The best monitor calibrator tools

Monitor calibration involves measuring and adjusting the colours on your computer monitor to meet a set standard (see our guide to colour theory). The best monitor calibrator tools include two components to do that: hardware and software. The hardware takes the form of a sprectocolorimiter or colorimeter, which measures your monitor and records colour values, brightness and contrast, as well as other variables. The software takes that data and builds a colour profile for your monitor.

The monitor you use and the setting where you locate it can have a big impact on how your work looks. Every screen displays images differently, so the colours you see on a phone screen, your monitor or a client's monitor will vary. That's because the internal workings of every screen are different (before you factor in the screen settings and ambient light conditions).

This is a big deal for anyone who works in visual arts and design. Most computer screens give a vibrant, dynamic picture, but this isn’t always the best for editing your photos, for example. If you edit images on a monitor that hasn’t been calibrated, you may end up exporting pictures that look oversaturated, muted or have an obvious colour cast when you see them on another screen or on a printed support.

It doesn’t matter which colour space you select on your camera or how you adjust Photoshop’s settings – if the screen has a warm cast or a cool blue cast and isn’t showing you an accurate picture, then any edits you make may be subtly or substantially out.

So which version represents the “true” colour? And will printed materials look like they do on your screen? This is where the best monitor calibrators come in. Technically known as colorimeters, they look at your screen and detect any discrepancies, taking account of how your display actually looks in your office space, whether that's at home, in a co-working space or from a dedicated workspace.

They can then program your computer then programmed to compensate for the colour inaccuracy of your monitor. Calibrating your monitor also means looking after yourself because it helps reduce eye strain during intensive work sessions.

Probably, at least if you aim to work professionally in any visual creative field, be it graphic design, photo editing or videography. Some of more expensive monitors that are specifically designed for creative professionals come with their own monitor calibrator tools included. However, in most cases, you'll need to buy a monitor calibrator separately to enable you to calibrate your screen.

Some downloadable tools claim to be able to do this too, but they can't actually 'see' your screen like the best monitor calibrators. Failing to calibrate your screen can result in work that looks very different when you see it on another screen or printed out. This can be because your monitor had poor colour accuracy to begin with, because output varies over time or because of the impact of ambient light.

All monitors change in colour, contrast, and brightness as they age. Because of this, the majority of the best calibration software suggests you calibrate your monitor (or monitors) every 2-6 weeks. With the monitor calibrators we've listed above, the process only takes around two minutes per monitor.

LCD monitors don’t age or change as quickly as older CRT technology, but you still want to rest assured that colours on your screen are accurate so even an LCD should be calibrated every six months at the very least. For a detailed look at how monitor calibration tools work, see our article on how to calibrate your monitor.

This is a question we sometimes get asked about one of the two major brands in monitor calibrator tools. Basically, yes; the tools that used to be X-Rite are now Calibrite. X-Rite owns a number of subsidiaries, including the well-known colour specialist Pantone. In mid-2021, it split off its monitor calibrator tools into a separate company, Calibrite.

It's a rebranding that caused some confusion among users, but despite being a separate company, Calibrite licences the monitor calibrator tech from X-Rite, so they're described as "powered by X-Rite" and contain the same tech as before.