Introducing the ColorHug![]() | The ColorHug is an open source display colorimeter. It allows you to calibrate your screen for accurate color matching.
| The ColorHug is a small accessory that measures displayed colors very accurately.It is held on your display and plugged into a spare USB port on thecomputer for the duration of the calibration.
Have you ever taken a photo and wondered why it does not look the same on your screen as it did the camera?
It's probably because the LCD display on your computer has never beencalibrated. This means colors can look washed-out, tinted with certain shadesor with different color casts.
About 2 years ago I began working on color management in Linux.It soon became apparent that there was no integrated color management system. The color management support which did exist was often disabled by default in many applications.I have worked hard to make calibrating displays easy ever since.It is my goal to make color management accessable to end users.The hardware for color managing screens was bulky, slow and expensive.With a background in electronics, I thought I could create a device which was smaller, faster and cheaper.
Using the ColorHug it takes about a minute to take several hundredmeasurements from which the client software creates an ICC color profile.This color profile file can then be saved and used to make colors lookcorrect on your monitor.
Competitor ComparisonHow do other products compare?
| Hughski ColorHug | Datacolor Spyder Pro | Pantone Huey | X-Rite ColorMunki | Screen calibration | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Printer calibration | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Self calibration mode | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Ambient capture | (Lux and XYZ) | (Just Lux) | (Just Lux) | (Lux and XYZ) | Supported calibration matrices | 64 flash (LCD, CRT, Projector + 5 reserved types) | 2 fixed (LCD and CRT) | 2 fixed (LCD and CRT) | n/a | Compatible display technologies | LCD, LED | LCD, LED, CRT | LCD, LED, CRT | LCD, LED, CRT, Projector | IR filtered | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Licencing | Open source | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Speed to measure 400 samples | 80 seconds | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 3 minutes | Client software support | Linux | Microsoft Windows | Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX | Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX | Price (including tax) | £60* | £90 | £115 | £280 |
*There is a currently a 20% developer discount (so the price you pay is £48).This is on the understanding you're helping out testing the hardware andsoftware and it might be a bit more complicated than just plug-and-play.You will always be able to update the firmware to the latest versions asthe software is improved. The above table demonstrates how the Hughski ColorHug compares to othersimilar products on the market.The key advantages are the speed at which it measures samples, the opensource licence which means you can access and change the code, and thelower price.The low price is achieved from using commercial off-the-shelf componentsand free software. The Hughski ColorHug packs a huge amount of functionality into such a small size. It's just 32mm wide, 43mmm tall and 21mm deep.
How it worksThe Colorhug contains a color sensor with 64 pixels - 16 red, 16 blue,16 green, and 16 clear.Each different color sensor effectively counts photons, and so bycounting the number of photons there are for each sensor we can work outthe true color shown on the screen.This photon count is converted to an XYZ color value by the processor onthe ColorHug and the set of measurements can be processed into an ICCfile.The colorhug takes just 16 seconds to sample 400 colors and performs anorder of magnitude faster than it's competitors.
There are no Microsoft Windows or Apple OSX drivers included withthis product.You can use the LiveCD sent with the device on any modern PC or use thebuilt in software available in Fedora 16 or newer.The display.icc file can then be saved and used with Linux,Mac or even Windows.
What do I get with my order?- ColorHug device with 5 year warranty
- Linux live CD with all required software
- 2 meter USB cable
What if my ColorHug stops working?- Check the device is plugged in!
- Check dmesg to see if the device is detected, if so check the permissions on the USB device.
- Check the LEDs briefly flash when the device is plugged in.
- Use a different USB cable to the one supplied in order to check whether the cable is at fault.
If the device does not work, or is otherwise faulty please email us for advice. If we agree that the ColorHug is faulty and you return it to us then you can request a full refund or a replacement device
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