JVC Autocal Software V12 calibration for 2019 RS1000/RS2000/RS3000/NX5/NX7/NX9

[Noumenon]

This is a super helpful thread, thanks for all the hard work that went into it.

For the life of me I cannot get the JVC autocal software to connect to my spyderx. It connects to my ipro2 just fine. I can use the datacolor software in windows without any issues. I've made sure to kill all the datacolor software before starting the jvc software, but no luck. I even uninstalled the datacolor software, but that hasn't helped. It looks like it just uses a standard windows USB driver, and I haven't found any other drivers online.

Any ideas?

thanks

[Manni]

This is a super helpful thread, thanks for all the hard work that went into it.

For the life of me I cannot get the JVC autocal software to connect to my spyderx. It connects to my ipro2 just fine. I can use the datacolor software in windows without any issues. I've made sure to kill all the datacolor software before starting the jvc software, but no luck. I even uninstalled the datacolor software, but that hasn't helped. It looks like it just uses a standard windows USB driver, and I haven't found any other drivers online.

Any ideas?

thanks

Which version of the JVC Autocal are you using? It needs the latest V12 to work with the Spyder X.
Apart from that, no idea...

[Noumenon]

Yes, version 12. I’ve gotten it to work on my Mac with VMware fusion, but running it natively on windows (on a dell laptop) won’t work. 

[Manni]

Yes, version 12. I’ve gotten it to work on my Mac with VMware fusion, but running it natively on windows (on a dell laptop) won’t work.

Which OS version in VM Ware and on the Dell? If you look at the driver loaded for the X, is it the same on both OS?

V12 works fine with the X on my MBP 13 2018, so it does work natively.

[Noumenon]

I'm using windows 10 on both. The driver just comes up as WinUSB device on both. I'm at a loss.

[jj-34]

I'm using windows 10 on both. The driver just comes up as WinUSB device on both. I'm at a loss.

That's it, with the spyder X there's no dedicated driver, it just uses the generic winusb one.

[mikiela]

I decided to pick up an ES2000 (i1Pro 2) for a proper color calibration in Autocal.  If I read the notes correctly, I should be able to use the Windows 10 driver...correct?  Is there a recommended mount for it?

[Manni]

I decided to pick up an ES2000 (i1Pro 2) for a proper color calibration in Autocal.  If I read the notes correctly, I should be able to use the Windows 10 driver...correct?  Is there a recommended mount for it?

Hi Mikiela,

I have posted a few posts/pages back the driver I use. I can’t remember if it’s the Windows one or the one installed by Calman.

Spectracal (now Portrait Display) used to sell a good tripod mount for the i1pro2, that’s the one I have. Otherwise you can easily make your own using a phone holder (the kind with arms that clips on the side).

The i1pro2 might also come with a table mount that can be used as a tripod mount if I remember correctly (and if the ES2000 ships with the same accessories).

if you google it, you’ll find lots of options.

[SirMaster]

I’m almost positive the 2009 driver comes with Calman as I have never seen where to get that driver and I have also never installed Calman. 

The 2006 driver is the one from the X-Rite website and both work fine with autocal. 

[jj-34]

I’m almost positive the 2009 driver comes with Calman as I have never seen where to get that driver and I have also never installed Calman.

The 2006 driver is the one from the X-Rite website and both work fine with autocal.

I have the 2009 driver too and do not have Calman, but I have installed the x-rite i1 Pro2 self diagnostics maybe that is where the driver came from

[Manni]

I have the 2009 driver too and do not have Calman, but I have installed the x-rite i1 Pro2 self diagnostics maybe that is where the driver came from

I've installed the i1pro2 diag too, so it could well come from there. I honestly don't remember where it comes from, but if SirMaster installs the  i1pro2 diags and finds he has the 2009 driver, we'll know for sure

[Manni]

I've run some tests this week-end and I can confirm a few important things re the JVC Autocal. Nothing new here, but some recent claims made by trustworthy sources had caused some confusion so I wanted to double check.

All the tests below were done after a restore of the INIT file to put all the calibration tables back to their factory state. The PJ (RS2000) has nearly 1100 hours on, so there were significant before/after differences which made it easy to spot the effect of the Autocal.

All the measurements were taken with my Discus trained to the i1pro2 in Calman Ultimate.

All the gamma autocals were done with the Spyder X, all the color autocal were done with the i1pro2.

Here we go:

1) There is only one range for gamma Autocal per filter/lamp combination. I measured gamma with the iris open and with the iris at -7, I did a gamma autocal with the iris set to -7 (which is part of the -4 to -7 range), and it definitely corrected the 0 to -3 range as well. If you run different gamma calibration for the same lamp/filter setting at different iris ranges, you simply replace the last one. This is the case even if you select "Individual" for the gamma autocal. There is definitely only one gamma range per filter/lamp combo, at least on my rs2000 (like on all my previous JVCs supporting Autocal). However, and this might be what might have led some to the conclusion that there might be more than one gamma range, the gamma calibration is usually most accurate at the iris setting you run the gamma Autocal for. If I calibrate with the iris fully open, gamma with iris fully open will look better than gamma with the iris at -12. If I then run a gamma autocal at -12, it will look better at -12, but will probably make iris open look worse as it has replaced the previous calibration. This is why, if you can run a gamma calibration at your iris setting without getting zero readings for the lowest step in R, G or B, it's preferable to do so. Iris open is only recommended to max the brightness hence limit potential issues near black. I usual run the gamma Autocal at -12 for my Rec-709 calibration, and iris open for my DCI-P3 calibration, and I don't have any issue, even with the Spyder X facing the screen.

2) Gamma Autocal has no effect of peak brightness. Again, no surprise here. The only (and significant) effect on brightness comes from the color Autocal. So as far as I can see, the Spyder when used only for gamma autocal can't cause a brightness drop. There shouldn't be, from this respect, a difference between the 5 and the X, except that the X is two times faster. I therefore still highly recommend the X for gamma Autocal.

3) Color autocal can maximise peak brightness, but not always. With my SDR Rec-709 calibration (-12, no filter), I lost a bit of brightness with the color autocal (55nits to 53). With my SDR DCI-P3 calibration (filter, iris open), I gained 10% (102 nits to 112 nits). This is obviously comparing the pre-autocal brightness with 100% white set to D65 manually, and the post-autocal brightness with 100% white fine-tuned to D65.

4) Some calibrations need more corrections than others, even if the i1pro2 is used for color Autocal. After my DCI-P3 calibration, I only needed -2 on blue. After my rec-709 color calibration, I had to make larger adjutments, around -6/-7 for both red and green. Both color autocals were made with the i1pro2 facing the screen, so I have no idea why it was more accurate with the DCI-P3 than with the rec-709 one, but that's what happened. All the meters (Spyder X, Discus, i1pro2) were around 2 feet from the screen. Usually, I have them around 1 foot. It didn't seem to make any difference. I have a different meter profile for the Discus for each calibration, and I double checked with the i1pro2 direct, it was the same.

5) I recommend to do the color Autocal first. I got better results after running color (i1pro2) and gamma (Spyder X) a second time (I did measure in between to see what did what).

6) At least in my set-up, the Spyder X facing the screen has no issue reading the points near black for a 33 point gamma autocal, even with the iris set to -12 in my rec-709 calibration. So I don't see any superiority here for the Spyder 5 facing the PJ. The X is not only faster, it's also more sensitive near black, so at least here it seems to compensate enough. 

7) You need to use full patterns when fine-tuning after a color Autocal. The pattern size has an impact on both the peak brightness and RGB balance. So as the JVC Autocal uses full patterns, you need to use full patterns when fine-tuning. Otherwise, you are most likely overcorrecting and losing brightness unnecessarily. Your peak brightness when measuring with full patterns will likely drop a bit compared to using 25% windows, but as you won't be overcorrecting the gains you will actually gain brightness. The other advantage of using full patterns with the JVCs is that it reduces the chances of reading some black if the meter FOV is wider than the pattern size, which can introduce errors. It also makes it less necessary to match the meters FOV, unless there is a strong uniformity issue on the projector, which isn't the case on mine.

I hope it helps. As always, YMMV as it might be different if a screen is larger / with less gain and the black floor is lower, but this is what I observed here.

[TCramer]

I hope it helps. As always, YMMV as it might be different if a screen is larger / with less gain and the black floor is lower, but this is what I observed here.

I noticed you did DCI-P3 and it was fairly accurate.  Did you do a new 2020 calibration and if so, how was that, or what's the reasoning for doing P3?  With the filter, doesn't it use the 2020 color profile and without, doesn't it use the HDR profile?  Or is this because you aren't using Frame Adapt but rather a MadVR?

My white balance is all over the place after auto-cal with 2020.  I need to adjust all gains/offsets in some fashion, some as much as 15 clicks.

[SirMaster]

I noticed you did DCI-P3 and it was fairly accurate.  Did you do a new 2020 calibration and if so, how was that, or what's the reasoning for doing P3?  With the filter, doesn't it use the 2020 color profile and without, doesn't it use the HDR profile?  Or is this because you aren't using Frame Adapt but rather a MadVR?

My white balance is all over the place after auto-cal with 2020.  I need to adjust all gains/offsets in some fashion, some as much as 15 clicks.

I feel like something is going wrong if you have to adjust the white balance that much after an autocal. 

I have autocal’d 8 projectors and the dE across a 20-point white balance measurement after autocal is never more than 3 dE off anywhere. And the gamma is never more than 0.05 off target. 

[Manni]

I noticed you did DCI-P3 and it was fairly accurate.  Did you do a new 2020 calibration and if so, how was that, or what's the reasoning for doing P3?  With the filter, doesn't it use the 2020 color profile and without, doesn't it use the HDR profile?  Or is this because you aren't using Frame Adapt but rather a MadVR?

My white balance is all over the place after auto-cal with 2020.  I need to adjust all gains/offsets in some fashion, some as much as 15 clicks.

I don't do 2020 as I don't need the JVC DTM anymore, now that I have an Envy Extreme. P3 is only an option if you use madVR/Envy/Radiance Pro. Tonemapping to P3 in that case makes more sense on a projector natively limited to P3, especially if you use a 3D LUT, otherwise you are more likely to end up with posterization.

As a result, I only calibrate my rec-709-nf user calibration (rec-709, no filter, iris -12, low lamp, 6500K, gamma 2.4) and DCI-P3-F user calibration (DCI-P3, filter, iris open, low lamp, 6500K, gamma 2.2).

Consumer sources don't support P3, only rec-709 or BT2020.

If you need more than a few clicks on two gains to set 100% white to D65 after a color calibration with the i1pro2 (it doesn't matter which calibration, 709, P3 or BT2020), something is wrong. -6/-7 for R+G gains on my rec-709 calibration is a lot, and I can't really explain it. -2 on B for my DCI-P3 calibration is more typical of what I would expect. Of course, you shouldn't be using a Spyder for color autocal, because there is no way to know its accuracy (unless you've corrected it with a reference spectro using the spreadsheet method). If you do use a Spyder for color, you might have to do a lot of adjustment post calibration, hence lose a lot of brightness in the process. Much better to restore the INIT file and set the white point manually with a better meter.