brian_p wrote:It seems strange that the G20's black level measured as high as .04 cd/m2. An American pro calibrator just measured the initial minimum luminance of an S2 at .02 cd/m2. (As we now know is typical of Panasonic plasmas, the mll has increased in the hours since that measurement was taken.) What equipment was used to get that measurement of .04 cd/m2? Do you know how many hours the G20 had been on when you measured?
I don't know exactly why but it could be some minor changes between the US and EU models. The difference from .04 to .02 cd/m2 is not huge, though. It's still not KURO blacks.
We use a hardware calibrator that has been re-calibrated by a very expensive calibrator. The hardware has been manufactured by Gretag (Gretacoder Data Systems) and was called eye one pro. Gretag was sold to X-rite some time ago but back in the days I had a chance to go to the Gretag headquarter in Switzerland because my uncle was working there and had a chance to see the differences between different calibrators. I'm not saying that hardcore equipment like the very expensive Minolta is not worth it but the differences are not that huge.
On the other hand I agree that calibrators such as the Spyder should not be used by pros or for graphical work. Calibrators like the Spyder are fine for most consumers but not accurate enough for critical tasks.
I have been working a lot with pro graphic PC monitors as well so I have tried quite a few calibrators over time. I still like my Gretag very much so I have decided to keep that.
I performed several readings. Some in bright daylight, some in our calibration room that is completely dark. The measurement posted in the review has been made in the calibration room. I took some measurements out-of-box (after a short start-up period) and some measurements after about 100 hours. I never made it to 600 hours, though.
I still have the G20 here and it has been running for a long time now so I'm very eager to see if anything changes. Sure, I'll keep you guys updated
Also, we used the same calibrator on G10. So you should be able to compare these. It's harder to compare measurements from different calibrators.