spectro/dispread 

Summary

Display test patches on a monitor, read the colorimetric value result with the colorimeter, and create the chart readings file.

Usage

dispread [-options] inoutfile
 -v               Verbose mode
 -d               Print debug diagnostics
 -c comport  Set COM port, 1..N (default 1)
 -a               Run calibration
 -i 92|SO      Select target instrument (default DTP92)
                   92 = DTP92, SO = Spectrolino
-k file.cal      Apply display calibration file while reading
 -s               Save spectral information (default don't save)
 -n               [X11 only] Don't set override redirect on test window
 inoutfile      Base name for input[.ti1]/output[.ti3] file.

Examples

dispread -c1 -i92 mycrt

Comments

This is the utility for exercising a display, in order to measure its color characteristics. The device test colors are defined by the outfile.ti1 file, while the resulting device+colorimetric and optional spectral readings are stored in the outfile.ti3 file. Display calibration curves can be applied during the measurements, and the curves included in the resulting .ti3 data file using the -kflag. See dispcal for information on how  to calibrate the display before profiling it.

The -v flag reports progress information.

The -d flag causes serial communications diagnostics to be printed to stdout. This can be useful in tracking down why an instrument can't connect.

The instrument is assumed to communicate through a serial communication port, and the port can be selected with the -c option, if the instrument is not connected to the first port. If you invoke dispread so as to display the usage information (i.e. "dispread -?" or "dispread --"), then the discovered serial ports will be listed on Windows and Mac OSX systems.

The -a option runs through the black and sensor relative calibration routines for the Xrite DTP92 instrument. If a Spectrolino is being used, then a white calibration will always be performed before the instrument can be placed on the display.

By default dispread expects to use an Xrite DTP92 CRT instrument, but the GretagMacbeth Spectrolino can be selected by using the "SO" argument to the -i option, for use on either a CRT or LCD type of display.

By default only the colorimetric information (XYZ value) will be saved, but for instruments that support spectral readings (such as the Gretag Spectrolino), the -s option will save the spectral readings to the .ti3 file as well.

If a display video lookup table calibration .cal file is provided, it will be applied to the display while the measurements are being taken, and also included in the resulting .ti3 data file, so that profile can include it as a vcgt tag in the resulting profile.  The calibration file has usually been created using dispcal.

When running on a UNIX based system that used the X11 Windowing System, dispread normally selects the override redirect so that the test window will appear above any other windows on the display. On some systems this can interfere with window manager operation, and the -n option turns this behaviour off.

The final parameter on the command line is the base filename for the .ti1 input file, and the .ti3 output file. dispread will add the .ti1 and .ti3 extensions automatically.

If a large number of patches is being read, the screensaver on many systems can interfere with the operation of dispread. It is therefore advisable in these cases to manually turn off the screensaver before commencing the measurements.