SpectraViewII™

Consult the Color Critical or the Desktop LCD FAQs or call us at 800-632-4662

Spectraview software is specifically designed to work hand in hand with NEC Displays. The software works seamlessly with a compatible display and supported calibrator for color-critical applications, such as photography, video editing, animation and medical imaging. Using our software will ensure you're getting the most out of your display.

SpectraView is the brand of color-critical technologies including displays, software and colorimeter available from Sharp NEC Display Solutions.

No. The hoods for many models are available as a separate option in the accessories section, or can be purchased from online retailers who sell NEC Professional displays. The part number for the hoods are listed on the corresponding display product page.

Many retailers do not regularly stock the -SV bundle versions and will instead only place an order with their distributor once they have received a customer order. Contact your retailer and confirm that they can order the -SV version.

Our online sales system is updated with stock levels in our warehouse in real time, and may be temporarily low on the item you selected. Either check back the next day or place an order by calling our NEC Pre-Sales directly on 866-632-6673.

If it says "Custom Calibrated for Wide-Gamut NEC Displays" then it is an MDSVSENSOR2.

The SVII-KIT has been discontinued as of February 2009 and has been replaced with the SVII-PRO-KIT. All LCD3090W-BK-SV (LCD3090WQXi SpectraView bundle), LCD2490W2-BK-SV (LCD2490WUXi2 SpectraView bundle), LCD2690W2-BK-SV (LCD2690WUXi2 SpectraView bundle), P221W-BK-SV (P221W SpectraView bundle) include the new SVII-PRO-KIT with the new MDSVSENSOR2. Other bundle models created before February 2009 may include the SVII-KIT, but all bundle models created after this date include the new SVII-PRO-KIT.

The -SV series are the bundles of a display monitor with the SVII-PRO-KIT (color sensor and SpectraView_II software). The naming consists of the monitor model name (LCD2690W2 is an LCD2690WUXi2), followed by "-BK" to indicate the color is black (for models available in colors other than black). Lastly the "-SV" indicates it is the SpectraView_II series bundle.

 Yes. The part number for just the sensor is MDSVSENSOR2 and it is available for purchase directly from NEC.

No. In the US and Canada the display monitor in the "-SV" bundle is exactly the same as if the display monitor was purchased separately. Purchasing the "-SV" bundle is usually slightly cheaper than buying separately.

Yes. Free updates are available for download for customers who have purchased SpectraView. The license key from your original purchase will be required to install and use the software.

Unfortunately no. Before purchasing please be sure to carefully check the latest compatibility information for your system in the README file for the latest version of SpectraView.

For detailed questions regarding SpectraView please use the online feedback form. Support is also available for SpectraView and all other issues by contacting NEC.

We welcome your comments, feedback and suggestions on SpectraView. Please submit them via the online feedback form.

Please contact your NEC sales representative, or submit a request them via the online feedback form.

In SpectraView, de-select the "Calibration On" checkbox. You can also check your user manual for directions to unlock the controls without using SpectraView.

The number of letters visible will depend on the calibration settings and viewing environment. In some cases it may be very difficult to make out the "...NTROL", especially with high levels of ambient light.
(Mac OS only) Verify that the Universal Access visibility controls are not impacting the screen image. These controls must be off. Go to "Universal Access" in the System Preferences, and verify that the "Enhance Contrast" control is set to the minimum or "Normal" setting.

This issue can be caused by the different spectral outputs of the two displays causing the human eye to see color differences differently than the color sensor used to calibrate the displays. In this case the numerical measurements from the color sensor are identical on both displays, but they do not visually match. Manually visually matching one display to another can usually avoid this issue. The basic steps to take are as follows:
1) Calibrate both displays.
2) Pick one of the displays to be a reference. Call this display #1.
3) Select display #2 in SpectraView and open the Custom White Point dialog. Use the Visual Match tool to adjust the white color so it visually matches white shown on display #1.
4) When a visual match is achieved, put the sensor over the measurement area and click Measure. This will enter the value that the sensor perceives into the White Point. Save this as a new Target.
5) Recalibrate display #2 with this new Target. From now on always use the respective Target to calibrate each display.

Go to the "/Library/Receipts" folder and delete the file called "SpectraView_II Installer.pkg". Re-install using the installer application.

Yes. The installer will first un-install any previous version, and must then be run again to install the new version. This ensures that any older files are removed.

Try the the following:
1) Verify that the version of the SpectraView software you are installing supports your display monitor model. New models may require updated versions of the software.
2) Reboot your system after connecting the display to make sure that Windows has detected it correctly.
3) Try using either Windows Update to install the latest drivers for the display monitor, or download and install them from the NEC website.
4) Try updating the drivers for your video graphics adapter.

This error means that the software detected the display, but was not able to correctly communicate with it.
See the User's Guide and README file included with the software and on the NEC website for further information about any specific incompatibilities or issues.

Try the following:

1) Confirm that you have the latest version of the SpectraView software. Support for new models is added in new releases.
2) Confirm that your model of display monitor is supported by SpectraView. See the README file included with the latest version for a complete list of supported models.
3) Confirm that the HDCP CONTENT item on the On Screen Display (if supported on your monitor model) is set to OFF.

Our evaluation of these devices has determined that the accuracy of measurements when used with wide color gamut displays could lead to large color errors. Therefore we do not recommend using this device on wide color gamut displays.

No.

No.

Click here to view a complete list of products that SpectraView_II supports.

Click here for a list of color sensors that SpectraView_II supports.

Yes. Starting with SpectraView version 1.1.00 all Target files are cross platform between Mac, Windows, and Linux. This means it's possible to send Target files to other users on different machines.

If you are using analog (VGA or DVI-A) video then this is not recommended because there can be variances between the analog video signal levels on different machines that can impact the calibration.

It is possible if you are using digital video, but you should confirm that the display is set to the correct mode. (Some settings are video-input and video-resolution specific.)

Confirm that the Gamma Selection is set to "PRG Programmable" and the Color Control is set to "P Programmable" by using the On Screen Display menu.

The ICC/ColorSync file generated on one machine should be located and manually copied to the other machine and associated with the display so that color managed applications are aware of the color characteristics of the display monitor.

When used with the SpectraView software, NEC display monitors store all of the necessary color adjustments internally, including the 10- or 12-bit Look Up Tables. The ColorSync utility switches the display color settings by changing the Look Up Tables in the video graphics adapter. The ColorSync profiles generated by SpectraView contain linear Look Up Tables for the video graphics adapter. Because of this, SpectraView must be used to update the display monitor.

No. SpectraView will automatically regenerate the correct ICC/ColorSync profile for the current calibrated Target settings and install it on your system.

No. SpectraView is targeted specifically at providing the best possible color performance and calibration with the supported NEC displays using hardware calibration. Other displays can be profiled but not calibrated in SpectraView.

For Delta-E values of less than 2 there is almost certainly no need to recalibrate. For values higher than 3 it is important to understand what the cause is and whether it's significant.

The calibration and adjustment process has inherent variability due to many factors such as the repeatability of color sensor measurements, and changes within the display as it is adjusted. The basic accuracy and repeatability specifications for most sensors are +/- 0.002 or higher for CIE xy, and +/- 2% for luminance. These variances alone can give rise to Delta-E values of up to 2 or 3.

When a specific Intensity value is being used for the calibration, the Delta-E value is comprised of the luminance and color differences. Differences in color are much more critical than a difference in relative luminance. Look at the results of the calibration shown in the Information window to determine if the high Delta-E value is caused mainly by a shift in color or in luminance.

High Delta-E values can also occur if a specific Intensity value is being used for the calibration and the display is not capable of achieving the specified Intensity value. The calibration will always aim to achieve the specified White Point, even if the Intensity value could not be reached. If the display can not be calibrated to achieve the specified Intensity value modify the value accordingly.

In some situations, the display Intensity will drift slightly for several minutes after it is adjusted. Since the measured value used to calculate the final Delta-E result is taken up to one or two minutes after the display was adjusted, a higher Delta-E value may be shown, even though the calibration process achieved the specified Target values during the calibration process. Selecting the Extended luminance stabilization time option in the Preferences can be used to try and minimize this effect.

No. SpectraView calculates the Delta-E values using both the luminance and color differences for more realistic and accurate values. Other applications may calculate Delta-E differently.

The manual adjustments will be reset by the calibration process. We recommend that you avoid manually adjusting the monitor after calibration for this reason.

If you feel it is necessary to tweak the display after calibration, create a new Target file based from the measurements of the display after it has been manually adjusted. Then the monitor will be automatically calibrated to that particular set of characteristics the next time it's calibrated. Use the Custom White Point tool to measure and set the white point and Intensity values.

On Windows 2000 and XP:

\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Targets\

On Windows Vista:

\Users\Public\Public Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Targets\

On Mac OS:

/Users//Library/Application Support/Sharp NEC Display Solutions/SpectraViewII/Targets

On Windows 2000 and XP:

\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Config.dat
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Preferences.dat

On Windows Vista:

\Users\Public\Public Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Config.dat
\Users\Public\Public Documents\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Preferences.dat

On Mac OS:

/Users//Library/Preferences/com.necdisplays.SpectraViewII.preferences.prefs
/Users//Library/Preferences/com.necdisplays.SpectraViewII.config.prefs

On Windows 2000, XP and Vista :
\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color

On Mac OS with the "Shared by all users of this computer" setting for the storage selected:
/Library/ColorSync/Profiles

On Mac OS with the "Per user of this computer" setting for the storage selected:
/Users//Library/ColorSync/Profiles

Version 2.1.

These graphs will only show data when the monitor is calibrated to a Target that uses the DICOM response curve. DICOM is normally only used for medical imaging applications.

SpectraView will automatically install the device drivers for the iOne Display color sensor. However it is assumed that if you are using a third-party sensor, then the software that came with it will have already installed the drivers for the device. If you did not install the third-party software then the device drivers will need to be manually installed.

Drivers for all sensors are available on the SpectraView_II CD-ROM or in the \Program Files\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Drivers folder after installing SpectraView (on 64 bit versions of Windows the folder location is \Program Files (x86)\Sharp NEC Display Solutions\SpectraViewII\Drivers).

Yes. The "in the box" video drivers included with Windows 7 do not contain the necessary support for communicating with the display monitor that SpectraView relies on. If you receive a "No communications" error, obtain and install the full drivers directly from the video graphics adapter vendor.

Unfortunately in some cases it may not be possible to calibrate the display directly using SpectraView due to compatibility issues with certain versions of Mac OS or Mac hardware. Such issues are normally out of our control, but we are always working closely with Apple to resolve these kinds of issues as soon as possible. In the interim time, the following solutions may be considered:

1) If possible, calibrate the display on another Mac or PC that is supported. Since the display is hardware calibrated it can be moved to another machine and the calibration will remain valid. Be sure to also copy and associate the ColorSync profile of the display.
2) If the issue is related to a particular version of Mac OS and you have another version of Mac OS installed on another drive partition, restart the Mac with the other Mac OS version, calibrate the display, then switch back to the original Mac OS partition.
3) In some cases, it may be possible to calibrate the display using Windows under Boot Camp on the same machine. If you have an Intel based Mac and have Windows installed on your Mac, try using the Windows version of SpectraView. Note that it is not possible to calibrate the display using Windows running within Mac OS - only Windows running in Boot Camp is supported.
4) Calibrate using a non-hardware based 3rd party calibration package. Such software may have been included with your color sensor or available from the manufacturer's website.

Note: If you are using a MultiSync PA series display, you can connect a USB cable from the host PC to the display (in addition to the video cable), and SpectraView will use the USB connection to communicate with the display, thus bypassing any compatibility issues.

Yes. In the "Information" window, right click within any of the tabs and select "Copy." This will either copy the graph as an image, or calibration information as text, into the clipboard. This can then be pasted into other applications.

Our evaluation of this device determined that the accuracy of measurements when used with wide- gamut displays could lead to large color errors. Because of this, we do not recommend using this device on wide-gamut displays.

Some early production units did not produce acceptable results, but recent production units of the Spyder3 have shown some accuracy improvements when measuring wide color gamut displays.

In general a spectrophotometer provides more accurate color measurements than a "generic" colorimeter does when measuring most displays. However a colorimeter can be specifically calibrated against a lab grade instrument to match a particular type of display, and thus provide extremely accurate color measurements. This approach was taken with the new custom-calibrated X-Rite iOne Display V2 included in the Display Calibration Bundle.

A spectrophotometer can suffer from drift and low luminance noise issues that can cause problems—specifically when measuring and calibrating near black. In general colorimeters provide superior low luminance measurements than spectrophotometer.

Yes, if the spectrophotometer measurement device is an iOne Pro.

The LCD panels used in the SpectraView displays have excellent color linearity characteristics and can be characterized using the much simpler shaper/matrix profiles. Accurate 3D LUT profiles require a minimum of around one hundred measurements (and up to several hundred) to generate the necessary data and offer very little advantage despite the large increase in measurement time. Additionally there are some compatibility issues with various software applications when using 3D LUT type display profiles.

SpectraView can be purchased in several different configurations:

1. Product bundle, with display monitor, color sensor, and SpectraView_II software. (The model name will be the model name of the display monitor, with an "-SV" suffix.)
2. Color sensor and software kit (color sensor and SpectraView_II software). A compatible display monitor must be purchased separately.
3. SpectraView_II software only. A compatible display monitor and color sensor must be purchased separately. This is useful if you already own a supported color sensor and display. Be sure to check that your color sensor model is supported by SpectraView.
4. Color sensor only. A compatible display monitor and SpectraView_II software must be purchased separately. This is useful if you already own compatible display monitor and a copy of the SpectraView_II software and would like to upgrade or replace only the color sensor.

Volume discounts may be available. Please contact NEC Pre-Sales directly on 866-632-6673.

In Canada SpectraView is available directly from CDW, Tigerdirect, and Insight. SpectraView kits can also be purchased by calling our NEC Pre-Sales directly on 866-632-6673.

At this time SpectraView_II is only available for purchase within the US and Canada. In Europe please contact your regional NEC sales office for information on what calibration options are available. In Japan SpectraView_II is sold under the SpectraNavi name.

Yes. The SpectraView_II calibration system is developed by NEC and optionally includes an NEC branded X-Rite iOne Display V2 color sensor. SpectraView_II can be used with any supported display model and is sold both as a complete kit bundled with a display, and as an add-on product.

In Europe SpectraView Profiler includes a display monitor with hood, custom calibration software developed by basICColor, and each display is individually certified. It is not possible to purchase and use the SpectraView Profiler software with a non-SpectraView Profiler display.

The new SVII-PRO-KIT includes the MDSVSENSOR2, an NEC branded X-Rite iOne Display V2 color sensor that is custom calibrated for increased measurement accuracy with our wide color gamut displays such as the LCD2690WUXi, LCD2690WUXi2, LCD3090WQXi, and P221W. It is backward-compatible with standard color gamut displays. The SVII-KIT included an NEC branded X-Rite iOne Display V2 but did not have any custom calibration.

Yes, however the custom calibration for NEC wide color gamut displays will not be available. Only the standard calibration is available.

No, it's not available at this time.

No. The software license allows you to use multiple NEC displays connected on one machine, and also multiple machines connected to each display.

Yes, but it is currently limited to customers with large installations of NEC display monitors. To learn more, please submit a request using the online feedback form.

Yes, but you will not be able to display the full native resolution. These displays require a Dual Link DVI connection in order to support the full resolutions of 2560x1440 and 2560x1600 respectively. A Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable or dongle can also be used to connect to the DisplayPort input.

The ColorMunki service must be disabled. See the SpectraView README for details.