormunki we can start by choosing whether we want to calibrate monitor or projector first and then continued with the same setting like the one we have in the former software. When all the initial setup is done, we will be brought to the main menu and then we can start the calibration process.
This process begins with selecting the monitor we want to calibrate and then the menu will move to the next step which is settings we want to make in Spyder 5 PRO but the latter require us to choose between the available calibration modes that we do recommend to choose its Advance option. The rest of the calibration process are simple and complicated for different people but their software are equally intuitive and overall the Datacolor one is requiring less steps to complete.
Comparison
Spyder 5 Pro and Colormunki Display are indeed a reliable display calibrator that we can use to help the monitor show the correct color and minimizing the chance of us getting the wrong color when working with various projects especially with more than one monitor. The prominent difference is Colormunki Display will also work with projectors if you need one for the purpose as well and the software is not as simple as what we get with Spyder 5 PRO but it is more detailed.
Spyder 5 Pro vs Colormunki Display
Conclusion
At this point we are sure most readers can already decide to go with which calibrator because both of them are equally reliable and works well but if we are to choose, currently Colormunki Display is far more affordable than Spyder 5 PRO so in our opinion this should be a wiser decision.
