Pantone Bows New Calibration Tool

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 1/30/2006

CARLSTADT, N.J. — Arguing that consumers are dissatisfied with the mismatch between what they see on their computer monitors and what they produce on their home printers, Pantone and GretagMacbeth have teamed to introduce a family of monitor calibration products aimed at the consumer market.

Typically the domain of the hobbyist or professionals, color calibration is an increasing concern for ordinary digital camera owners and gamers, said Pantone marketing VP Doris Brown. As monitors age, the colors a user sees onscreen are not necessarily the true colors of the image they're looking at, Brown said. If they make changes or make a print of a photo, they could be disappointed with the mismatched results, she added. Gamers also complain that computer screens are too dark and obscure detail in shadows.

Enter “huey,” a device based on GretagMacbeth's color-matching technology. The unit connects to a PC via USB and attaches to a monitor via small suction cups. After the user loads included software, they can calibrate their monitor in under five minutes, Brown said.

The product works on LCDs, laptops and CRT displays and continually adjusts the monitor as room lighting changes.

It will retail for a suggested $89.

The company will introduce two higher-level products with more advanced color controls, the Eye-One Display LT ($169) and Eye-One Display 2 ($249).

Pantone had previously partnered with ColorVision to offer a suite of consumer-level color calibration tools but has since dissolved that partnership, Brown said.