Light Illusion is the de-facto standard for display calibration and colour management within the Film, Post-Production, and Broadcast industries.

Nothing comes close to Light Illusion's colour management tools.

All displays drift/age, with different display technologies drifting/ageing at different rates.
But all drift/age far quicker than many think...
Therefore, all displays should be verified on a regular basis - every week or two.
The verification should be a volumetric colour profile, and grey check.
(Something like the Memory Colours Quick Profile in ColourSpace.)
And if the verification shows any issues, a full recalibration should be performed.

Unlike alternative calibration systems, such as Calman, ColourSpace licenses are valid for the life of the product (except for Rental licenses), with no annual maintenance or support fees, and includes free Software Updates for the purchased license options for the life of the product.

No, there is no requirement to pay any yearly Support fee, as all software Updates for the purchased license options are free for the life of the product. If Technical Support is required for operational help, etc., the first year is included with the ColourSpace license purchase. Additional Technical Support can be purchased as needed beyond the first year's included support.

Note: Light Illusion has actually never charged for support beyond the first year, as after an initial flurry of questions after initial purchase the simple workflow operation of ColourSpace becomes apparent, with little further support required.

All ColourSpace licenses (other than Rental licenses) include free Updates for the purchased license options for the life of the product.

It is potentially possible to Trade-up from an alternative calibration system to ColourSpace. See the Trade-Up page.

Actually, possibly not.

For those with limited knowledge/understanding of calibration, and with no real interest in learning, it is likely that ColourSpace is not the correct option. A system more aimed at 'Calibration For Dummies' would likely be more suitable, such as Calman, accepting that the results will likely be inferior.

Unlike other calibration system manufacturers we do not provide free licenses to just anyone with a YouTube channel or who publishes displays reviews. Consequently, such reviewers tend to use products that are provided for free, even if they are not the best at defining display issues.

The ColourSpace Rental option is designed for such full testing, and a full refund of the Rental cost is made if a standard ColourSpace license purchase is made within 10 days of the Rental purchase. Additionally, ColourSpace ZRO can be used for basic manual calibration, and testing probe integration.

All ColourSpace licenses with calibration capability can be used for manual TV calibration. The unique Patch Preset function ensures the exact patch values required for any given TV can be used via a simple .csv file. See the detailed Manual Calibration guide, as well as the TV Calibration Patch Sets guide.

The ColourSpace ZRO & DPS licenses are specifically aimed at manual calibration.

Yes, LG TVs with 3D LUT capabilities can be calibrated accurately for SDR use with ColourSpace, either through Direct Integration, which provides a high-level of calibration capability.

Uniquely, LG WOLED TV, can be accurately calibrated for HDR via 3D LUTs with ColourSpace, rather than just generic HDR calibration based on limited profile measurements. ColourSpace can be used to calibrate LG TVs for HDR through Direct Integration.

However, be aware that due to the inherent instability of such display technology, combined with low gamut volume and reduction in colour brightness as input signal brightness increases there are limitations on HDR calibration for WOLEDs.

For more information on HDR Volumetric Accuracy, see the Calibration Issues page of the website.

ColourSpace is unique when used for 3D LUT Calibration as it uses no pre-set workflows or fixed structure step-by-step walk-throughs, making 3D LUT based calibration exceptionally simple. Set-up the display to have minimal internal Colour Management control; Profile the display with a suitable Patch Sequence; Generate and apply the Calibration LUT; Re-profile the display with the Calibration LUT active to verify the final calibration. See the detailed 3D LUT Calibration guide.

The best way to describe Autocal is automated manual adjustments, using an iterative guesstimation approach to making multiple adjustments for any of the available grey scale or colour points. Better results can nearly always be generated via manual adjustments. Consequently, we do not provide any Autocal capabilities within the regular ColourSpace UI, preferring to provide the best possible Manual Calibration tools, as well as the most advanced 3D LUT calibration capabilities.

ColourSpace does include the underlying Autocal capability — we call it Iterate Parameter, because that is what Autocal really is. It is hidden pending the TV-manufacturer API access required to make it work end-to-end. With major retail chains looking to adopt ColourSpace, those API agreements are likely to happen sooner rather than later.

For more information see the What's wrong with Autocal? page.

Yes, any user defined patch set can be used, so long as the patch set matches the Patch Scale and Resolution bit depth to be used, and includes black and white patches that also match the Patch Scale range.

For LUT Generation, user patch sets should contain a Grey Scale and at least one of each R, G, & B patches. The RGB patches should be of the same stimulus value.

For more information see the Patch Scale & Resolution page.

For higher ColourSpace license levels with Multi-Threading capability, native LUT generation can be up to 256^3 and beyond. Far beyond the 33^3 LUT size used in alternative calibration systems, such as Calman.

There are actually not many required specifications for any laptop or PC for ColourSpace, so long as it will run full Windows 10 minimum, and uses OpenGL 3.2, or later, for the graphics.

For the generation of large native LUT sizes beyond the default 33^3 size, as available with higher ColourSpace license levels, the greater the CPU power and number of threads, the faster the LUT processing. Low power PCs may take an impossibly long time to process very large size LUTs.
And while it can be advantageous to have a reasonable amount of RAM, there is no actual set minimum.
You may also want a way to get HDMI out, for direct profiling?

So realistically, just about any of today's PCs or laptops should work.

ColourSpace's Point Adjust feature (available in higher licence tiers) lets you click any erroneous point in the profile graphs — CIE xy, CIE uv, EOTF, Dif EOTF, RGB Balance, Drift — and manually correct it. A yellow tangent line shows the deviation, and changes mirror live across all associated graphs.

Point Adjust also works on the 1D LUT graph for post-LUT correction. This is particularly useful for low-light measurements where re-reading the patch doesn't help, and for any situation where one bad reading would otherwise force re-profiling the whole display.

No equivalent capability exists in Calman, DisplayCal, HCFR or Calibrite Profiler.

ColourSpace supports an extensive range of probes including Admesy, BasICColor DISCUS, Calibrite (i1D3 range), Colorimetry Research, DataColor Spyder (up to SpyderX2), hsg labs, Jeti spectroradiometers, Klein K10-A and K80, Konica Minolta, MYIRO-1, Photo Research, UPRtek, X-Rite, and the in-built probes within selected ASUS ProArt, Dell and EIZO monitors.

Additional probe integration is available via third-party ColourSpace Addons — for example, the Spyder24_4_CS addon (developed by a ColourSpace user) enables Spyder 2024 probes to work with ColourSpace via the SpyderX2 option. This open-architecture approach is one of the practical benefits of ColourSpace versus closed systems like Calman, where third-party hardware integration is not supported.

Note: the LTE and CAL licence tiers, while in the professional range, support lower-end probes only; PRO and above support the full probe range.

See Manufacturing Partners for the full current list.

Yes. ColourSpace's Extended Probe Dynamic Range workflow combines Probe Matching with a cheap external ND filter to extend any low-dynamic-range probe's measurement range — allowing a standard i1Display Pro, Calibrite or similar to accurately measure HDR brightness levels without compromising low-light sensitivity.

This means calibrators don't need to invest in a other high-dynamic-range probes purely for HDR work.

The ND filter approach has been a technical debate point between Light Illusion and Portrait Displays — Portrait Displays disputes that it works; ColourSpace users routinely demonstrate that it does.

Additionally, using ND filters is also a standard workflow for many high-end probe manufacturers, such as Colorimetry Research, Jeti, etc., who provide ND filters themselves. The difference is without ColourSpace's unique ND based workflow such ND filters are really an either/or operation, and do not offer the same dynamic range extension.

For accurate TV calibration — OLED, QD-OLED, LED LCD, miniLED — ColourSpace HTL is designed for this purpose, with direct low-level integration for LG TVs (Light Illusion is an LG partner), TCL TV support via 3D LUT export, and integration with Lumagen Radiance, madVR Envy and Videworks Tetratune.

ColourSpace ZRO is the lowest-cost paid entry point for manual TV calibration.

Any ColourSpace licence with 3D LUT capability can calibrate any projector — there is no separate ColourSpace 'projector version'.

For home cinema projectors, ColourSpace HTL combined with a Lumagen Radiance, madVR Envy or Videworks Tetratune is the standard professional approach. For JVC, Sony and Epson projector integration, third-party plugins are available via ColourSpace's open architecture.

ColourSpace also supports RGB-laser cinema and multi-primary digital cinema projectors.

The Image Sequence Probe (available in ColourSpace PRO, XPT and INF tiers) enables cameras, scanners, telecines and similar devices to function as virtual measurement probes by reading patch image sequences rather than taking direct probe-on-display measurements.

Applications include:

  • Virtual set and LED wall calibration — profiling the entire screen + lens + camera signal path
  • Camera profiling — using a video test chart (DCS Labs, Macbeth, etc.) under controlled lighting to generate the camera's colour response
  • Camera matching — multiple cameras profiled against the same patch sequence for accurate cross-camera matching
  • Telecine and film scanner profiling — reading film transfer outputs as patch images
  • Look LUT generation from camera-captured material

No other calibration system provides equivalent functionality.

Yes. DICOM GSDF calibration is included in every ColourSpace tier with calibration capability — it is not gated to higher licence levels.

ColourSpace is used for medical display calibration in radiology, endoscopy, tomography, ultrasound, dentistry, surgical imaging, microscopy and veterinary applications.

3D LUT calibration via displays with internal 3D LUT capability (such as ASUS, EIZO and other reference monitors) or via an external LUT box materially exceeds traditional grey-scale-only DICOM calibration, by managing colour gamut alongside grey scale. For graphics-card-only setups, ColourSpace's 1D VCGT fallback supports grey-scale-only DICOM workflows.

Yes. The Camera Options module (ColourSpace INF, XPT, PRO and LMN/LGN tiers) generates technically correct Camera LUTs using manufacturer-supplied colour and gamma data.

These technical LUTs are distinct from manufacturer-supplied Look LUTs, which typically contain undocumented manipulations to improve the perceived image. ColourSpace's Camera LUTs let cinematographers and DITs assess true camera capability and build accurate workflows on top.

Controls include Peak Luminance Mapping, Transfer Function, Gamut, Black/White Level Clip, Tone Mapping (None/Low/Medium/High), and Push/Pull Exposure in stops. Supports both SDR target spaces (Rec.709, sRGB, P3) and HDR (HLG, PQ ST2084) workflows.

Yes — ColourSpace fully supports Dolby Vision calibration on LG and TCL TVs, and on any professional or consumer monitor or projector capable of accepting a calibration LUT.

PQ (ST.2084) and HLG HDR workflows are also fully supported.

Custom Filters (available in higher ColourSpace licence levels) are a unique capability that allows the user to define exactly what measurement points are plotted in the profile graphs, using mathematical formulas and ColourSpace-specific tokens.

Tokens include input RGB triplet values (R, G, B), measured XYZ/xy/uv values (mX, mY, mZ, mx, my, mu, mv), target values (tX, tY, tZ, tx, ty, tu, tv), luminance in absolute nits (L), and dE in four flavours (DE_1976, DE_2000, DE_ITP, DE_LUV). Functions include GREY, PRI (primaries), SEC (secondaries), OTHERS and IN_TG (in-target-gamut). Standard comparison and logical operators (==, !=, >, <, >=, <=, &&, ||) combine with full mathematical operators for complex selection criteria.

Practical examples include: showing only grey-scale points with dE 2000 between 0.5 and 1.0; filtering by luminance range for HDR slice analysis; removing low-light points below a brightness threshold while keeping grey scale and primaries; defining a gamut polygon mathematically to exclude all out-of-gamut points; or extracting approximate memory colours from a volumetric profile.

Filtered point selections can be exported as .csv lists, saved as new profiles, or fed into Add/Modify Points workflows. Custom Filters are unique to ColourSpace — no equivalent capability exists in Calman, DisplayCal, HCFR or Calibrite Profiler.

Yes — ColourSpace HTL and HTP have direct closed-loop integration with the major home theatre video processors:

These home theatre video processors act as the 3D LUT holder in the AV signal chain, allowing any TV or projector downstream to be calibrated to professional accuracy with a ColourSpace-generated LUT — without relying on the TV's own internal LUT capability (which most consumer TVs do not have).

Combined with the direct LG TV API integration and TCL USB-LUT workflow, this covers virtually every meaningful home theatre calibration scenario.

FAQ

Comparison with Other Calibration Systems

How ColourSpace compares to Calman, DisplayCal/Argyll, HCFR and Calibrite Profiler.

Calman started as a manual-adjustment tool for home cinema enthusiasts, with no 3D LUT support. LightSpace CMS (the predecessor to ColourSpace) was already providing professional LUT calibration at that point. Calman later added LUT calibration, initially via iterative re-measurement (the same approach as their autocal), and has subsequently gone through several different colour engines.

The current Calman engines are single-measurement-per-patch, but produce noticeably inferior results to ColourSpace — banding being a common user complaint, along with general colour inaccuracy. The most recent, Portrait Displays' Aurora Color Engine, was announced as supporting only "specific displays".

ColourSpace was built as professional colour management from the outset, with a single advanced volumetric colour engine that works correctly on any LUT-capable target — reference monitors, consumer TVs, projectors, LED walls, RGB-laser cinema. ColourSpace is a one-off purchase with free updates for life and no annual fees.

Hundreds of Calman users have switched to ColourSpace after suffering Calman's artefacts and inaccuracy issues; to our knowledge no ColourSpace user has ever switched the other way.

Calman's roots are in enthusiast home cinema, and the prescriptive 'follow these workflow steps' approach reflects that heritage. The Light Illusion view is that this approach — sometimes characterised as 'Calibration for Dummies' — does not produce calibrators who understand what they are doing, and consequently does not produce reliably good calibration.

ColourSpace assumes you want to learn the craft.

This is the core design philosophy that has set ColourSpace apart since its predecessor LightSpace CMS, and it is the single most important difference between ColourSpace and systems like Calman.

Most calibration systems optimise for the measurements — getting the dE numbers down, getting the grey scale tracking flat, getting the gamut points sitting on their targets, and producing a report full of green ticks. The implicit assumption is that good numbers mean good pictures. They do not.

It is entirely possible to have:

  • Excellent grey-scale dE numbers and visible banding in the volumetric colour
  • Low dE at the measured points and gross errors in the colours between them (the inevitable result of small native LUTs with extrapolated larger exports)
  • Perfect numbers on test patches and obvious artefacts on real moving content

ColourSpace is designed to be accurate across the whole displayed image and the entire colour volume — not just at the points a measurement report happens to check. Every architectural decision serves this: native large 3D LUTs so the data is real everywhere rather than extrapolated; a single integrated volumetric engine so there are no hidden errors in the dimensions a user is less likely to inspect; Body-Centred Cube patch arrangement for efficient real coverage of the colour volume; and tools such as Drift, Stabilisation, Custom Filters and Point Adjust that let the calibrator interrogate and correct the real result rather than the headline figure.

Put simply: there is no point having good-looking numbers and graphs if the pictures look wrong. ColourSpace exists to get the picture right.

In 2021 Portrait Displays announced Calman's new Aurora Color Engine with support for "specific displays".

A correctly-generated LUT works on any LUT-capable target. A colour engine that only works on specific displays indicates issues with the engine itself.

Aurora attempts to hide a known issue in Calman's LUT generation — banding and inaccuracy — by separating the grey scale measurement from the volumetric colour measurement during calibration. Most users spot banding and other issues in the grey scale, but miss them in the volumetric colour, so the separation hides the symptom rather than addressing the underlying engine problem.

This is exactly the numbers-versus-pictures problem in action: the report looks better, the picture does not. ColourSpace does not use this separated approach. ColourSpace uses a single integrated profile with one advanced volumetric colour engine that works correctly across all LUT-capable displays.

See Steve's commentary on the Aurora announcement.

Calman's internal 3D LUT generation is 33^3, across every edition including Ultimate. Any larger LUT it exports (65^3, 129^3 and so on) is mathematically extrapolated from that 33^3 internal LUT — the file is bigger but the underlying LUT data is not.

ColourSpace has no internal cap; 256^3 is in routine use, 300^3 has been tested and works, with the practical ceiling being the host PC.

Note: this is the LUT size, not measurement patch count — patch counts are a separate, much smaller number, since no display would remain stable long enough to measure tens of thousands of patches.

ColourSpace profiles the display once, builds a true volumetric model, and derives the LUT from the model — meaning the same profile can generate LUTs for any target colour space or gamma without re-measuring.

ColourSpace can use Body-Centred Cube (BCC) patch arrangements rather than the fixed grid Calman uses. With higher ColourSpace licence levels, the grey-axis patch count is independently configurable from the volumetric BCC cube size — a 14 BCC volumetric (~4,941 patches) can pair with any number of grey-axis patches as required (64, 256, etc.), letting the calibrator allocate measurement effort to where the specific display needs it.

This is a single integrated profile, not a separation of grey scale from volumetric measurement — the two are part of the same coherent profile, with user-controlled density on each axis. ColourSpace also applies sort algorithms that minimise the effect of display drift across the measurement period.

The combination produces materially more accurate LUTs — particularly on non-linear displays such as LG OLED, projectors, LED walls and RGB-laser cinema, and in areas where Calman users commonly report banding and colour inaccuracy.

ColourSpace provides composable profiling tools — Hint, Drift, Augment, Pre-Roll, Stabilisation, Active LUT and Focused Patch Sets — that the user combines as needed for the specific display, rather than baking workflow choices into the calibration process.

Calman All Access is Portrait Displays' annual maintenance fee, required on Calman Studio and Ultimate to keep receiving software updates beyond the first year. If a subscription lapses, the user typically has to pay for the missed years to reinstate.

ColourSpace has no equivalent — all ColourSpace updates are free for the life of the product, with no annual fee, no subscription, and no reinstatement charge.

ColourSpace is currently Windows-only, but runs on macOS via Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion (Windows virtualisation). A native macOS version of ColourSpace is in development and near release.

Portrait Displays have published a paper confirming Calman cannot be used on Mac at all — not even via virtualisation. For Mac users needing professional calibration today, ColourSpace via Parallels is the only working option of the two.

Not natively. The Java Calibration Client TPG (test pattern generator) runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, allowing a Linux machine to act as a networked TPG node within a ColourSpace workflow.

The full ColourSpace application is Windows, or Windows via Parallels/VMware on Mac. A native macOS version is the priority for the development team; Linux is not currently planned.

Calman Ready is a Portrait Displays branding term meaning the display can be connected to Calman for calibration — either via autocal or via 3D LUT loading. It does not specifically indicate autocal compatibility.

Many Calman Ready TVs also have direct ColourSpace integration through ColourSpace HTL or HTP manufacturer-specific licence levels.

LG TVs are calibrated by ColourSpace via direct low-level API integration — Light Illusion is an LG partner — covering SDR, HDR and Dolby Vision. This is closed-loop 3D LUT integration, not DDC.

TCL TVs are calibrated with a ColourSpace-generated 3D LUT loaded via USB stick — see the TCL guide. There is a fundamental issue in TCL's LUT operation that Calman does not address and ColourSpace does, producing materially more accurate TCL calibration.

A few Panasonic TVs have internal 3D LUT capability but are not currently integrated with ColourSpace.

All other consumer TVs (including Sony and Samsung) have no end-user 3D LUT capability — they support manual adjustment only. Autocal is automation of that manual adjustment via TV-manufacturer-specific API access, which is not currently available to ColourSpace. ColourSpace already has the equivalent capability built in — called Iterate Parameter — hidden pending API availability. With major retail chains looking to adopt ColourSpace, those API agreements are expected sooner rather than later.

3D LUTs generated by ColourSpace can also be loaded into external LUT boxes (madVR Envy, Lumagen Radiance, eeColor, Videworks Tetratune, AJA ColorBox) for calibration of any display in the signal path.

Yes. There is a fundamental issue in TCL's LUT operation that Calman does not address and ColourSpace does.

The TCL workflow currently requires exporting a 3D LUT from ColourSpace and loading it via USB stick, rather than the closed-loop integration available for LG, so there is no TCL-specific HTL/HTP licence tier — any main ColourSpace licence with 3D LUT capability can produce the LUT.

Closed-loop TCL integration is something TCL do want to develop. See the TCL guide.

No. Netflix specifies the measurement readings required for delivery; the calibration software used to obtain them is the user's choice. ColourSpace provides exactly the readings Netflix requires.

Older Calman C6 probes have been modified by third parties to work with ColourSpace; the latest C6 version cannot.

The C6 is the OEM version of the i1Display Pro probe with a Portrait Displays paint job, sold at a considerably higher price. The same OEM probe is available rebadged from other display manufacturers, including Dell. The OEM version is generally better than the retail Calibrite i1Display Pro — but the Calibrite is widely available and fully supported by ColourSpace out of the box.

See the i1D3 manual page for direct comparison data across five i1D3 variants including the C6, all measuring the same display.

The Calman G1 is a Portrait Displays product built on the ROC-RK3328-PC micro-PC platform — a clone of the free open-source PGenerator software (which is Raspberry Pi based) ported onto a different ARM single-board computer. It is not a rebadge; it is a separate product.

Reported G1 issues include 6–7 second delays per patch in HDR (a real problem given HDR-induced display drift) and random patch value changes at different resolutions. Portrait Displays removed PGenerator support from Calman to require users to purchase the G1.

ColourSpace supports the free PGenerator directly on Raspberry Pi, along with Murideo SIX-G and SEVEN-G, DVDO AVLab TPG, AJA ColorBox, AccuPel, Lumagen Radiance, madVR Envy, Videworks Tetratune, IS-mini, software TPGs including ColourSpace's own Calibration Client, Dogegen and PatternSpace, direct HDMI from the ColourSpace machine, and the ColourSpace internal pattern generator.

ColourSpace is a fully open system. All data file formats are human-readable, and third-party plugin development is actively supported. Many plugins exist, including community-developed plugins providing JVC, Sony and Epson projector integration.

Calman is a deliberately closed system. Data file formats are encoded specifically to prevent sharing, integration is restricted to Portrait Displays' own hardware (such as the C6 probe and G1 generator), and third-party development is not supported.

This open vs closed architecture is one of the most significant practical differences between the two systems.

Yes, across more manufacturers than Calman Home covers.

ColourSpace LTE and PRO have manufacturer-specific integration levels for ASUS, AEQ Kroma, AJA ColorBox, BenQ, Boland, Brompton, Craltech, Dell, EIZO, FSI (monitors and LUT box), Konvision, LG Pro monitors, Megapixel, Postium and TVLogic.

ColourSpace HTL and HTP have manufacturer-specific integration for LG TVs, Lumagen Radiance, madVR Envy and Videworks Tetratune.

Calman Home is restricted to a narrower set of consumer TV brands.

DisplayCal is a free GUI front-end to the Argyll engine, producing ICC profiles and 3D LUTs. It is a reasonable starting point for someone learning calibration on a budget.

As calibration knowledge grows, users tend to outgrow DisplayCal's engine, probe handling and LUT manipulation limitations and look for a professional system — at which point ColourSpace is the usual destination.

DisplayCal's original development slowed for some years, but third-party development has resumed, including a Python-based version. It remains a viable free option for basic ICC profile generation.

Argyll (ArgyllCMS) is a free, open-source command-line colour management toolkit, and the engine underlying DisplayCal. It is capable but command-line driven and infrequently updated.

For users comfortable on the command line who need free ICC profiling, Argyll is a sensible choice. ColourSpace is a commercial GUI-driven system with a more advanced profiling engine, larger 3D LUTs, LUT manipulation, broader probe and hardware integration, and active development.

Not directly — DisplayCal and Argyll measurement data (they use the same engine and the same files) requires conversion.

In practice this is rarely worth doing: the reason to use ColourSpace is its profiling engine, probe control and LUT generation, all of which require a fresh profile to take advantage of. Users switching to ColourSpace typically re-profile from scratch.

HCFR is a free, open-source measurement and verification tool. It measures display performance and reports the results, but does not generate calibration 3D LUTs — for that, a calibration system such as ColourSpace is required.

HCFR is a useful free starting point for users learning to read measurements. ColourSpace ZRO is the lowest-cost paid entry into ColourSpace and is a suitable next step.

Yes — via ColourSpace's open third-party plugin architecture.

The core ColourSpace application does not include native integration for JVC, Sony or Epson projectors, but community-developed plugins do. This is itself a difference between ColourSpace and Calman: ColourSpace's open system allows third-party extension, Calman's closed system does not.

Calibrite Profiler (also marketed as ccProfiler) is the free software bundled with Calibrite probes — i1Display Pro, ColorChecker Display Pro/Plus, Display Studio. It produces ICC profiles for a single display.

ColourSpace is a full professional colour management system with 3D LUT generation, LUT manipulation, Sub-Space profiling, ACES/ARRI/CDL workflows and broad hardware integration. Calibrite probes work fully inside ColourSpace, and ColourSpace's profiling engine produces materially more accurate results from them than the bundled software.

For users who specifically need ICC profile output, SpaceMan (Light Illusion's dedicated ICC profile management tool) can convert ColourSpace-generated 3D LUTs into highly accurate ICC v4 profiles for use within Photoshop, After Effects, FCP, QuickTime/ColorSync and other ICC-compliant software. This produces ICC profiles whose accuracy is determined by ColourSpace's superior 3D LUT generation, not by the limitations of traditional ICC profiling.

For professional display calibration, ColourSpace is widely regarded as the most capable system available, used by leading broadcasters and post-production facilities including BBC, Disney, Warner Bros., HBO, Sky, ITV, ILM and Park Road Post. Specialist reference monitor manufacturers including FSI, Boland, Konvision, Craltech and Lilliput use ColourSpace for factory calibration. Mainstream manufacturers including ASUS, EIZO and BenQ are Light Illusion partners, enabling end-user re-calibration of their displays with ColourSpace to a level beyond what they themselves are commercially able to deliver at the factory. Postium and TVLogic are also ColourSpace-integrated, with end-user calibration fully supported.

The best choice depends on use case: ColourSpace for accuracy, flexibility and long-term value; Calman for those preferring a fixed step-by-step workflow on Calman Ready TVs; DisplayCal, Argyll or HCFR for free basic profiling or measurement.

ColourSpace is the de-facto standard for grading monitor calibration in film, broadcast and post-production.

Direct closed-loop integration covers ASUS ProArt, Flanders Scientific (FSI), EIZO ColorEdge and PROMINENCE, BenQ, Boland, Konvision, Postium, TVLogic, Dell, AEQ Kroma, Craltech, Lilliput, LG Pro monitors and others. ASUS is increasingly active in the critical-colour market and Light Illusion is closely aligned with their ProArt range.

Specialist manufacturers (FSI, Boland, Konvision, Craltech, Lilliput) use ColourSpace for factory calibration. Mainstream manufacturers (ASUS, EIZO, BenQ) are Light Illusion partners, enabling end-user re-calibration with ColourSpace to a higher standard than the factory calibration their commercial pricing allows them to deliver. Postium and TVLogic are also ColourSpace-integrated, with end-user calibration to professional accuracy fully supported.

ColourSpace has direct closed-loop integration with Brompton Tessera and Megapixel VR Helios LED wall processors, the AJA ColorBox, and other LED wall workflows.

The Image Sequence Probe capability — using a camera as the measurement device — is the only method that provides colour guarantees for LED Volumes, Virtual Sets, and Video Walls, by profiling the entire image capture path: screen, lens and camera.

ColourSpace and its predecessor LightSpace CMS are used by leading post-production facilities and broadcasters worldwide, including BBC, ITV, Sky, HBO, Disney, Warner Bros., Park Road Post, ILM and The Look.

Specialist reference monitor manufacturers including FSI, Boland, Konvision, Craltech and Lilliput use ColourSpace for factory calibration. Mainstream manufacturers including ASUS, EIZO and BenQ are Light Illusion partners, enabling end-user calibration with ColourSpace to a higher standard than their commercial pricing allows them to factory-deliver. Postium and TVLogic are also ColourSpace-integrated, with end-user calibration to professional accuracy fully supported.

See Customers and Manufacturing Partners for the full lists.

Deliberately.

Light Illusion's support style is to educate rather than spoon-feed — pointing users to relevant guides, asking the question that prompts the user to work out the answer, and avoiding 'do this, then do that' instructions that produce dependent users.

Calibration is a craft, and craftsmen who only know how to follow scripts fall over when the script doesn't fit the situation. Users who learn the craft with ColourSpace can solve their own problems and produce reliably accurate calibration across a wide range of displays.

This is a feature of the support model, not an oversight.

Common themes in unsolicited user feedback:

  • "ColourSpace won by a mile" — direct 21^3 LUT comparison on LG OLED, full-day side-by-side test
  • "Your LUTs kick their ass on non-linear displays" — professional calibrator
  • "I bought HTP a few days after buying Calman Ultimate, after reading about ColourSpace and realizing that Calman has a totally different approach that would seem to produce lower quality results"
  • "AutoCal produced nice numbers with low dE's but more or less artefacts with real material — LightSpace and later ColourSpace solved that problem"
  • "This just blows Calman away on so many levels"
  • "It's noticeably snappier on my laptop than Calman"
  • "Calman's workflows are rigid — if you want to do anything outside of the workflow they establish, you have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops"
  • "I must admit I thought I was a good calibrator, ColourSpace has sent me straight back to school" — professional calibrator

AV Magazine independently observed that ColourSpace "manages the probe significantly more efficiently than the competition, thanks to an excellent implementation of the official SDK".

Full unsolicited user comments are at the Light Illusion forums and the ongoing AVS Forum thread.

Questions?

Do you have a question not answered in the FAQs?

steve@lightillusion.com

+44 (0)7765 400 908

We aim to respond ASAP