Datacolor releases SpyderX, the company’s fastest and most accurate monitor calibration tool

posted Monday, February 11, 2019 at 10:45 AM EDT

One of the most important steps any digital photographer can take to improving their work and ensuring a consistent high-quality workflow is purchasing color calibration hardware and software. There are a few options out there and one of the most popular ones have been the Datacolor Spyder series of calibration solutions. Whereas the Spyder4 and Spyder5 were quite similar to one another, the brand-new SpyderX is a vastly-different product, offering numerous upgrades.

One of the biggest new features of the SpyderX is its speed. The SpyderX can fully calibrate a monitor in less than two minutes, whereas previous versions took between five and ten minutes. The less time you have to wait for calibration, the more time you have for editing your photos.

The SpyderX has a brand-new hardware design, opting for a lens-based technology. This results in a much faster and more accurate calibration system than the Spyder5.

Accuracy is also a focus with the SpyderX. The Spyder5 utilized a honeycomb baffle to analyze the monitor whereas the new SpyderX uses a lens-based technology, which allows for more light to reach the sensors and transmit more information through the calibration device into the accompanying software – which has also been updated. Specifically, Datacolor promises improved measurements of black levels and white levels when calibrating monitors.

Ease of use has been improved as well. While there are many advanced options for users to fine-tune their monitors, for beginners or those simply wishing to keep their workflow as efficient as possible, you can calibrate your monitor with a single click.

Of the new SpyderX, Susan Bunting, director of marketing at Datacolor says, "We know photography is a labor of love, and a lot goes into taking every shot. That’s why we’ve redesigned SpyderX from the ground up, ensuring you can trust the color on your screen while making the whole process of calibration as intuitive and quick as possible.”

The SpyderX will be available in two versions: the SpyderX Pro ($169.99 USD) and the SpyderX Elite ($269.99). The Elite version comes with advanced settings and features, including advanced display quality analysis, unlimited calibration options, all-in-one panel, calibration targets for video editing, soft proofing, digital projector calibration, studio standards and tuning side-by-side displays. You can preorder both versions via the links below.