ArgyllCMS vs PsyCalibrator

ArgyllCMS is a free, open-source ICC-compatible color management system for creating profiles and calibrating devices. Its command-line tools support scanners, cameras, film recorders, displays, and RGB, CMY and CMYK printers. It can create device-link profiles with options such as video calibration standards and 3D LUTs, and work with spectral samples, selectable illuminants and observer types, and paper fluorescent-whitener compensation. Color conversion tools handle 8-bit raster data and fully accurate 16-bit conversion. Documentation lists direct support for measurement instruments from JETI, Klein, X-Rite and Calibrite, DataColor and other manufacturers; some chart results can be converted into Argyll CGATS format. ArgyllCMS runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but does not include a graphical interface. DisplayCAL, The Little Argyll GUI and CoCa are listed as front ends that use it. The package is licensed under AGPLv3; commercial licensing is available for code copyrighted by Graeme Gill through ArgyllPRO. On Linux, native display calibration and profiling under Wayland are not currently supported; the maker recommends X11 for color-managed displays.

PsyCalibrator is a free, open-source package for measuring display luminance and color and calibrating gamma. It uses a Spyder5, SpyderX, or SpyderX2 instrument and returns measurements as CIE 1931 xyY coordinates. Its correction workflow adjusts the relationship between RGB intensity and luminance to be linear, for grayscale or individual color channels. The fitting process incorporates Mcalibrator2 and uses cubic spline interpolation as its main method. Users can apply correction through a color lookup table and restore the display to its uncorrected state. PsyCalibrator supports Windows, macOS, and Linux and includes multi-monitor calibration. Its research workflow requires MATLAB or GNU Octave, Psychtoolbox, and a supported Spyder instrument. The tutorial says Windows users need a photometer driver; Linux and Mac users do not. SpyderX and SpyderX2 can use built-in Windows 10 or 11 drivers with Psychtoolbox 3.0.19 or later. For more accurate measurements, the tutorial recommends keeping ambient light steady and using a sensor area smaller than the target stimulus.