Hi folks,
I’m asking here because this is related to PL, but not actually about PL and I’m hoping someone will have the necessary experience to guide me.
I have a ColorMunki screen calibration device. I’ve owned it since new, however it is now over a decade old.
Does the accuracy of these devices degrade with time/use?
As long as it’s kept safe, and the elements are made of glass, they should last the best part of forever!
I’ve got an old (probably 10 years) Colormunki Display which I use with Displaycal, and when I can’t comment on absolute 100% accuracy compared to a new device, all the screens I’ve calibrated with it look the same.
There are some with plastic or ‘organic’ lenses, these do degrade.
Thanks @nik . We have the same calibration device - I agree with your experience in that my screens look fine too. As you say, it’s impossible to know if there is any subtle shift in colours compared to using a new device without doing a test.
I previously had a Pantone Huey and that must have been plastic or ‘organic’ in nature. After a few years it resulted in the calibration having a very distinctive magenta hue and needed to be replaced - annoyingly the shift was very slow so I didn’t notice it until it was strong enough to look obviously ‘wrong’.
I still have the ColorMunki device but a couple of years ago, it refused to work after either a computer or macOS upgrade. I bought the newer Calibrate ColorChecker Display Plus, which came with the new calibrite Profiler software.
I am now running macOS Sequoia and, out of interest, I just tried plugging in the old ColorMunki device and starting the new software. Here is the message I got…
So, it seems that they have now upgraded the software to cope with the older device, but you will have to pay for the privilege.
As for continuing accuracy, since all measurements are relative to reference patches, I would tend to say you should be OK.
@Joanna Yeah I also got stung with that software limitation, and only after paying did I discover DisplayCal (which is a much better in my opinion, a bit more of a learning curve though). DisplayCal now have a macOS version as the original developers left the project, and some very nice people picked it up! I;ve had much more consistent results than when using Calibrite.
The devices do degrade over time as anything will, however the in terms of the Huey and Colormunki Display, the Display is built of much better materials, has better filters, sensor and components in general. Environment in which they’re kept is also a factor like with anything electronic. I’m sure even the most posh sony cameras would develop issues if the sensor was left in direct sunlight…etc.
There were a few versions of the Display, and from reading online and on other forums, most users were convinced that it was the same device as it’s more expensive cousins, but with hardware limitations for speed of taking measurements.
From a quick scan of their supported devices, the Calibrate ColorChecker Display Plus does not appear to be supported
@Joanna The Calibrite ColourChecker Display Plus is a rebranded X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus, which is fully supported, and will show up as the i1Display when in use.
I’m pretty sure they’ve got every colorimeter available to buy covered.
Worth playing about with if you’ve got the time. I just had a much better experience than with Calibrite.
I must have got lucky. I too had to update the Calibrite software on my Mac (some time ago now), but I didn’t have to pay at the time - it is still working with MacOS Sequoia. I wonder if this update paywall is a more recent change?
Thank you for the French version of the update info. I’ve been trying to improve my French recently, so this has been good reading practice!
My ‘Display’ device did orinally have a rubbery finish to the cover than swings round. Over time it became incredibly sticky so I had to carefully remove that with solvent down to the hard plastic underneath.
I agree, acreful storage of these devices seems a good idea. Keeping them damage free and out of direct sunlight being a very sensible step.
I too have a ColorMunki not long after they first came out. I still use it with ccStudio, which was the recommended program when the original software stopped working. I use it to calibrate my monitors and also my old Epson 1500 printer.
I have just recently replaced the Epson 1500 printer with @Joanna yes, you guessed it. The Canon pro 1100. the Canon knocks spots, or should I say pixels of the Epson.
By the way. I believe ccStudio is still available.
Yes, this is the app I still use on my Windows laptop and Mac desktop with my ColorMunki Display. I also updated to it once the original app stopped working.
Great news about your new printer @Prem , very happy for you 
Enjoy!
Where did you see that? DisplayCal website still shows the last update in 2019.
@MikeR If you go to DusplayCals website and click “Get DisplayCal” it will zoom you down to the download links.
The Devs aren’t the original guys, I had to install it with various python scripts…etc before they made the installer.
I think the updates and changelogs are hidden in GitHub somewhere. As far as I know they’ve just created the Mac version with newer versions of python for future updates, not 100% sure about further development, but it’s worked very well for me so far.
Here’s the repo
Sharing this in case it helps any Mac users get i1Studio to work on their machine with an older ColorMunki Display device.
The screen grab shows my OS version and the version of i1Studio that is working with it.
Another update from me!
Following installation of the Win11 24H2, my version of i1Studio stopped starting on my laptop (the splash screen would display, but then the app would crash).
I’ve now paid for the software update to Calibrite Profiler (£34). My ColorMunki Display device keeps going as a result, and because the software upgrade price is a lot less than buying a new device (and more eco friendly) I feel content with paying the fee after using the device for over a decade without paying an extra penny in that time for continued software support over multiple version of OS on Mac and Windows.
Results post calibration remain the same as before as far as I can tell!
I’ve had an X-Rite I1 Display Pro since 2013; one year ago, I had the issues you mentioned and I bought the Calibrate software update.
Every thing works well and I’m not shocked to have to pay for an update that involved rewriting the software.
For concerns about the setting value: I’m not worried by the fact that the settings change very little; my old Apple Cinema Display needed a small adjustment and still works perfectly.*
My Studio Display and my MacBook Pro M1 were and still are within tolerances.
MacOS M1 Sequoia
