The latest versions offer new modules and improvements to color reading.Swiss-based color technology company GretagMacbeth announced last Thursday that it now is shipping the latest versions of its Eye-One color management solutions that offer varying degrees of software and hardware improvements, along with new modules, for creative professionals.
On the hardware side, GretagMacbeth is offering a redesigned Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer, a device that measures the spectral wavelength of color, which goes beyond simply measuring the two-dimensional color value, explained Dan Brandt, GretagMacbeth senior applications specialist for the Americas.
"The Eye-One Pro [provides] the fingerprint of different devices, [such as] cameras, monitors and printers, to determine how exactly they are firing their color. Actually by profiling [these different devices] you can then control the consistency of color to these different devices so that they're very similar or even exactly alike," Brandt said.
This new version of the Eye-One Pro can read 300 color patches in under a minute, twice as much as the original model.
In addition, it comes with Teflon pads that, according to the company, allow for a smoother gliding action than the original model provided and also do not require users to pause at the end of each row.
According to Brandt, the addition of a new firmware-based algorithm has improved the Eye-One Pro's speed and patch-recognition capabilities.
"It allows for simple stuttering or for any missed movements, pretty much whatever we need. Even if you stop in the middle of reading a row of color patches, it does the smoothness for you," he said.
In addition, this algorithm enables the Eye-One Pro to pick up the variabilities each user may have.
For example, the Eye-One Pro can give a consistent color reading, even when one user lacks a steady hand while another stops and starts during the reading of a given row of patches.
GretagMacbeth's latest iteration of its color-management software, Eye-One Match, version 3.2, improves the functionality of the Eye-One Pro by accelerating the measurement speed and enhancing patch recognition.
The software enables the Eye-One Pro to respond to users in both audio and visual modes.
"It can either tell you you're doing a great job and to move on to the next patch, or it can warn you with a series of beeps that you've read the wrong patch or row," said Brandt. "Then it can reread even just a single patch, if that's what you need to do."
Finally, the newly released Eye-One Match Digital Camera Module provides users the means in which to generate precise ICC (International Color Consortium) digital-camera profiles.
An easy-to-use interface gives users the tools to see the effect of different exposure, contrast, saturation and other settings on an image as they are putting together a given profile.
GretagMacbeth is offering the above-mentioned products, along with its Digital ColorChecker SG card, as a complete bundle, called the Eye-One Photo SG bundle.
It retails for $1,595. Users may also buy the bundle minus the Digital ColorChecker SG card for $1,395.
Eye-One Match 3.2 is available as a free update to all current Eye-One owners.
GretagMacbeth also announced that within the next 30 days, it will announce a customer loyalty program wherein users of previous-generation Eye-One Pro units may trade them in for the new, accelerated units.
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