Discussing the Discus

I’ve finally managed to get my hands on a BasICColor DIscus, ours came today just in time for us to show at Focus. The BasICColor DIscus has been designed to be the best monitor calibrator on the market, and barring lab grade instruments, I think it probably is. So far, because all our test monitors are packed up for Focus, I’ve only got to test it on my new MacBook Pro but even with a relatively poor quality screen it’s given an excellent calibration.

The Discus has been designed from the ground up to cope with any kind of display or projector, even difficult LED back lit ones, and to deliver extremely high levels of consistency and repeatability. True it’s not the prettiest of products, but the best ones seldom are. Most colorimeters on the market are necessarily compromised by the need to get to a price point that most customers feel able to pay. The more expensive Spectrophotometers can be more accurate but don’t measure dark blacks very well. The Discus was designed to do the best calibration including dark black levels, for the widest possible range of screens, hence it isn’t cheap at just under £700.

basICColor Discus shown on NEC SpectraView monitor.

It does though have a host of unique features that could make it worth the money to the right kind of customer. It can measure monitors from a distance to account for the way ambient light affects the display, it has a built-in laser for accurate aiming. As new display technologies come to market the Discus can have it’s firmware updated to account for the difference in gamut and backlighting. Each Discus is individually calibrated in the factory and can be re-certified at any time and it has a temperature sensor to compensate for variation during measurement. Also it is already compatible with SpectraView Profiler or can be used with BasICColor’s own Display software.

For those customers who need absolute precision in monitor calibration this precision made German instrument is the answer. Come along to stand K3 at Focus on Imaging at the NEC from Sunday 6th March and see for yourself.

Rob Griffith