Does Color Eyes Display Pro have advantages over the software that came with my colorimeter?

Question

I would like to know if there are any advantages to using this calibration software package instead of the ones that came with my colorimeter (a Spyder 2 Express)? I've read a number of reviews online, but none of them seem to answer the obvious question: Why would anyone pay lots of money for a software package that comes for free with your colorimeter?

Answer

The basic calibration software that comes with the Spyder 2 Express just does bare-bones calibration. It leaves many things up to however they are currently calibrated or set by the factory, such as screen luminance, and tries to calibrate as best it can.

More advanced calibration software, such as Spyder 3 Elite v4, or the Color Eyes Display Pro, perform much more extensive calibration. I have the Spyder 3 Studio Elite package myself, and use the Elite v4 software. It adjusts my screen brightness to a specific luminance (I usually calibrate to 120cd/m), sets a precise black and white point, and does more extensive color calibration. The Elite v4 software also supports synchronized calibration across multiple screens, as well as performing various tests over the full screen surface to check for things like screen backlight illumination evenness, gamma tuning, etc.

It sounds like the Color Eyes Display Pro does many of the same things. One thing about the Color Eyes software is it seems to be calibration device independent, so if you upgrade from one version of the Spyder device to another, or move to another brand, the Color Eyes software will still work.

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