A low-end add-on colorimeter based on current technology costs $7 when fabricated in China.<div>A colorimeter for a display adds $2 to the display cost. <br><div>I know because I offered an instrument design to Xrite, and they were not interested, and I know it is feasible because I had prototypes fabricated. I considered distributing myself, but the world simply isn't ready for a low cost product.</div> <div><br></div><div>The thing is, channel costs, support, distribution etc push the end-user price of an add-on colorimeter to the $50 minimum, which is a significant fraction of the cost of a display, so people then refuse to purchase it. I can understand that. </div> <div><br></div><div>I did some market research, and told photo shops that I could supply them with a $50 instrument, would they carry it. They smiled and said "Look, we sell $200 instruments, why should we sell a $50 instrument to the customer instead?".</div> <div><br></div><div>Edmund<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 3:15 AM, Graeme Gill <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:graeme@argyllcms.com">graeme@argyllcms.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> <div class="im">Kai-Uwe Behrmann wrote:<br> <br> > It would be cool so see colorimeter costs as low as the cheaper colour targets.<br> <br> </div>I think a lot of peoples perceptions are kind o wacky when it comes<br> to this. Very high quality instruments are comparatively cheap<br> (ie. US$170 for the ColorMunki Display). It pales into<br> insignificance when compared to the many other things people<br> spend money on (how much do they spend on smartphones,<br> digital cameras, turning over their computer every 3 years, etc, etc.).<br> Yet they carry on like it's completely out of reach. I don't see<br> the obstacle as being instrument cost :- it's all about color<br> awareness and the value placed on color reproduction.<br> There are so many ironies here - one of the reasons people<br> see instruments as expensive is comparing them to the cost<br> of displays - but one of the reasons that displays are cheap<br> is that the manufacturer have compromised the consistency and<br> accurate reporting of their color behaviour.<br> <font color="#888888"><br> Graeme Gill.<br> </font><div><div></div><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br> openicc mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:openicc@lists.freedesktop.org">openicc@lists.freedesktop.org</a><br> <a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/openicc" target="_blank">http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/openicc</a><br> </div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div>