In summary
Easy to use and affordably priced, Eizo’s EasyPIX is ideal for anybody who owns an Eizo monitor and suits users and all levels of expertise. It also covers most situations where accurate and lifelike viewing of images are required.
Full review
Eizo’s EasyPIX combines a colour measurement sensor with proprietary software developed to provide owners of the company’s monitors with a cost-effective way to create professional-looking photo prints and online images. This software has a wizard-based interface and supports three adjustment modes. In all three modes, it creates a colour profile that can be used by editing and printing software.
The EasyPIX hardware and software are supplied in a specially designed box. (Source: Eizo.)
The Hardware
Measurements of colour and brightness are carried out with the EX1 sensor, which comes with an attached USB cable that carries a weight. (Interestingly, this colorimeter shows up on your computer as a Datacolor Spyder3 so if you already have a Spyder3 it’s likely to be compatible with Eizo’s software.) After the cable is connected to the computer (or monitor) USB port, the sensor is positioned on the monitor with the weight suspended over the back of the screen to counter-balance it.
The EX1 sensor with attached USB cable and weight. (Source: Eizo.)
Before using the hardware, you must install the EasyPIX software, which allows all other calibration adjustments to be made. The supplied disk doesn’t contain the latest version. But once it’s installed, you can upgrade to EasyPIX2, which includes a new advanced user hardware calibration mode by going to http://www.eizo.com/global/downloads/software/index.php.
Other improvements in EasyPIX V. 2.0.1 include faster loading time for USB connections, improved adjustment accuracy when changing colour gamut and greater software stability.
The Software
The EasyPIX software provides three adjustment modes: the Hardware Calibration mode for advanced users, the Matching mode that lets users adjust the monitor’s hue and brightness to match photo paper and a Viewing mode that enables users to set the monitor’s colour temperature to 5500 K to match the default setting for many digital cameras or 6500 K to show how images will appear on most web browsers.
In all three modes, the hardware and software together create a colour profile by adjusting the monitor’s brightness visually. You can store all three settings separately and switch between them when you change the purpose of the monitor from, say, viewing images for printing to viewing how they’ll look in a web browser.
When you boot up the software you’re asked to select the purpose for adjusting your monitor and given four options: Matching, Viewing photos, General use such as Web browsing and Calibration (for advanced users). The one you select dictates the screen you’ll see next.
The options displayed when you open the EasyPIX software.
If you choose Matching, the following screen appears and you’re instructed to hold the sensor approximately 25 cm from a sample sheet of the paper you plan to print on. To prevent light shining through and affecting readings, two sheets of paper should be used, one on top of the other.
The Matching screen.
Click on the Measure tab and the EX1 sensor will measure light reflected from the paper. Once this has been done, clicking on the Next button takes you to another screen where you can fine-tune the colour and brightness of the screen until it matches the paper.
Fine-tuning the initial measurements by comparing the white ‘page’ on the screen with the paper you have measured.
Clicking on Next takes you to a measurement screen that asks you to position the sensor over the displayed graphic. When you click on the Next button, a sequence of colour patches is displayed and the sensor measures their brightness and hue values. The sensor must remain in place throughout this process.
Positioning the colorimeter to measure the status of the screen.
The process takes just over 1.3 minutes. On completion, another screen pops up and you’re prompted to enter an adjustment name. The colour and brightness adjustments are shown, along with the adjustment date. The final step is to click on the Apply and Exit button.
Applying the matching adjustment.
A similar process takes place in the Viewing mode, although the only adjustable parameter is the monitor’s brightness. Once this is done and you click on the Next button, you’re taken to the same measurement screen as for the Matching mode and the remaining steps are identical.
The Viewing interface only supports brightness adjustment.
The Calibration mode is a little more complex and involves hardware calibration. This requires you to have some knowledge of colour temperature, gamut and gamma values as these should be set on the first screen of the Calibration wizard.
The first screen of the Calibration wizard.
While the wizard has no specific pre-set for a printing target, it’s easy to select the correct parameters on the basis of your original images and your computer’s operating system. The idea is to match these values as far as possible to the printed output – and that means getting the distribution of colours and tonal levels right (see Calibration Presets below).
Clicking on Next takes you to the measurement screen, which is the same as for the other modes. However, this mode seems to involve more measurements as it took a little over three minutes to measure all the colour patches and produce a profile in the Calibration mode.
Calibration Presets
In the Calibration mode, users can select calibration presets for common tasks that match accepted standards. The standards adopted for the printing industry specify a display temperature (white point) of 6500K and gamma of 2.2.
The colour gamut should be set to match the images you are viewing or printing. Photographs taken with the Adobe RGB colour space, which has a wider gamut than the ‘universal’ sRGB gamut, should be viewed and edited in the same colour space. Images destined for viewing online or on TV screens are best viewed in sRGB.
Eizo has compiled a table of presets that match specific tasks to take the guesswork of out assigning values for users with limited colour management knowledge. We’ve reproduced this table below.
| Task | Brightness | Colour Temperature | Colour Gamut | Gamma |
| See/Adjust Pictures | 80 cd/m2 | 5500 K or 6000 K | Adobe RGB | 2.2 |
| Browse Web | 100 cd/m2 | 6500 K | sRGB | 2.2 |
| Create Documents | 80 cd/m2 | 5500 K | sRGB | 2.2 |
| Watch/Edit Movies | 120 cd/m2 | 6500 K | sRGB | 2.2 |
In our setup we found a colour temperature of 6000K and 2.2 produced on-screen images that were closest to the printed output. We advise each photographer to experiment with several combinations to find the one that best suits their requirements.
Fine Tuning
The software interface also provides a Finely Adjust setting that lets you tweak brightness and colour on the basis of visual assessments.
The Finely Adjust button is circled in red.
Clicking on this button calls up a screen with a reference white area plus brightness and colour adjustments. Each change in the adjustment box is reflected in the reference area.
Fine adjustments.
A similar system can be used to adjust the monitor without a colorimeter, although the results will depend on your ability to gauge colour and brightness and will be neither as accurate nor as repeatable as the calibration produced by hardware plus software.
Preferences
Users are supposed to be able to change some of the automatic settings in the software by right-clicking on the desktop icon. However, despite opening quite a long list of options, the necessary Preferences setting wasn’t among them so we were unable to explore this feature.
Options include setting whether the application will start automatically when the user logs on to the computer, changing the font size and screen design and setting up automatic notification to let you know when the monitor should be re-adjusted. They’re useful features, rather than indispensible ones and the rest of the system worked to specifications.
Conclusion
Easy to use and affordably priced, Eizo’s EasyPIX is ideal for anybody who owns an Eizo monitor and suits users and all levels of expertise. It also covers most situations where accurate and lifelike viewing of images are required.
Buy this device if:
– You require simple and versatile calibration for an Eizo monitor.
– You want full and easy adjustability of screen parameters.
Don’t buy this device if:
– You have a monitor from a different manufacturer.
– You already have a calibration system that delivers good results.
Specs
Systems compatibility: Windows XP or later; Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above
Compatible monitors: FlexScan S2232W, S2432W, SX2461W, SX2761W, SX3031W; ColorEdge CE10W, CE40W, CG210, CG211, CG220, CG221, CG222W, CG241W, CG242W, CG301W
Minimum screen resolution: 1680 x 1050 pixels
Minimum RAM: 1GB
Display requirements: 24-bit colour or higher
Software support: Eizo EasyPIX software
Computer interface: USB (at least 2 free ports required)
Dimensions (wxhxd): 93 x 99 x 33 mm
Weight: Approx. 120 grams
Rating
RRP: $220
Rating (out of 10):
- Features: 8.5
- Ease of Use: 9.0