![spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5 spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5](https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/images.imagescience.com.au/_201904_imager-transforms/s3images/Blog-Articles/2017/07-i1Display-Pro-vs-Spyder5/24346/i1Display-Pro-vs-Spyder5_0166ead623946358b989c6cadcef7572.jpg)
![spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5 spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spyder-ide/spyder/5.x/img_src/screenshot.png)
- SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 FULL
- SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 SOFTWARE
- SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 PLUS
- SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 FREE
SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 SOFTWARE
Compatibility - as the industry standard professional colour measuring tool, pretty much all after-market software is made to be compatible with the i1Display Pro first and foremost.It takes about half of the time as the Spyders on average. The i1Display Pro has a large light gathering lens - and because of this it can read colours more accurately, and more quickly. Speed - calibration is (let's face it!) - boring, so you want it to be done fast (but still properly!).Field Upgradeable - the i1 is a field upgradeable sensor - that is, it can be updated in the future for new monitor trends (or if a particular batch of calibrators shows some sort of trend in drift).Our own testing over many years, and anecdotal reports, indicate 2 to 3 years is the best you can get from Spyders - this is because they use more basic, exposed to the air filters, and those filters change their behaviour over time quite noticeably in our experience. We have a unit from 2012 here and we can as yet not detect any change in its measurement accuracy. Repeatability/Longevity - the i1Display Pro uses a sealed design, and very high quality dichroic filters.It's not unheard of with the i1Display either, but we've found the smoothness in such situations is always noticeably better with the i1Display. Profile Quality - it is not uncommon for Spyder5s to induce banding post calibration, particularly on lower quality displays.When compared against lab grade meters (those which mere mortals cannot afford!), the i1 holds its own remarkably well. Accuracy - every decent test we've ever seen, and our own testing, shows the i1 to be a distinctly more accurate sensor than the Spyder range, particularly in deep shadows.Here are the many reasons we think it's better: The i1Display Pro is, we think, the best monitor calibrator that's ever come along & offers an absolutely great level of performance for it's cost (noticeably lower than previous pro level calibrators). So very often spending $200 now means spending $300+ again later - and so we think it is generally better to simply spend the ~$350 initially and get the right device first. And better monitors need, and deserve, better calibrators. The Spyder5s just don't seem to last as long as the i1Displays (see below), and it's very common for folks on their imaging journey to realise they need a better monitor as part of their long term progress. That said, we generally think this cheaper option is a false economy in the long term.
SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 FULL
Displa圜AL treats the Spyder5 (or rebadged Spyder 5s, like the Eizo EX3) as a full Spyder5 sensor, without artificially imposed limits on settings etc, and is thus the the vastly better software option for use with the cheaper members of the Spyder5 series.
SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 FREE
If the budget is tight, though, then the best budget answer is probably a Spyder5 Express (around $200) - but used with the free after-market Displa圜AL software - this is because the included Spyder5 software is not great at all, and it 'software limits' the Spyder5 Express unit to be far less good than it actually can be. For significant improvement, your budget will climb to $300+ - but you'll get a much better, more accurate device and much better future proofing as well. Basically, if you want the cheapest option that is any good, you'll be spending around $200. There are two answers - the budget answer, and the best answer. So - the question then becomes - which monitor calibrator to buy? This is so out of the gates you're using the best approach. To this end, we also include a free printer profile - normally $50 - with every monitor calibrator purchase over $200.
![spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5 spyder 3 pro vs spyder 5](https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/images.imagescience.com.au/_201703_imager-transforms/s3-ap-southeast-2_amazonaws_com/images.imagescience.com.au/Blog-Articles/2017/07-i1Display-Pro-vs-Spyder5/i1Display-Pro-vs-Spyder5_75ca115ddf866b35fb06123396a56f32.jpg)
(If you're really experimental with your printing and want to try lots of papers, then the Munki is the best choice unless you have a much larger budget).
SPYDER 3 PRO VS SPYDER 5 PLUS
We recommend this because the quality of results you get with this approach significantly exceeds the quality of results you'll get with a mid-range combined monitor plus printer calibrator solution like the ColorMunki (which is pretty good) or the SpyderPrint (which we've found to be not really very good at all). As a rule, we recommend most folks buy an excellent monitor calibrator and (if they're doing their own printing) - use our custom profile service to make profiles for their favourite papers, as opposed to buying calibrators which can handle both monitors and printers.