Optimizing the i1 Display Pro OEM for Lightspace

June 4, 2016

The X-Rite i1 Display Pro is the most popular colorimeter on the market. Learn how to use it in Lightspace for video profiling & calibration.


Series

Setting the Options Correctly for Best Results

Note: This 2-Part Insight is from a larger series about understanding how to use the free Lightspace DPS. If you’re new to Lightspace, start with this Insight and continue moving forward in the series until you get here.

Lightspace DPS is a powerful software for any of us who want to know if our reference monitors are still within spec, or if they need to be recalibrated? Lightspace doesn’t try to hide anything from you or simplify its workflow. It wants you to know and understand the options it presents – and allows you full, easy access to overriding its default assumptions.

In this Insight, we’re going set about optimizing the i1 Display Pro OEM for Lightspace.

You’ll learn which Lightspace settings need to be adjusted, specifically for the i1 Display Pro OEM.

I’ve broken this Insight into two Parts since the full explanation took almost 30 minutes – and here at Mixing Light, we *never* allow our videos to go over 20 minutes (and prefer a target of around 10-14 minutes).

In Part 1, we’re covering the settings you need to tweak to get as accurate a result as you can, using Lightspace’s built-in options

As you’ll learn in Part 2, optimizing these settings won’t get you results you can use for a full-blown calibration… but you will get results you can save and revisit as a baseline comparison in future profiles to measure how your display is drifting (but we’ll discuss that in detail in Part 2).

One set of critical options I miss in this Video Insight: The Display Type in Setup Options.

The i1 Display Pro has been on the market for many years. It turns out, the Display Type will be different depending on when you bought your i1 Display. Specifically,

If you own the i1 Display Rev. B you need to choose this setting:

The proper Display Type setting for the i1 Display Pro OEM, Rev. B
This is the proper Display Type setting for the i1 Display Pro OEM, Rev. B. You can tell if your i1 is Rev. B because the letter ‘B’ will be included in your serial number.

If you own any earlier i1 Display Pro, then you need to choose this setting:

Display Type Settinf for i1 Display Pro OEM Rev A
If you have an earlier version of the i1 Display Pro OEM, then you’ll want to use this setting.
Coming Up Next: How to Turn Your i1 Display Pro OEM into a Reference Meter

In Part Two of optimizing the i1 Display Pro for Lightspace, you’re going to learn how you can turn this inexpensive colorimeter into a precision instrument. The generic settings we’re using here in Part 1 are fine for establishing a baseline Profile to measure drift over time. But in Part Two, you’ll learn how you can trust the absolute values generated by the i1 Display Pro… and even use it for the advanced topic of Display Characterization and generating LUTs for display calibration.

Enjoy!

-pi

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Comments

Homepage Forums Optimizing the i1 Display Pro OEM for Lightspace


  • R.NeilHaugen
    Guest

    Actually I’m enough of a nerd to find all the detail background fascinating and would have listened to the whole thing in one half hour go without blinking … well, not ‘literally’ of course. Still, waiting for the final episode of this serialized matinee show to be able to actually do the whole thing … 😉


  • Patrick Inhofer
    Guest

    🙂

    Well – we also have a rule on Mixing Light… each Insight is a single thought. Part 2 of optimizing for an i1 Display Pro OEM is actually a 2nd thought, so it’s a natural break point. Part 2 will be out in a few days, you won’t have to wait long.


  • SvetlanaKrapivina564
    Guest

    Hello, Patrick!

    I have a question – how do you connect i1 Display Pro OEM to computer? Just via usb? I have a PC, 64 bit, Windows 7 and all my Davinci station placed on PC. So I plugged 1 Display Pro OEM to my computer, but nothing happened. And when I press “measure” button I see than I am running virtual probe. What am I doing wrong?

    I have a JVC DTV24-L1D monitor that connected via blackmagic converter


  • Steve Shaw
    Member

    With LightSpace CMS there is no requirement to install any drivers for the i1 Display Pro – all that is included with LightSpace.
    But, you do have to select the i1 Display Pro via ‘Discoverable Probes’.

    Installing the i1 Profiler software can cause issues – so is best avoided!

    Steve


  • Patrick Inhofer
    Guest

    Thanks Steve.


  • Patrick Inhofer
    Guest

    Based on Steve’s comments – be sure you’ve watched the earlier videos in this series, since these optimizations assume you already understand how to use Lightspace: https://mixinglight.com/portfolio/getting-started-with-lightspace-dps-part-1/


  • SvetlanaKrapivina564
    Guest

    Steve thank you very much! That exact step I missed! And now when I I chose my device via discoverable probes, it works!


  • DanielHill
    Guest

    Not sure why you are trying to use a gamma of 2.4 for Rec 709. It should still remain 2.2 for Rec 709. Steve Shaw goes into great detail about using a gamma of 2.2 and not 2.4 in this thread: http://www.liftgammagain.com/forum/index.php?threads/help-with-calibrating-a-new-resolve-suite.6109/


  • Robbie Carman
    Guest

    The discussion is a bit more nuanced….

    First the discussion about what grade 1 CRTs were actually doing has been going on for years with the consensus of ‘some where between 2.2 and 2.5 ! ‘ 🙂

    Next, gamma is not explicitly stated with any Rec. 709 documentation or recommendation. But adoption of BT. 1886 tried to address that (but strangely 1886 doesn’t address a lot of other important things!)

    The BT. 1886 EOTF is an attempt to tackle the gamma ‘problem’ head on and mathematically compensate for the issue of a Power Law Gamma curve i.e. 2.2, 2.4 etc being based on absolute black that few displays can do.

    In other words, BT. 1886 takes into account the black performance of the display which results in smooth steps out of black and less black clipping on a typical display compared to using power law gamma.

    BT. 1886 is an actual standard (good) but its not without is detractors. Many are of the opinion that on some displays a BT. 1886 curve can look less than good (shadow bump) and because 1886 is essentially variable based on the performance of the display, it might not the best choice for professional mastering displays

    The reason I mention 1886 in this context is because you ask about 2.4.

    Really the question should be why was Pat not using BT. 1886 (a standard) vs a Power Law curve (2.4 in this case)

    The interesting thing is because an OLED (as Patrick is using) can display absolute black, BT. 1886 and a Power Law 2.4 Gamma Curve actually become the same thing (assuming native OLED black level)!

    But as Steve points out native black level on OLED can be a perceptual & translatable issue for a colorist (especially in a less than ideal reference environment) with blacks. So what a lot of people will do when calibrating an OLED is use black level limiting for the 3D LUT or as many people do, use the brightness knob on the display to bump on black to .03 -.05 (or there about) This alters the overall average gamma at bit but this is a preferential thing – I know many people who leave their OLEDs set to 0.

    Also don’t forget that viewing environment is lost in all of this (see HLG EOTF)

    To that end a little light reading from Mr. Poynton

    http://www.spectracal.com/Documents/3_Gamma_2.0_2.2or2.4.pdf


  • Patrick Inhofer
    Guest

    What Robbie said!

    Plus I’ll add and emphasize… Rec 709 does NOT specify a display gamma. Not. At. All. That said, you’ll find that different cities have different ‘standards’ that they seem to have adopted. And over the past 10 years, the gamma ‘standard’ has changed for many markets.

    Even the BBC has changed. For a long time they recommended using 2.35, which their testing showed was closest to the Sony BVM series of Class 1 reference displays. But then about 18 months ago they switched to 2.4, since they noticed most of the post houses and broadcasters were monitoring with 2.4… so they kind’a kicked the can and said, “2.4 it is”.

    I don’t think I remember anyone really using 2.2 for their reference displays for broadcast work – except for a short period a few years ago when post facilities were deciding between 2.2 and 2.4. Most of our peers have settled on 2.4 for broadcast and 2.2 for web.

    But when it comes to Profiling and Calibration – if your display has a selectable Gamma, you just want to be reading in the same mode that your display is in (which is usually the gamma mode you’re generally working in)… as the various gamma functions tend to be mathematically derived from the underlying calibration LUT.

    Finally – you’d think display viewing would be ‘settled science’. It’s NOT! Half of the science of viewing televisions is about human perception… which is hugely variable. There are lots of very smart people who argue the finer details of all these points, And they fall all over the spectrum of what is ‘proper’ and ‘accurate’. As working pros, we need to evaluate the various opinions and then settle on our own approach.

    What I’m teaching is what I’ve settled on – in consultation with Robbie and Dan Moran – to present to you.

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