There's also now a tripod mount on the side of the Spyder5 puck, which allows it to be used for front projector calibration with no additional parts. In fairness to Datacolor, though, you most likely only need to make this adjustment very rarely, and it's important that the counterweight can't slip.Įvolution of the Spyder: Compared to the earlier Spyder3 (shown at right) or Spyder4, the Spyder5 colorimeter (left) is much more compact, even before you consider the earlier models' stand and counterweight. We found ourselves a little surprised by how tightly fitted to the cable the new counterweight / cap was, which gave us mild concerns about damaging the cable while we adjusted the length of slack available to drape the cable over the top of a monitor or laptop screen. The previous stand, by contrast, left the filters exposed to light and dust.

With its closed design, the Spyder5's counterweight / cap likely also helps to reduce UV fading of the color filters. In place of the separate, bundled stand of earlier versions, the counterweight now cleverly serves as protective cap, keeping dust away from the colorimeter's filters when the device isn't in use. The DataColor Spyder5-series colorimeters share a new, more compact design that doesn't require a separate stand.

Relatively affordable, dedicated hardware exists to do just that, and one such option is Datacolor's Spyder-series of colorimeters. If you want to view your photos in their best light, or view other photographers' creations as intended, you'll want to calibrate your display. If you've ever wondered why your photos don't look the same on-screen as they do when you share them with friends and family, you've stumbled on the dirty little secret of computer displays: What constitutes red, green, blue or neutral on one display may differ radically from another - possibly even for the same model, let alone across differing brands and model-lines.

Datacolor spyder 5 software upgrade