A while back I picked up a Pantone Huey (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79&ca=2) because my LCD's were all of the place for color correcting my HD-100 footage directly on my Computer screen. The little device will send your LCD through a process that will correctly gray balance any screen and IT WORKS.

I know this is off topic from HD-100 stuff but the Huey is such a good thing I think everyone should know about it.

Regards,

Stephen

Thanks Stephen. I, for one, never would've imagined such a helpful device.

Can you tell me the difference about the Pantone version (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?ca=2&pid=79&)and the Gretag McBeth version (http://www.gretagmacbeth.com/index/products/products_color-mgmt-spec/products_monitor-calibration/products_huey.htm)Huey?


I found a review here (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/pantone_huey.html)

For a moment there I thought you were referring to a helicopter I might be able to get cheaply! ;-)

Can you tell me the difference about the Pantone version (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?ca=2&pid=79&)and the Gretag McBeth version (http://www.gretagmacbeth.com/index/products/products_color-mgmt-spec/products_monitor-calibration/products_huey.htm)Huey?


I found a review here (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/pantone_huey.html)
You shouldn't be able to tell the difference since they are the same product from the same company. Gretag and Pantone are one in the same.

Either way (GretagMacbeth or Pantone), it's a great product for guys cutting on LCD screens.

best,

You shouldn't be able to tell the difference since they are the same product from the same company. Gretag and Pantone are one in the same.

Either way (GretagMacbeth or Pantone), it's a great product for guys cutting on LCD screens.

best,
Stephen, what would be an alternative to Pantone? Any other slightly or significantly more specialized similar product out there? And should the type of graphic card you use have any bearing on your choice?

Stephen, what would be an alternative to Pantone? Any other slightly or significantly more specialized similar product out there? And should the type of graphic card you use have any bearing on your choice?
Graphics card has no bearing on the choice because the Pantone software is what applies the profile (not the video card). There are a lot of $$$ alternatives but for the $$ the Pantone really made a large and positive difference for me.

Stephen, what would be an alternative to Pantone? Any other slightly or significantly more specialized similar product out there? And should the type of graphic card you use have any bearing on your choice?

You can read an article about Monitor calibration, on BeHardware.com (http://www.behardware.com/articles/626-1/monitor-calibration-for-0-to-100.html), the Huey and other solutions (like GretagMacbeth) are being reviewed there.
They also have a review about the ColorVision Spyder2express (http://www.behardware.com/articles/626-6/monitor-calibration-for-0-to-100.html), it has the same price as the Huey.

GretagMacbeth has some higher end solutions as well.

Besides: ones that want to get the GretagMacbeth need to hurry, because it no longer excists. It's all X-rite now (the device will still be available but probably with a different batch). Anyhow, ECS company (www.ecsbelg.com) offers all color-retaled solutions and is a dealer of GretagMacbeth. There are possibilities to calibrate your monitor up to $20,000...

You can read an article about Monitor calibration, on BeHardware.com (http://www.behardware.com/articles/626-1/monitor-calibration-for-0-to-100.html), the Huey and other solutions (like GretagMacbeth) are being reviewed there.
They also have a review about the ColorVision Spyder2express (http://www.behardware.com/articles/626-6/monitor-calibration-for-0-to-100.html), it has the same price as the Huey.
I took a look at the graphs for Huey and noticed that RGB, CMY and K are adjusted (as you'd expect) as well as gray balance levels. Gretag/Pantone has come out with 2 revisions of the Huey software since the article was written and now they are on version 1.04. I do know this, I took some footage and did a frame grab and then sent that frame grab to the printer (Kodak Dye Sub) and the image on the screen matched the image off the printer almost exactly (tone was a tiny bit darker but not much).

Then I color correct some footage that was way off (just on the LCD with no other reference) and was surprised to find that the burned DVD's colors held true on serveral TV's. It works well.

i've been using a gretag macbeth eye one display for about 4 years. it's an indispensable tool for accurate color work on a monitor whether it's an LCD or a CRT. the only issue with using these calibrating colorimeters for video work is that the RGB color space used for computer monitors is the default color mapping. There are no NLE's that I'm aware of, that allow you to select color mapping other than RGB. This isn't an issue as long as the delivery method remains RGB. if you go to film, for example, you have no idea what the transformation is to the color map of the film being used. Hopefully, the color film lab has a handle on this issue.

They should. Remapping to another colorspace is no biggie and should yield a minimum of loss in accuracy. The problem usually is the difference in colormeasuring and the physically different interpretation. Although that is just the services companies like ECS offer, I sometimes wonder if that accuracy isn't a bit of overkill in this kind of process.

On the other hand: I like to buy DVDs that have a lot of extra's and very, very often you can see that outtakes and alternative or deleted scenes aren't treated like the film itself for video distribution. I really dislike watching that kind of footage, but then again, other people like me never seem to notice...

I like to buy DVDs that have a lot of extra's and very, very often you can see that outtakes and alternative or deleted scenes aren't treated like the film itself for video distribution. I really dislike watching that kind of footage, but then again, other people like me never seem to notice...
Well, I actually like that a lot because it allows for us to see how much and what exactly they did to the raw footage. It's often eye opening to see how 'bad' the raw footage is and how much it's improved in the final film.

with the new digital age, the old axiom of getting as close to the final product as possible with the original take, is no longer a reality. this just proves it. so many traditional photo galleries absolutely hate the digital age. not only has it opened the venue to the average joe-blow, final images are never, never, never even close to the original. IMHO, it just adds another layer of artistry, albeit, technical artistry as opposed to the director's...hehehehe.

A while back I picked up a Pantone Huey (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79&ca=2) because my LCD's were all of the place for color correcting my HD-100 footage directly on my Computer screen. The little device will send your LCD through a process that will correctly gray balance any screen and IT WORKS.

I know this is off topic from HD-100 stuff but the Huey is such a good thing I think everyone should know about it.

Regards,

Stephen


so basically this little device will calibrate a crt or lcd perfectly?

thats amazing for 90 bucks.

How does it work?

would it work for calibrating a sony pro video monitor?

it's, fundamentally, a screen spectrophotometer that maps detected color swatches to an ICC profile, which you then load into your monitor profile to give you corrected colors on the screen.

so basically this little device will calibrate a crt or lcd perfectly?

thats amazing for 90 bucks.

How does it work?

would it work for calibrating a sony pro video monitor?
It's not "perfect" but it is pretty close. When I do a blue balance the SMPTE color bar chart, the cyan and magenta are pretty close and far closer than without the calibration.

I don't know about a sony pro video monitor because it's typically connected via component or Svid so probably not. The Pantone device calibrates your VGA/DVI connected LCD/CRT monitor.

Does this work for an LCD television screen as well?

It seems that Colorvision sells two different versions, one for computer monitor and one for tv screen -- and the Colorvision vision products are both much more expensive the the $79 one talked about here.

(I read in one of the linked reviews that Pantone originally had a deal to work with Colorvision but the arrangement was abandoned and the new relationship was developed.)

TV screens, by definition, are hardwired to sRGBcolor mapping.

A while back I picked up a Pantone Huey (http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79&ca=2) because my LCD's were all of the place for color correcting my HD-100 footage directly on my Computer screen. The little device will send your LCD through a process that will correctly gray balance any screen and IT WORKS.

I know this is off topic from HD-100 stuff but the Huey is such a good thing I think everyone should know about it.

Regards,

Stephen


Thanks Stephen,

We have the Spyder and I'm real unhappy with the results, it's been a huge pain in my @$$. Worse, all our developers/monitors are way off, and not in sync, so the same content looks different on every system. I'm more than happy to give the Huey a shot at calibration in our office.

The Huey is a nifty little contraption but the software is definitely version one. It can't do a two monitor system unless you trick the computer by switching your main monitor and then switching back. That will work unless the computer's video card won't allow two simultaneous calibrations.

It also does some strange things if you don't want it to continuously monitor the room light. I rather not have the device sitting around all the time. The update available on Pantone's web site seems to help a little but the software needs some fixing. The application preferences which didn't open in Mac version 1.0, with version 1.0.4 opens System Preferences which now has a "Huey" option. But you have to close the Huey application before the options in System Preferences will work. A little clumsy.

The colors do look a lot better but I'll stick with a regular video monitor for now.

Odd I have a Spyder 2 pro, and have done many, many, Calibrations on the windows side with it and have been very happy...

Hey Stephen :D

From the way it looks, I would spring for the PANTONE® Eye-One Display LT for an extra $70. The HUEY only seems to give you "basic" functionality. If you're serious go for the PANTONE® Eye-One Display LT.

cheers