Digital BW, The Print

At 4:46 AM +0000 3/23/04, awahlster wrote:
>[quoting me] BlueEye plus its software is $100 - S150 more than its 
>arguably superior competition.
>
>OK Sam, I took a look at the recomended Viewsonic monitor

(a new shadow-mask CRT,  ViewSonic's 19" Graphics model G90f/G90fb 
(for under $230 at Amazon.com) which Martin wrote he might get after 
he'd become disenchanted with NEC-Mitsubishi)

>and it's spec's look good. SO as you said above what is the "arguably superior
>competition" for the monitor calibration system? Which one works good
>and costs less then the Blue eye version?

At least two, I expect, Mark, both GretagMacbeth's Eye-One Display 
and X-Rite's MonacoOptix XR (not "Pro"):

>All four kits greatly improved the color accuracy on our test LCDs 
>and CRTs, but we noted some differences (see "Flat vs. Fat" for 
>details). Integrated Color Solutions' kit was slow, and it had a 
>confusing interface. The Pantone was good at tuning in saturated 
>blues, but its red-yellow range was slightly limited. Both the 
>GretagMacbeth and X-Rite products brought out a fuller color range 
>and more detail in shadows than the other two kits. But X-Rite's 
>exceptional performance earns it our Best Buy nod. It achieved the 
>deepest shades of blue and the finest gray-scale 
>transitions--allowing our LCD to match the subtleties that 
>previously only high-end CRTs could achieve. The GretagMacbeth has 
>the slickest and most intuitive interface of all the kits, but the 
>X-Rite is fairly easy to navigate; and it has more-advanced 
>functions, such as the ability to calibrate for a custom color 
>temperature or according to ambient light conditions. [a quote from 
>this page on PCWorld's website:]
<http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,114148,pg,7,00.asp>

The X-Rite MonacoOptix XR is about $220 at B&H; together with the 
Viewsonic G90f/b, $450 - only $50 more than the BlueEye alone.

The Eye-One Display is a little more. Or in effect _free_ at 
CHROMiX.com (see "Color Gear") if you buy instead the Eye-One Photo 
bundle, with which you can also profile your printers. So, I was 
trying to say, that illustrates the value in specifying (and 
budgeting for) a system which spans the entire workflow and not 
buying anything until you see how the various module options best 
combine into a balanced whole. I don't mean to imply, Mark, that you 
should profile your printers yourself. In fact, I think most of us 
probably would be better off buying custom-made 
printer-and-ink-and-paper profiles from CHROMiX.com for about $70 - 
$80 each, but that's beside the point.
--
Sam


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]