Review: Datacolor Spyder3 Elite colour calibration

Capable of calibrating LCD, CRT, notebook and projector displays, the Spyder3 Elite ensures you get the very best colour reproduction and comes with advanced features allowing you to maintain colour fidelity across multiple monitors.

The Spyder3 improves upon its predecessor, the Spyder2, in both its hardware and accompanying software, bringing improved colour measurement and additional features and capabilities.

The device itself is considerably smaller and better looking. This wouldn’t count for much were it not for the fact that it contains an ambient light detector, so when it’s not measuring your display it’s sitting in a little cradle on your desk measuring the light in your room and adjusting your screen brightness accordingly.

There are also significant internal improvements. Despite its reduced dimensions, it has a larger light measuring aperture, which helps it to become 29 per cent more accurate when measuring colours. It’s quicker too, shaving around two minutes off initial calibration times and four and a half minutes off subsequent recalibration.

The upgraded software package has been designed to appeal to photographers with demanding colour requirements and allows users to fine-tune the look of their display and match other displays to those preferences.

Despite an enormous array of configuration options, the Spyder3 Elite is also relatively simple to use thanks to an improved user interface which hides expert controls unless they’re needed.