Datacolor ColorFacts Professional

ColorFacts Professional New Features

1. Signal Generator Integration

With ColorFacts Professional, you can plug your signal generator into your computer, and ColorFacts will take control of it and "drive" for you.  Whenever a test pattern is needed, ColorFacts will use your signal generator to create it, automatically measure it, and display the corrections necessary to calibrate the display with nothing further for you to do but make the necessary adjustments.  The integration is seamless and effortless.

All of the ColorFacts Wizards now have the option to use your signal generator to create the test patterns, fully automating the analysis of the display.  For more information on this feature, see the ColorFacts and Signal Generator Integration page.

2. Primary Color Measurement and Calibration

While ColorFacts is great for gray scale calibration, it is now also great at calibrating all other colors as well.  Primary colors can easily be compared with any selected reference.

Here the HDTV reference coordinates are displayed as diamonds containing crosshair centers, and the actual display being measured is plotted as dots.  The actual display is "Highlighted" in a brighter foreground to make it easy to quickly gauge display performance against the reference.

3. Secondary Color Measurement and Calibration

In addition to measuring Primary Colors (Red, Green and Blue.  See above.), ColorFacts Professional will also measure and compare Secondary colors as well, to ensure that the entire color gamut is being reproduced properly.

A common display calibration error (often from the manufacturer) is to position the Secondary colors (like Cyan) equidistant between its two neighboring Primary Colors (Blue and Green).  It is easy to see if this error is present, and correct it, with ColorFacts Professional.

4. Bias and Gain Calibration Assistance

With just a single keystroke, you can:

1. Display a test pattern (this feature is also integrated with your signal generator)
2. Take a reading with your attached hardware
3. And display the corrections necessary to reach the target.

Two separate keystrokes (F7 and F8) allow you to easily jump back and forth between the High and Low ends of the gray scale quickly and easily, saving you valuable time and making it easy to bring both ends of the gray scale into range.  Both the High and Low setting values are configurable, and you can choose to display the test images full field or in a frame.
 

5. New DLP Cinema Color Reference

The DLP Cinema P7 Version 2.0 color reference is the latest ColorFacts reference space selection, designed for commercial cinema projection based on Texas Instrument's DLP technology.  This color space has a slightly hexagonal shape, with the Secondary colors shifted slightly outside of their predicted locations if this were a strictly triangular space.  The white point is designated to be a rather interesting coordinate (x=.314,y=.351, CCT=6300 Kelvin)

For the DLP Cinema space, we suggest taking a look at the PhotoResearch PR-650 Spectracolorimeter or the Minolta CS-100A Chroma Meter, both fully-supported in ColorFacts.

6. Perceptually Uniform Color Space

In addition to the default 1931 CIE Chart (with x,y coordinates), the CIE Chart can be viewed in the perceptually uniform 1976 u*v* space.  This can be valuable so that relative distances on the CIE Chart all have the same perceptual difference to the human eye.

This feature will particularly be of interest to display device reviewers and editors.

7. New Test Patterns

In addition to the patterns already present in the ColorFacts Test Patterns program, the latest version of this companion application now contains built-in patterns for adjusting Sharpness and Tracking / Phase.

Test patterns that are accessible through your signal generator are also now available (see item #10, below).

8. PhotoResearch PR-650 Support

ColorFacts now directly connects to and controls the Photo-Research PR-650 Spectracolorimeter, including full spectral scan graphing.  Simply connect the proprietary communication cable that comes with your PR-650 to the computer running ColorFacts, and the software will do the rest.

Contact Datacolor if you have a colorimetric measuring device that is not supported by ColorFacts.

9. New Upload Wizard

The New ColorFacts Upload Wizard will take the graphs of your calibration and place them on the ColorFacts public web site.  With the URL of the graphic in hand, you can easily e-mail the location to your customers, view the graphics with your browser, or post the graphs to Internet forums.

10. Signal Generator Test

The ColorFacts Test Pattern program becomes even more powerful if you have a signal generator.  The Test Pattern program will automatically list the test patterns available in your signal generator for instant selection, grouping items into convenient categories as appropriate. 

Simply click on the menu item for the pattern you wish to view, and the Test Pattern program will tell your signal generator to display it.

Summary

ColorFacts Professional continues down the path started with ColorFacts 1.0 of offering a fast, intuitive, fully-capable calibration system.  After all, the most valuable commodity invested in the calibration is your time, and your tools need to be able to maximize that commodity, by not only making the system richer in terms of features, but by positioning those features so their value is maximized and their usage is intuitive.