Calibrite PROFILER monitor calibration review

Monitor calibration with Profiler

Calibrite has recently announced its new ‘PROFILER’ software.

In this review Keith is looking at Calibrite Profiler monitor calibration and profiling, using a variety of initial settings.

More details [and download] for Profiler software

Video review

Supplemental to this written one.

Initially Profiler supports monitor calibration with Calibriite branded colorimeters, so that’s the:

• ColorChecker Display
• ColorChecker Display Pro
• ColorChecker Display Plus

Calibrite PROFILER monitor calibration

The new profiler software is designed to work with Calibrite branded devices. As new software, it still has a few extended functions/utilities missing in the first release – but all the key calibration/profiling functionality is there.

Setting up your monitor is a vital part of getting a consistent workflow – one thing I’d note if you are reading any of my many reviews, is that if you don’t understand what a setting is for, then the default option is usually a good place to start until you know better.

Note: If you have an X-rite branded device, you will need a paid update to use Profiler. I’ll cover this in more detail in the conclusions.

Calibrite Profiler monitor calibration: Device functionality by model

The three models of colorimeter have an expanding set of options.

Right up front I’d suggest that very few photographers would have need of anything not offered in the basic  ColorChecker Display. Spend your money on a device with a different name if you want to, but unless you know you need the extras, it may not be worthwhile.

Testing the software – will it work for you?

I’m testing this on an iMac [2012] on which which I’ve managed to install MacOS 13 [Ventura]. My ‘day to day’ Mac still runs 10.15, which is supported [for now], but that has two BenQ hardware calibrated monitors, so I’d use the Palettemaster software which comes with the monitors. The MacBook Pro I use for my videos runs 10.13, so is still perfectly fine with X-Rite’s i1Profiler V3.

Why mention this? Well I know that a lot of people cannot afford to update kit frequently and rely on keeping perfectly good computers and software running. It’s also important to note that this software does not have ways of adjusting the capabilities of hardware calibrated monitors.

If your device is not supported, the software will run in a demo mode – so you can at least see what you might be missing.

Calibrite Profiler monitor calibration with my iMac

The software is simply installed by dragging it to the Applications folder

The software start-up shows available options with the calibrator plugged in.

I’m using the Display Plus calibrator – this is the one which supports HDR displays [not that I have any]

Notice the projector/camera/scanner/printer options – currently not implemented functionality.

I’m just looking at monitor calibration here, and have a choice between a basic workflow, with a range of preset options, or an advanced workflow where I get to change more things [I’ll show that later].

Note the demo options for unattached devices [I plugged in my ColorChecker Studio device – it currently does nothing with this version of the software].

I can now choose the type of monitor setup I’m aiming at.

Here are some of the video options.

Here are the pre-press options.

Note the row of symbols along the top – these are the more detailed settings to be used.

[click images to enlarge]

I’m choosing the photo option.

I’ve left the display backlight setting as-is. If you know it [and it’s not detected] you can set it here.

I’m now ready to start the measurement process, from which the display profile will be created.

There is a help panel at the right which will also guide you through the options.

Depending on your monitor, you may need to adjust its settings first. With the iMac, there is just a brightness setting.

The device needs be flush against the surface of the monitor.

I’ve tilted the display back a bit.

Note the very warm room lighting in comparison [warm LED lamp ~3000K]

I’ve adjusted the screen brightness to get close to the desired 120 cd/m2.

120 is the default photo setting – a bit bright for my liking. I’m happier with ~100 or even 90.

The white disk then changes colour for the default 118 patches.

The standard 118 patches is normally just fine if you are not using some more unusual setting, further away from the display’s ‘native’ capabilities.

After a few minutes, the measurements are done.

This is followed by a display of target/measured pairs – pretty, but likely not of much use for many people.

If you want, give the profile a meaningful name, but if you are just doing the basic profiling, you might as well leave it at the default.

You’re prompted to pick a time period for re-calibration.

With a display like this I’d leave it for months, so I’d select ‘none’.

If you select 1 week and are not a professional graphics/prepress company, then I’m going to say get out more and stop fiddling about with monitor calibration rather than address the real issues in your work ;-)

Yes, I have spent time adjusting monitors rather than get on with some real work…

For most people there is nothing but curiosity which will lead you through the next features…

A range of before and after images are available [you can add your own].

Switching back and forth will show major changes that the calibration/profiling has produced.

The detailed profiling results are shown, reminding me that the old iMac has a display gamut not much different from sRGB

Since the display is being calibrated by adjusting the video card settings [Display LUT (look up table)] the x-y plot shows how much adjustment the display is needing.

I note the red line above the green/blue. This suggests that if I’m not bothered with a specific setting, then calibrating to a slightly higher colour temperature than 6500K may produce better result – or I could try the ‘native’ setting in the more advanced options.

At last – a splendid way of avoiding work, by more experimenting. That’s before we’ve even got to the various Utilities available ;-)

But wait there’s more…

There are 3D gamut representations available – this one suggesting that the iMac is managing a bigger gamut than sRGB.   Consider this display very much ‘work in progress’ – the rendering is relatively poor. Compare it with what’s been the default in the Mac ColorSync utility for over a decade and I’d charitably describe it as ‘decorative’.

Calibrite Profiler monitor calibration – advanced mode

The default settings are what will do most users – maybe a change in luminance, but everything else is fine leaving as-is.

In the example I include in the video review, I’m setting the monitor to what is normally a very low colour temperature.

Why? to get it to better match the ambient lighting for when I shoot my videos.

Selecting advanced mode gives me far more options to adjust – as ever if do don’t know why you would choose a specific option, start with the default.

I’m setting a brightness of 100cd/m2 and want a custom temperature.

For the temperature I’m going as low as the settings allow – 5000K

My hardware calibrated BenQ monitor goes to 4000K, but I can’t set that here.

Since I’m pushing the display well out of its comfort zone, I may choose more coloured patches to base the profile on.

I’ve a number of profile options too.

The Ambient and Flare options are straight out of the X-Rite profiling set-up and show what’s likely under the hood for this ‘new’ software [at least in terms of how it works].  Personally I’ve seen them perhaps more as things to fit a marketing ‘features list’ and never use them. [note that all software includes things like this – super high resolution settings on printers for example].

For some monitors a different profile type may be in order, but I’ve never seen a clear reason for changing this.

At this point before I run the profiling again, I’ll save these settings as a preset, in case I want to experiment…

After running the measurement process, I have a monitor set to 5000K

The divergent coloured lines in the LUT display show how much work the profile and settings are doing.

The more ‘work’ here, the more likely I’ll see artefacts such as non linearity and banding in the display.

Remember though – this setting is to ‘look good’ on a video, not for any critical editing or print work…

Utilities and checks

There are several utilities available [the two greyed out ones are ‘coming soon’].

Monitor uniformity is something which can drift over time and tends to become more noticeable in larger monitors.

Use this to check your monitor, although if it’s poor, it’s only telling you that you need a newer or better monitor.

Whilst it doesn’t take long to recalibrate a monitor, the basic Monitor Validation utility gives a bit more about how the calibration is working on the specific monitor [the ‘Quick Check’ not being available at the moment].

The standard colorchecker card is available as a target and you can add an image of your own if you’re concerned about specific colours.

The software goes though a measurement stage [as with full calibration] and displays how well the monitor performed.

Now, these numbers look good, and there are sliders to adjust, but what do they actually mean?

Well, if you already know what you need, then this display could be useful, but if you don’t, there is no help screen explaining why some number might be worth worrying about and others not.

If I’ve had one gripe about X-Rite’s software over the years, and now Calibrite, is that there is no expanded help available. It tells you about functions and how to work them, but never ‘why’  or what results might mean. As someone who’s spent years trying to help people get more out of colour management, this lost opportunity still disappoints me.

Now, you could say that most people are not interested and just want to get their monitor set up. That’s fair, but some will be curious and maybe decide that a knowledge of colour management will help their photography and print making [it will!].

However, the basic question as to whether the software works, is that it works well and is simple to use.

Calibrite PROFILER monitor calibration conclusions

The software works well in its profiling and calibration. The interface for new and advanced users seems quite well designed, with good clear indications as to what is set through the different options.

A couple of minor gripes:

• The Gamut volume display is rather poorly drawn. A wireframe model option would be helpful, although I note that such features are mainly there to look pretty.
• Having the longest reminder for recalibration set for 4 weeks is a poor choice – I’d set it to ‘off’ since on a monitor like the iMac I tested. where I want a six month reminder, and 4 weeks would gently irritate me over time.

This is a V1 version of the software, hence it having some minor functionality in the ‘coming soon’ category – if you’ve a Calibrite branded device, it’s an obvious update to consider.

The update option – a personal view

Unlike all previous X-Rite products, Calibrite have decided to charge for using various i1 Display devices with the new software.

• X-Rite i1 Display Plus – upgrades to Calibrite ColorChecker Display Plus
• X-Rite i1 Display Pro  – upgrades to Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro
• X-Rite i1 Display Studio – upgrades to Calibrite ColorChecker Display
• X-Rite ColorMunki Display – upgrades to Calibrite ColorChecker Display

The initial charge is £8.99

Is it worth it? Well, if you’ve a fairly new X-Rite branded product and are happily using working software, my natural reticence about updating to any V1.0 software for the sake of updating comes into play.

Now, that’s looking at existing software…  X-Rite has dropped all their monitor profiling products and now points to Calibrite ones. Does it have enough NEW and useful functionality to pay for the use of the software? At the moment, maybe not…

That does means that at some point in the future your existing software may not work, even though you have a perfectly good colorimeter.

As an aside, I’m also minded to note that hardware you buy once and it works for many years, with ‘free’ software updates is not a popular product model with the beancounters these days…

If you’re curious, I have a detailed review of the X-Rite i1Display pro plus device showing the old software. This is essentially the same physical device I’m using in the review, but not Calibrite branded.

Operating system requirements: Calibrite Profiler monitor calibration

• Operating System Requirements (Mac) – Mac OSX 10.15 and above (with latest updates installed)
• Processor (Mac) – Intel® Core 2 Duo CPU or better including M1 processors
• Operating System Requirements (Windows) – Microsoft Windows 10® 32 or 64 bit Microsoft Windows 11® 32 or 64 bit All operating systems should have the latest Service Pack installed
• Processor (Windows) – Intel® Core 2 Duo / AMD Athlon™ XP or better
• Memory – 2 GB (4GB Recommended)
• Disk Space – 4 GB of available disk space
• Display Resolution – Monitor resolution 1024 x 768 or higher
• Video Card – Dual display support requires either 2 video cards or a dual head video card that supports dual video LUTs being loaded
• Connectivity – Powered USB
• Security – User must have Administrator rights to install and uninstall the application
• Internet Connection – Internet connection required for automatic software updates
• Languages Supported – English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified)
• Calibrite Devices supported – Calibrite ColorChecker Display, Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro, Calibrite ColorChecker Display Plus
• X-Rite Devices supported (licence upgrade required) – X-Rite i1 Display Studio, X-Rite i1 Display Pro, X-Rite i1 Display Plus, ColorMunki Display