For some months we have been working on what is the 3rd Generation of our core Colour Engine within LightSpace.
We are always striving to improve our final calibration results, and the 3rd Gen Engine has been a focus for some time.

I am now playing with an early Alpha version of LightSpace CMS with this new Colour Engine, and the results look stunning!

The improvements are over the whole volumetric colour space, so mean all calibration results are greatly improved, but are most notable in the grey-scale accuracy.
(Just because visually grey-scale errors are easier to see.)

We are still a week or so away from a Beta release, but these image show a couple of examples of the present 2dn Gen Engine vs. the new 3rd Gen.



The left hand images are the existing 2nd Gen Colour Engine - the right the new 3rd Gen.
The differences are rather obvious, and translate into measurably and visually far better results!
(And LightSpace CMS is already known as the most accurate calibration system available, so these improvement really are unprecedented!)

Steve

Info update...
We hope to have a new Alpha end of this week - with a Beta Test version soon after.

The change we are making are now far beyond our initial thoughts/expectations, hence the additional delay.
But, we are really impressed with the results we are getting, so it is worth us following this through to the end!

Steve

Another update...

We had a bit of a slow-down over Xmas and New Year, to allow the Dev. team to have a bit of home life
So, a new year, and back on the dev. work for real!

We are now aiming for a new Beta of the new Gen3 Colour Engine (which should be close to a release version) by the end of this week/beginning of next.
We have been running internal Alpha tests over the holiday period, and the results are looking excellent.
(Seriously excellent!!!)

In addition to the Gen3 Colour Engine we are working on 'editable profile points', including the ability to re-read any specific patch!



In the present Alpha the editing is implemented. We are now working on the patch re-read function (finger's crossed, as that is a lot of work...).
This will greatly help 'clean-up' profiles where the odd patch has had issues, and to verify any readings that look 'wrong'.
The patch re-read will also use the present settings for the probe, which can obviously be different to the original settings used for the profile.
(You could actually use a different probe - but that makes little sense...)

One bit of work that may get in the way of our planned schedule is we have an Eizo ColorEdge Prominance CG3145 here for LightSpace integration.
The work required to integrate may cause a bit of a delay in the expected timescales - but hopefully not.

Steve

We have a new Alpha version of LightSpace available for the new Gen3 colour engine.
We have one addition/change to make, which will improve black/near blacks.
(The improvements in the Gen3 Engine have highlighted an issue with the way near backs are handled, which the older Gen2 engine masked.)
That will be re-developed for the final release - of which there may be a 'Beta' version prior to release.

The Alpha includes Point Editing, but not the ability to re-read any specific patch, as that will take a lot more development work.
It is unlikely to make the actual release for this version.
(The development team have slapped me for mentioning it in advance!)

But, the Manual Point Editing in the 'Alpha' build can be used to replace a patch's incorrect data as needed.
Just use the Point Select window to locate the error patch, and note its RGB values, and set the manual sliders to that patch colour and read.
Note the new values and manually enter then into the Point Select window for that patch.

The User Guide is being updated now: https://www.lightillusion.com/profiling_manual.html#point_select
(You may need to use Ctrl+F5 to refresh you browser cache to see the new updates to the page!)

We have also added initial support for Eizo Prominence CG3145 HDR display

To access the Alpha post a request here, with you contact details (or email me directly).

Steve

Hook me up. ;)

Me too!

Another update, with some background information.

We have been working on the new Gen3 Colour Engine for some months - nearly a year in total.
When we announced the work we were of the view were were a few weeks away from a final release.
However, the improvements made at that time have further revealed additional areas of potential improvement, which in turn have revealed yet more areas for improvement... a cyclical process of increasing improvements!

We have been working hard on those additional areas since our first announcement of the Gen3 engine.

Right now, we have a new Alpha available that is extremely close to a final release.
We have some small additional changes still to be made, but this is now virtually finalised.

As always, send a request for access to this new Alpha.

Steve

Hopefully, this will be the last 'update' before we fully release the new Gen3 Colour Engine!

This has been a lot more work that originally expected, as every time we made improvements in the calibration results, another area for improvement was revealed. And we have no intention of leaving anything that could compromise the final results.

Basically, each individual improvement revealed other areas where the results were potentially less than optimal, but were being masked by the previous areas of less than perfect results.

And yet, all independent tests show the existing LightSpace Colour Engine is more accurate than alternative calibration systems...

To define all the different areas where improvements were possible we had to develop a totally new set of 'stress tests' for calibration processing, which included writing new tools to assess each and every step in the process... that has been a lot of work in itself, and required the development of new software tools, as well as synthetic generators to mimic different display issues.

I am presently testing a new Alpha, provided b=y the dev. team last night.
This does look like a serious candidate for full release.

Steve

After a day of testing we are releasing a Beta version of LightSpace with the new Gen3 Colour Engine.
This is now perilously close to a full release, and we would appreciate some additional in-depth testing.

As usual, please contact me (or Ted) directly for a link.

Steve

For all our Beta Testers we have a new 'Beta' available.
This fixes the few issues that have been found, as well as a number of improvements we have added ourselves.
(Too many to to list, but all help predominantly with accuracy and speed of LUT generation, as well as speed of PDF export.)

Please make a direct request for a new Beta Download if I do not get to you first!

Note:
The key changes with the Gen3 Colour Engine are all to do with LUT processing.
The added improvements in the final calibration results really are now to a level where we are fighting the inherent inaccuracy and instability of the probes and display (and potentially the calibration workflow/signal path - see below).
These improvements do mean LightSpace may process the LUT a bit slower than in previous versions, but the time taken should not be excessive.
(Excessive processing time suggests issues with the initial profiling and resulting profile data, so always check that, and if necessary send the profile to us for assessment.)

If the final results are not as accurate as expected it is probable there are issues with the actual profiling/calibration workflow.
We have added a new Error! page to the website to help explain potential calibration issues. Please review that too, as there is very useful information there.

Also, remember that PeakChroma is ideally suited to calibrations where the target colour space is smaller than the profile/display gamut.
However, with the Gen3 colour engine you will now gain very accurate results when the target colour space is larger than the profile/display gamut, but at the expense of potential extended processing times.
When targeting a larger colour space than the profile/display gamut the use of MapSpace is potentially still the better option, and will indeed process faster.

Steve