If you are like me, and constantly paranoid that your monitor color isn’t quite right, then today is a good day for you. The folks at Datacolor, who have previously brought us products such as the Spyder2 and Spyder3 screen calibration devices, have just released a new colorimeter. As you might have guessed, it’s named the Spyder4. Once again, there are three unique versions from which to choose, with three equally unique colors to distinguish them: red, blue and green, or RGB for short. Coincidence? I think not! There is an Express, Pro and Elite version of the Sypder4. The differences are mostly on the software side, not on the hardware side (the Express model doesn’t include a stand). The Pro and Elite model's software is very closely matched, while the Express model's is quite limited in its abilities. For example: it has a fixed gamma of 2.2 and color temperature of 6500k. It also does not perform ambient light measurements, nor allow multiple display calibrations.
Datacolor claims that the new Spyder4 will improve color accuracy by 26%, compared to its previous Spyder3 model. This is great news, unless you currently own a Spyder3. The device works on a large range of display technologies, including Wide Gamut and IPS screens. It can also calibrate projectors and, believe it or not, iPhones and iPads. This seems like a pretty complete solution to all your color cast concerns. The prices are respectively $114, $169 and $249 for the Express, Pro and Elite models.