Review: Huey Monitor Calibration from Pantone

kres

wxwax wrote:

That one's black.

The green ones work better on Macs.

Can you expand on that Wax? I've got a black one and it works just fine. (I love my Huey...)

Of course I DO have this feeling that I've stumbled onto a joke grenade.

Pamela

kres wrote:

Can you expand on that Wax? I've got a black one and it works just fine. (I love my Huey...)

Of course I DO have this feeling that I've stumbled onto a joke grenade.

Green?




Thank you Guys

cmason

Pamela wrote:

Green?




Thank you Guys

Pamela: how did you get it priced at $59? A generic B&H search brings it up for $79? $59 is a steal!

rutt

Well they sent me a replacement but it still creates the exact same wrong profile for the Macbook Pro with glossy screen. (Obvious greenish cast, espeically obvious with certifiably neutral midtone grays). I'm pleased as punch with the job it did for my Cinema Display.

Using the Apple calibration tool, I did quite a bit better than the Huey did, but it's clearly also wrong. I'm thinking this might be a particularly difficult display to get right.

pathfinder

Would you get the mate screen if you were to do it over?

I am considering th MacBook Pro upgrade for myself, when CS3 is available.

Seefutlung

wxwax wrote:

That one's black.

The green ones work better on Macs.

I just finished painting my black Huey green ... and you're right Sid, it does work better. mmmhh ... wonder what red will do?

Gary

wxwax

rutt wrote:

Well they sent me a replacement but it still creates the exact same wrong profile for the Macbook Pro with glossy screen. (Obvious greenish cast, espeically obvious with certifiably neutral midtone grays). I'm pleased as punch with the job it did for my Cinema Display.

Using the Apple calibration tool, I did quite a bit better than the Huey did, but it's clearly also wrong. I'm thinking this might be a particularly difficult display to get right.

I haven't sent mine in for replacement yet.

But the monitor it failed to profile correctly is a 21" LaCie CRT.

urbanaries

rutt wrote:

According to Pantone Customer Service, it's kind of unpredictable which displays will miscalibrate with the defective Hueys. And the issue is hardware not software. So I'll repeat. Don't buy one right now. Or buy directly from Pantone if you must buy.

hey Rutt

any update on this? safe to buy? if not now, when?

wxwax

urbanaries wrote:

hey Rutt

any update on this? safe to buy? if not now, when?

From here.

rutt wrote:

Well they sent me a replacement but it still creates the exact same wrong profile for the Macbook Pro with glossy screen. (Obvious greenish cast, espeically obvious with certifiably neutral midtone grays). I'm pleased as punch with the job it did for my Cinema Display.

Using the Apple calibration tool, I did quite a bit better than the Huey did, but it's clearly also wrong. I'm thinking this might be a particularly difficult display to get right.

ChrisJ

Not sure about the bug... but the Huey Pro is coming out next month... It has "multiple" monitor support, but I'm not sure if that means "dual" monitor support.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20381&ca=10

rutt

pathfinder wrote:

Would you get the mate screen if you were to do it over?

I am considering th MacBook Pro upgrade for myself, when CS3 is available.

I love the glossy screen, and I really believe this problem is specific to the Huey software. I just re-calibrated with the apple displays utility and this time I let it use 1.8 gamma and I think it looks pretty good.

I'd love to hear how your Sypder Pro (if that's what it is) does. Anyway, at this point at least with this tool and this display, it seems that Dan Margulis is right. I got best results with my eye instead of the spectrometer (but I have to say the Huey did great with the ACD.)

Pamela

cmason wrote:

Pamela: how did you get it priced at $59? A generic B&H search brings it up for $79? $59 is a steal!

Try this:
bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=1939&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&cmpsrch=&cltp=&clsgr=&Submit.x=17&Submit.y=12&Submit=Go&shs=&ci=13047&ac=

Sorry so late, I didnt see your post:D

Poindexter

I just did my first calibration with the Huey, and it looks like contrast is a bit better. However, I do have the green hue everyone posts about. I use dual monitors and intentionally calibrated only one monitor. I do this because graphic design is part of my job and I like to see how something looks under different settings. My other monitor shows a red hue compared to my calibrated monitor, so I guess I'm Xmasing it

Bendr

Out of curiousity, How does the Huey mount on to the screen?

Mike Lane

Bendr wrote:

Out of curiousity, How does the Huey mount on to the screen?

super glue.

Kidding. Little tiny suction cups.

rutt

I ordered a spyder 2 pro to see if it could do a better job on the macbook pro than the Huey. I'll report when I get it.

rutt

The Sypder 2 Pro rules and the Huey drools.

Calibrated with the Syder 2 Pro, the Mac Pro 17" with glossy screen looks right. Comparing it with the ADC 30" also calibrated with the Sypder the grays are neutral on both and flesh, sky, vegetation tones look right on both. The ACD is brighter and more vivid, but that's to be expected since it costs as much as the whole notebook (well a little more because when I bought it you also had to buy a new graphics card to support it.)

So? If the Huey works for your monitor, then fine. But it doesn't work for that 17" glossy display, even after Pantone replaced it. Spend the extra $100 if you got it and get a professional quality tool instead of a toy. Your time is probably worth it.

rutt

[Crossposting because there are two very similar threads, apparently with different subscriber. Mods: perhaps merge them?]

In short, my experience with the Huey was 1 for 2. It did a fine job with my ACD 30" and a really really bad job with the glossy macbook pro 17" display. In fact the job job with the macbook was sooo bad that both the default profile and my manually created one looked MUCH better. The Huey created one with a green cast. I even called Pantone and they sent me a replacement unit, but it still got the same bad results.

Got a Sypder 2 Pro for about $100 more than the Huey and it went 2 for 2. Both displays look right with it's profiles. The ACD is naturally brighter and more vivid, but they are both neutral and both show all the steps in various sample gray scale test images.

Bottom line:

1. Spend the extra $100 for a professional tool or save the $70 and calibrate manually. Or I suppose you can gamble on the Huey especially if you don't mind returning it.
2. No need to avoid the glossy macbook display. It's great. Just don't expect the Huey to handle it.

DJ-S1

I had the Spyder 2 (still do actually) and I hated it. Yes the colors looked good but it took forever to calibrate. So lonag in fact that it discouraged me from calibrating as often as I should. The Huey is light years faster and works great on my Viewsonic LCD so I'm much happier with it.

Come to think of it, I need to sell that Spyder 2 someday...

rutt

DJ-S1 wrote:

I had the Spyder 2 (still do actually) and I hated it. Yes the colors looked good but it took forever to calibrate. So lonag in fact that it discouraged me from calibrating as often as I should. The Huey is light years faster and works great on my Viewsonic LCD so I'm much happier with it.

Come to think of it, I need to sell that Spyder 2 someday...

Find someone with a Macbook with glossy display. But I didn't find that the Syder was that slow. I'd rather it waste its time than having the Huey waste my time.

DJ-S1

No, I understand why you need the Spyder 2. I was just saying why I like the Huey. Also, I bought the Spyder last year, it's certainly possible that yours is newer and faster than mine was.

Glad you found a solution that works -

pathfinder

I missed your post earlier post John, sorry.

I am glad to hear the Spyder2Pro worked fine on the glassy screen MacBook Pro as well as the ACD. That has been my experience as well - although my Power Book has a matte screen and I may elect to stay with a matte screen when I upgrade later this spring.

rutt

The only downside of the glossy screen (now that I can calibrate it) is that it needs to be cleaned a little more often than the matte. Perhaps it wouldn't work as well outside? But then nothing seems to work outside.

pathfinder

I agree that the Spyder2 Pro is Sloooow, but I find I can just let it do its thing when I don't need to use the computer.

I think it has gotten a little faster with the newer upgrades to the software also.

rutt

pathfinder wrote:

I agree that the Spyder2 Pro is Sloooow, but I find I can just let it do its thing when I don't need to use the computer.

I think it has gotten a little faster with the newer upgrades to the software also.

I was expecting 15 minutes, but I think it's more like 5. Not really that much different that the horrible Huey which didn't actually stick to the screens so I had to hold it. The Sypder-2's big suction cup did stick to the back of both displays no problem, so I could do whatever and come back and it was done. Since I don't intend to do it very often, it's a total win compared with having to hold the Huey for minutes and then getting an unusable profile.

DavidTO

rutt wrote:

having to hold the Huey for minutes and then getting an unusable profile.

I didn't have this problem but I suspect that it's the cause of your bad profile. Holding the Huey against the LCD can't be good for the results.

Andy

rutt wrote:

I was expecting 15 minutes, but I think it's more like 5. Not really that much different that the horrible Huey which didn't actually stick to the screens so I had to hold it. The Sypder-2's big suction cup did stick to the back of both displays no problem, so I could do whatever and come back and it was done. Since I don't intend to do it very often, it's a total win compared with having to hold the Huey for minutes and then getting an unusable profile.

Pebcak?

I'm having no issues with either the 23" ACDs or my 17" macbook

David_S85

Threads Merged...
...beginning with Pamela's thread Huey Pantone, Feb. 28th, 2007, and up to just above.

David

rutt

I think it's the glossy screen but Andy, perhaps your macbook is also glossy? Or perhaps you don't mind the green cast?

Anyway, I'm not the only one with this problem. Pantone knows about it so perhaps they'll fix it someday.

In the meantime, the Sypder-2 is tried and true.

Zoom Raider

What's the News about Huey?
I was wondering if that Huey monitor color correction system gadget really works? `Cos I'd hate to buy it and see no difference at all and have a hard time trying to get a refund on it. I've heared that it really works, and when it corrects the color on the monitor, then that's what it'll print out on photo-paper - better pictures; but that's what salespeople say at stores. I just wanna hear it from you guys. Thanks!:):

Bet some of you thought this was a thread about Huey Lewis & the News band, huh?