calibration/profiling software
digital camera greybalancing tools

Display calibration and profiling :

basIColor Display Software
update – complete ground up re-write v4 software 2006, low cost upgrade available:

Ground breaking Monitor Display Calibration and Profiling software for LCD and CRT screens.

With version 4, the proven software basICColor Display has been taken to a new level of quality, speed and ease uf use in monitor calibration and profiling.  The excellent quality of earlier versions has been improved by using latest algorithms for calibration and profiling.  The software offers higher speed, a considerably easier to use UI, more features than previous versions and than any other product in the market. For beginners the software offers a selection of predefined settings for easier handling and faster success in calibrating and profiling the monitor.

Expert users have access to extended options to optimize, edit and finetune the calibration and profiling of their monitors.

The quality of the system can be reviewed in basICColor display 4 at any time - visual and numerical validation.

basICColor display is the first software to calibrate monitors to a visually LINEAR state.  All other solutions tweak the gradation using a gamma function.  And now we even added an sRGB calibration curve!
With basICColor display 4 you can measure and assess ambient light and viewing booths (with a suitable instrument) according ISO 3664 and ISO 12646.

On Site: In our work with City of Westminster College in their CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) Aswell as their suite of Cinema Displays, we helped set up 2 fairly old iMacs, 2 PC's with XP, 3 G4 Apple Macs, each with 17" Apple LCD and 2 x eMacs.  With the right settings they were able to be extremely close, a lot closer than I'd expected after rumours of disappointing results on the eMac.  I'm not saying the CRT eMac becomes a high end LCD display, but the results are very good.  

click here for more user feedback [in a new window]

basICColor Display 4 is comptible with most reading devices: basICColor Squid and Squid 2, Eye-One Spectrophotometers [e.g. Eye-One Design, Eye-One Photo, Eye-One Monitor etc.]; Eye-One Display and Eye-One Display 2, Monaco Optix XR, Sequel Chroma 4 USB, X-Rite DTP 94.

option/alt click here to to download a PDF about basICColor Display 4

click here to go to color-solutions and download a 14 day basICColor Display demo
( please click here to email us to find out how to get a permanent unlocking code).

basICColor Bundles :::

basICColor Display software is also available as a part of bundle with with color-solutions' excellent hardware device, the basICColor "Squid2" – the bundle includes licences for 3 CPU's at 280 pounds nett. This represents a considerable saving for those with 3 Systems to Calibrate and Profile.

A note on reading devices  (Colorimeter or SpectroPhotometer?) : -

Color-solutions believe (and we agree) that although the basICColor Squids (and others) are very good colorimeters, a spectrophotometer is ideally used to attain a really good visual match across multiple screens, perhaps CRT's with different phosphors or different LCD's, and especially mixed CRT and LCD. The GretagMacbeth's Eye-One spectrophotometer is still the ultimate instrument for use with basICColor Display. However, in some cases we've managed to get a great match across mixed screens with a colorimeter, it's worth noting, though, that a spectrophotometer just might be needed.

basICColor caliCube and GreyCard
digital camera greybalancing tools

Color–solutions have produced a special greycard and the basICCaliCube, both are useful aids for a digital photographer, utilising a superior type of material for the greybalancing of digital cameras

Digital photography offers the user a wide range of new possibilities.  Color fidelity in particular can be improved tremendously.   Instead of two conversions (Original – [Photography ] – Film,  Film  – [Scan] – File) only one is required (Original – [Photography] – File).  Color conversion from original to film is obsolete.  That is the step which is not easily controlled, while scanning delivers very exact color reproduction when colormanagement is applied.  Merging of the capture and the scanning process in digital photography eliminates color problems in film that otherwise cannot be corrected.  In order to achieve exact color reproduction, the digital camera needs, ideally, to be calibrated and profiled – just like the scanner – in a conventional two – step process.  

Variations in lighting conditions present a special challenge in digital photography.  While all ICC – compatible programs (camera software, Photoshop, InDesign, RIPs, . . .) are based on the internationally standardized (through ISO standards) lighting D50 (daylight, 5000 Kelvin, equals approximately sunlight at noon), photographers are dependent on the actual lighting in the current scene.  

When working with different illuminants, metameric failure will occur regularly.  The color of two objects will look the same under one light, but they differ under another light.  In everyday life you see this effect when shopping for clothing – clothes match under shop light and do not match under sunlight Ð or vice versa.  

A white balance target bears a special relevance in respect to metamerism.  If the photographer uses a metameric gray card for this purpose, all images taken under a non – D50 lighting situation will produce a color cast, although the camera had been calibrated to gray.  The cast depends upon the type of metameric failure.  This effect is known for most gray cards, even from well known manufacturers in the photographic industry.  That«s why Color Solutions developed the basICColor gray card .  Because of its spectral remission properties, it is nearly free of metameric failure.  The color shift under different lighting situation remains way under the threshold of visual perception.  Or, in brief, the basICColor gray card looks the same under all viewing conditions: gray without a cast.  

option/alt click here to read more download an info PDF for basICColor Greycard

basICCaliCube

An expert photographer's view of the basICCaliCube: –

After only a couple of months of use, I can say that this little tool has simplified the whole process of evaluating shadow and highlight areas in an image, especially when shooting raw and especially when photographing scenes that have no proper highlight area or full tonal range.  For example, a landscape which consists mainly of midtones will be hard to evaluate when establishing highlight and shadow points.  

Placing the Cube in a shot gives all the information needed to properly set white and black points for a given lighting set–up, whether artificial or natural.  The grey face of the Cube is for setting a mid–tone and is particularly useful as it is spectrally neutral...    which means it won't change colour under different lighting conditions unlike some popular grey cards.  Imagine shooting a bunch of garments somewhere outside...  the weather is variable; some cloud cover, some sun...  you do a reference shot each time the light changes with a (non–spectrally neutral) grey card.  When you come to process the raw files, you use each reference shot to neutralise on and find that...  oh dear...  each batch of images has a slightly different colour temp.  If you use a spectrally neutral grey card instead though...  consistency reigns.  Which means time saved....  and time is...  

The only thing you need in addition is something to hang the cube off!

Nick Dunmur 2006

option/alt click here to to download an info PDF for basICCaliCube

More from basICCColor:

There are many interesting and useful products from color-solutions in the range, please click here to go to the basICColor website for more info. Alt Click on "product overview" to dowload a pdf with a summary of the full basICColor software range.

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