Tutorial: How to Calibrate Dual Monitors using ColorVision Spyder 2?

I have been using ColorVision Spyder 2 Suite with my single monitor setup Power Mac Dual G5 for years and I was very happy with the Spyder. The Power PC tower served me for years and it was time to retire. I replaced it with the latest Intel based 24″ iMac. Again, ColorVision Spyder 2 calibrates the color on the iMac’s awesome 24″ LED backlighted display perfectly.

I was using the old 20″ Apple LCD display as my secondary monitor with the iMac. Since the Spyer 2 Suite/Express only supports single monitor, I was unable to calibrate the 20″ display anymore.

I copied the profile from my old G5 tower to the iMac and used it as the profile for the 20″ display. The color is off a little bit (due to different video card), but it’s better than using the native default color profile.

Recently, I bought a Dell G2410 24″ LED LCD monitor for less than US$250. The default profile has very serious blue cast and the color is off horribly. The G2410 really cannot compare with Apple’s 24″ LED display (US$224 vs US$899). However, I really need to have the color fixes as much as possible.

ColorVision Spyder 3 Pro and Elite support multiple monitors but ColorVision is asking for US$169 for the Pro and US$249 for the Elite model. The price is really beyond my budget. So here is the little hack to let your Spyder 2 to calibrate on dual monitor settings.

1. Goto System Preferences
2. Goto Display
3. Goto Arrangement
4. Click on Mirror Displays
5. Launch the Spyder 2 software
6. You should see the mirrored display on both monitor
7. Put the Spyder on the secondary monitor instead of the primary monitor
8. Start calibrate!!!