Inspiring

Question

Datacolor Spyder Pro color profile constantly switching on and off

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
October 9, 2018
9 replies
17071 views

I have an old Spyder4 Pro puck and software installed on Windows 10, with the color profile loaded, and I noticed on both of my notebooks since the last fall Windows 10 update that the color profile keeps loading and unloading itself every 30 sec to 1 minute. I contacted Datacolor support and someone said this has to do with Windows 10 USB, bluetooth, and power management constantly resetting the LUT table in the video card.

Does anyone else have the same problem, or found a solution?

I was wondering if the newer Spyder5 software would help, so I placed an order for a new kit.

FAQ

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hermanr24740578

Participant

Had a similar issue where after calibration with Syder 5 pro, the screen showed the new calibration results for a few seconds and then it would switch back to the default colors. It turned out to be that a had in the past installed DisplayCAL and it would also run in the background. Both Spyder5 and DisplayCAL were grabbing the calibration process, but the results were defaulting back to normal display. As soon as I turned off DispalyCAL and reloaded the Spyder5 calibration, it stuck. I'm back in business again.

D-Mac3

Participant

I've experienced this issue since mid 2017 on Windows. I've been using DisplayCal for the past 3 years and I have it set to automatically reload the calibration curves. It checks every few seconds, so there's a distracting flicker every now and then. This DisplayCal setting is still required even when an app such as Lightroom 5 is running. Yes, I've restarted my PC and scanned for viruses. Yes, I've updated my NVIDIA drivers and Windows a time or two over the past 3 years. The issue is not due to any Adobe product flaw; it's some sort of longstanding design feature of Windows which is apparently here to stay. This doesn't happen on my Macbook, for what it's worth.

hilaryw60473160

Participant

I have had a SpyderPro 5 calibration tool that has alwasy worked fine with my Dell laptops. I switched to a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 and now I'm having this problem as well. It also won't load the calibration profile into the video card. Not good... The flickering is annoying as well.

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natalied64128099

Participant

I have had the same issue in photoshop with my spyder elite. Everytime I move an object or zoom in and out it reverts to the old calibration and than changes back. But I have to move the mouse in the right spot. It's so weird. I need help

ryans51875678

Participant

Not sure if you have sorted out your issue, however I have followed these instructions. Doesn't solve the issue, however the profile changes become a quick flicker, rather than 30 seconds to 1 minute.

https://support.datacolor.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/1778/0/why-on-some-windows-10-laptops-the-calibration-will-be-unloaded-and-reloaded-randomly

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Anonymous

Have the EXACT same issue.

Plugin USB, HDD spinup, mouse etc even nothing and the calibration drops. I either wait 60 seconds or right-click and enable calibration once again.

It also happens each and everytime I enter BRIGDE (which probably has to do with something looking at drives etc)

Surface Book 2 AND Lenovo Yoga 910

D Fosse

Community Expert

Is this a laptop with dual video cards? Don't forget that the LUT is loaded into the video card - so if there are two, all kinds of confusion could happen. For Photoshop, Adobe recommends to disable one of them (it can also cause crashing and other problems).

Not a lot of people understand the distinction between profile and calibration, so when those other sources talk about "profile", read "calibration LUT". None of this applies to the profile as used by color managed applications. This is an issue between Windows and your calibration software.

And of course, high-end monitors avoid the whole problem by doing all these adjustments directly in the monitor's internal circuitry, instead of in the video card.

D Fosse

Community Expert

The Displaycal thread seems to indicate the problem is associated with integrated Intel GPUs.

In any case, something keeps resetting the video card to linear response, and then the loader kicks in to restore the adjustment.

I've never experienced anything like this myself, so I'm not sure I have anything more to contribute. The sequence of events happening seems clear, but I have no clue what could cause it.

D Fosse

Community Expert

The confusion here is probably monitor profile versus calibration LUTs. Those aren't the same thing.

The calibration tables are loaded into the video card, as a quick and simple way to adjust the display. This is usually stored inside the profile for convenience, but is not part of the profile as such and serves a different purpose.

The profile is a description of the display in its calibrated state. It's a standard icc profile, just like any other icc profile. It's used by color managed applications in a standard profile conversion from from source to display. Lightroom loads the profile at application startup.

So the profile is not the issue here. The calibration might be, but again, this isn't something that needs to be loaded repeatedly. I've never, ever, heard of anything like this before (my own monitors are hardware calibrated and do not use the video card for this).

I rather suspect this is related to some automatic brightness or color temp adjustment setting. This is often seen with laptops, and requires a manufacturer setting to be disabled. Some calibrators also have similar settings, and they should be disabled and kept off.

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sdinweoinasd9384152Author

Inspiring

After re-reading the reply from Datacolor, one reply mentioned color profile, while the 2nd reply mentions the LUT table. But I think it's the LUT table as DFosse described.

The 2nd Datacolor reply says Windows and some anti-virus and miscellaneous programs overwrite the LUT table, causing the flickering effect when it gets reset and then reloaded again by the Spyder software.

I had already disabled a long time ago all ambient brightness functions on my notebooks, including the Intel power management battery mode display energy saver.

I found a thread in the microsoft support forum that talks about this problem, but with computer games, rotating the display, or alt-tabbing. No one seemed to find a solution, although one person said uninstalling his virus scanner seemed to help.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-start-winpc/icc-color-profile-resetting-in-win-10/d988050a-6233-4c19-a04c-cd4b4f87da46

Here is another thread on Reddit about the problem:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8gudps/random_flickering_of_custom_icc_color_profile/

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sdinweoinasd9384152Author

Inspiring

I just did a test, and I can confirm what Datacolor says about the LUT being reset. Whenever i disconnect, connect a USB or bluetooth device, or when the HDD spins up or down for power save, the LUT gets reset and the colors on my display change. There are some other times that the LUT will get reset, but I don't know exactly what kind of events they are. Just as I'm typing, within 30 seconds, the LUT was reset, calibration reloaded, and LUT reset again.

I then have to right click the Spyder tray icon and select "Load Calibration", or wait 60 seconds until the software does a check by itself.

The Spyder software doesn't have an option to set the check to less than 60 seconds.

I wonder if using displayCAL will be any different?

Edit: displayCAL also experiences this but the problem is with Windows 10. However displayCAL will reload the calibration every 3 seconds, supposedly.

here is a thread:

https://hub.displaycal.net/forums/topic/loader-unloads-and-reloads-about-5000x-a-day-normal/

elie_dinur

Participating Frequently

I don't exactly understand your problem. ".....the color profile keeps loading and unloading itself every 30 sec to 1 minute." Loads where? I have had a Spyder 4 Pro setup for 5 years and periodically I recalibrate and save a new display profile in the Windows (currently 10 and before that 7) system Color folder as an ICC file. Once it has been designated as the System default, that has never changed until the next recalibration. Nor did last week's update cause any change (and I did not lose any files of any sort).

"...this has to do with Windows 10 USB, bluetooth, and power management constantly resetting the LUT table in the video card." This part I really don't understand. Once the ICC file has been saved to disc, why would those three functions affect its utilization?

I am also a bit puzzled about why you posted this to an Adobe Lightroom forum. For its Color Management LR uses the system default automatically. Nothing to load or unload.

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sdinweoinasd9384152Author

Inspiring

My display is by default slightly more red and warmer, while the color profile generated by Spyder4 is more green and cooler. Every minute or so the display will switch between either warmer and red, or slightly cooler and more green, hence the color profile being loaded and unloaded.

The interaction with USB, bluetooth, and power management is something which Datacolor support wrote to me, it's not something that I concluded or understand myself. You would have to ask them for more details about it. I assume that this unloads the color profile and turns my display warmer and more red. Then since the Spyder software is set to check if the color profile is loaded every 60 seconds, I guess it reloads the color profile again and turns my display cooler and more green. That's why I see a change in color on my display every minute or so, back and forth between the two types of colors.

I'm asking here because I'm using Lightroom with the color calibrated display, and wondering if anyone has also had a similar problem and a solution to it.

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manifestphoto_com

Participating Frequently

I am having exactly the same issue using Syder5Pro on my Lenovo X1 Yoga (3rd gen).

From this discussion it sounds like it may just be a bug that we have to wait for MS to sort out in a future update, but it would be great if there was a clear solution that could be implemented now.

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b2martin_a

Participating Frequently

I understand there is a problem with Windows 10 update to version 1809. Some people have lost data after the update. I delayed auto update for 35 days to allow Microsoft to resolve the problem. You are the first I have seen with monitor calibration update issues after the update. I suggest you inform Microsoft of the issue so they and resolve it.

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sdinweoinasd9384152Author

Inspiring

The problem I have I noticed since the 2017 fall update, not the current update from fall 2018.

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