Softpedia >Mac >Multimedia >BabelColor CT&A >  Changelog

BabelColor CT&A Changelog

What's new in BabelColor CT&A 4.6.0 Build 345

Apr 11, 2016
  • NEW FEATURE:
  • RGB vs RGB tool: Added computation and display of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Contrast Ratio for text content ( http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/):
  • Get the Contrast Ratio as well as Go/No-Go flags for the Minimal contrast requirements (Level AA) and for Enhanced contrast (Level AAA), for both Normal text and Large text.
  • Get the Contrast Ratio and contrast acceptance data for either one of the selected colors against a white or black background, and for one color against the other.
  • The WCAG results can be printed in a text-based report.
  • IMPROVEMENTS:
  • Display profile:
  • When rendering a color patch, the program uses the profile assigned to the display corresponding to the window position. If the window is moved to another display, the patches are rendered with the new display profile; there is no need to manually select a profile in multi-display systems.
  • he Preferences dialog now shows the names and file locations of the profiles assigned to all connected displays. It also shows the profile corresponding to its location.
  • (Mac) The program is now compiled using the ‘Cocoa’ Framework instead of the ‘Carbon’ Framework, which was made possible by dropping support for PowerPC. Some of the effects of this change are:
  • GUI appearance; for instance, the windows can now be resized by dragging any edge.
  • More accurate color rendition with wide gamut displays, and, for all displays, a better match with the numbers shown by the Mac ‘Digital Color Meter’ Utility.
  • BUG FIXES:
  • CRI (Color Rendering Index) tools: The patches displays are now erased when all measurements are deleted.
  • Whiteness tools: Now shows the percentage sign for opacity in the saved image.

New in BabelColor CT&A 4.5.0 Build 327 (Dec 20, 2014)

  • New features:
  • ISO 3664+ tools / Color monitors: Added support for measuring the Tone uniformity (i.e. Color uniformity, Section 4.2.2) and Tonality Evaluation (i.e. Grey/White Tone ratio uniformity, Section 4.2.3) requirements of ISO 12646:2014-Final Draft.
  • Measurements are performed on targets located on a 5 x 5 uniform grid.
  • Measurements can be performed with White, Grey, and Dark-Grey targets.
  • Export a spreadsheet savvy text report or print a well formatted one-page report which presents the overall characterization information.
  • Built-in dialog to create image files of targets for any display size. Separate files are generated for the White, Grey, and Dark-Grey target patches. File formats : PNG or TIFF; RGB; 8-bit.
  • Improvements:
  • ISO 3664+ tools / Color monitors: Improved the ISO 12646:2008 Brightness uniformity measurements interface (3 x 3 non-uniform grid).
  • Measurements can now be performed with White, Grey, and Dark-Grey targets instead of just White.
  • Built-in dialog to create image files of targets for any display size. Separate files are generated for the White, Grey, and Dark-Grey target patches. File formats : PNG or TIFF; RGB; 8-bit.
  • When doing measurements with the 'Take all' sequence, you can now change the target position at anytime (if you want to go back to redo a bad measurement for instance).
  • Other:
  • Complete revision of Tutorial 8 of the Help manual (Measure your display characteristics with the ISO 3664+ tools).
  • (Windows) The minimal system requirement is now Windows Vista. As previously announced, CT&A Version 4.2.1 was the last version to support Windows XP.
  • (Mac) The minimum system requirement is now Mac OS X 10.6. As previously announced, CT&A Version 4.2 was the last version to support PowerPC. Future CT&A versions may require Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or newer.

New in BabelColor CT&A 4.2.0 Build 316 (Jul 29, 2014)

  • New features:
  • CRI (Color Rendering Index) tools : Added a set of tools to evaluate the color rendering properties of white-light sources. The tools comprise the current CRI standard as well as proposed replacement metrics, and new metrics for gamut area and memory colors.
  • Test source data : CCT (kelvin); Duv (CIE1960); brightness (lux); LER (Light Efficiency Ratio, in lm/W); the Reference source (a blackbody or a D-Series illuminant).
  • CRI (Color Rendering Index) : A graph of the 14 individual indices and Ra; numerical values of Ra (a general score based on the first 8 indices and better known as the current CRI), R9, R(9-14) (for indices 9 to 14) and R(1-14) for indices 1 to 14; a graph of the samples (a*, b*) coordinates; a representation of the samples illuminated by the Reference and Test sources; the CIELAB color difference between the patches. Ref.: CIE 13.3: 1995.
  • CQS (Color Quality Scale, NIST Version 9.0.3) : A graph of the 15 individual indices and Qa; numerical values of Qa (general score based on the 15 indices), Qf (fidelity index) and Qg (relative gamut area); a graph of the samples (a*, b*) coordinates; a representation of the samples illuminated by the Reference and Test sources; the CIELAB color difference between the patches. Ref.: Wendy Davis, Yoshi Ohno, "Color quality scale," Optical Engineering 49(3), March 2010, 033602-1 to -16.
  • CRI2012 (nCRI Version 12.0) : A graph of the 17 individual indices and Ra,2012; numerical value of Ra,2012 (based on the 17 indices); a graph of the samples (a'M, b'M) coordinates; a representation of the samples illuminated by the Reference and Test sources; the color difference between the patches. Ref.: KAG SMET, J Schanda, L Whitehead, RM Luo, "CRI2012: A proposal for updating the CIE colour rendering index," Lighting Res. Technol. 2013; 45: 689-709.
  • GAI (Gamut Area Index) : Ref.: Mark S. Rea, Jean P. Freyssinier-Nova, "Color Rendering: A Tale of Two Metrics," COLOR research and application, Vol. 33, No. 3, June 2008, 192-202.
  • GAI and Ra : The arithmetic mean of GAI and Ra (the current CRI). Ref.: Kevin Smet, Wouter R. Ryckaert, Michael R. Pointer, Geert Deconinck, and Peter Hanselaer, "Correlation between color quality metric predictions and visual appreciation of light sources," OPTICS EXPRESS, Vol. 19, No. 9, 25 April 2011, 8151-8166.
  • MCRI (Memory Color Rendering Index) : Rm (general memory color quality index); Sa (degree of similarity); Si (special color quality indicators of the ten objects). Ref.: K.A.G. Smet, W.R. Ryckaert, M.R. Pointer, G. Deconinck, P. Hanselaer, "A memory colour quality metric for white light sources," Energy and Buildings 49 (2012) 216-225.
  • Data input : Instrument or file input; a connected instrument is NOT required for file input.
  • File input : CGATS or Plain text files; 5 nm or 10 nm spectrum bandwidth; 380-730 nm or 400-700 nm spectrum range. The file must contain only one spectrum; multiple files can be inputted with drag-and-drop.
  • Supported instruments : Any i1Pro or i1Pro 2 with ambient adapter (the adapter is an option in some models).
  • Input is processed internally with a 5 nm bandwidth; 10 nm data is interpolated to 5 nm.
  • Custom export dialog : Select amongst the data used for the graphs, the general and specific metrics indices, and the Test source data.
  • Export a single file report with all measurements or only the selected measurements.
  • Export one file per measurement in either CGATS format, which can be used as file input, or in Plain text format. All measurements or only the selected measurements can be exported in batch.
  • Color Management Module (CMM) changed from LCMS 1.19 to LCMS 2.5.
  • Full support of ICC v2 and ICC v4 profiles (LCMS 1.x had partial support of ICC v4 profiles).
  • Improvements:
  • i1Pro and i1Pro 2 :
  • Now supports the i1 Pro 2 SDK Version 4.2.0.
  • Added a menu to check i1Pro / i1 Pro 2 lamp restore. Lamp restoration is performed, if required, when the menu is called.
  • Improved algorithm to compute the CCT. The algorithm is now more accurate over a larger chromaticity area. The acceptable isotemperature zone is between 1000 K and 100,000 K, with Duv (CIE1960) between +0.05 and - 0,05.
  • Tools which benefit from the improvement : RGB vs RGB, CRI, Graph, ISO 3554+, Metamerism Index.

New in BabelColor CT&A 4.0.0 Build 298 (Apr 4, 2013)

  • New features:
  • Toolbar window : The tools can now be accessed with new a top-level window which contains: a toolbar, controls to select a measuring instrument, and status lights for the features supported by the connected instrument (measurement modes, measurement conditions, spectral tools compatibility).
  • Separate tools windows.
  • One or more tool can be opened and used at any given time.
  • Simply click on a window and make a measurement by pressing the i1Pro or i1Pro 2 button, even if different measurement modes are selected in each window.
  • The Main screen of previous CT&A versions is now called the RGB vs RGB tool. This tool opens in a separate window, like the other spectral tools.
  • Added support for the X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer.
  • This instrument is used in the 'RGB vs RGB' tool and in all spectral tools.
  • Supported models: i1Pro 2 M0/M1/M2, i1Pro 2 M2 only.
  • Supports the M0, M1, and M2 measurements mode for reflectance measurements.
  • Supports X-Rite’s XRGA calibration standard for reflectance measurements.
  • The i1Pro 2 can be used in CT&A on a PowerPC Mac with the older i1Pro driver; in this configuration, the i1Pro 2 behaves as an i1Pro. The new i1Pro 2 features are available only in conjunction with the new i1Pro 2 driver, which requires an Intel Mac with OS X 10.5.8+.
  • i1Pro and i1Pro 2.
  • Both the older i1Pro and the new i1Pro 2 drivers are provided. The i1Pro2 driver is XRGA compliant and the older driver is NOT XRGA compliant. The new driver is referred to in CT&A as i1Pro / i1Pro 2 (XRGA); the older diver is referred to as i1Pro / i1Pro 2 (non-XRGA). You can thus make measurements with your instruments with or without XRGA calibration.
  • Calibration with the ‘i1Pro / i1Pro 2 (XRGA)’ driver always require that the instrument be positioned on its white calibration tile, even for measurement modes other than reflectance.
  • Added support for the X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter.
  • This instrument is used in the RGB vs RGB tool (and not in the spectral tools).
  • Supported models : i1Display Pro hardware sold by X-Rite (i.e. the retail version, part #EODIS3-XR). Generic models sold by other companies (third parties, or OEM, part #EODIS-OEM) should also be compatible. At this time we cannot say if we will support or not custom models sold by other companies since separate agreements with these parties may be required. More specific info will be provided as new models are released.
  • CT&A can load and assign calibration matrices (contained in X-Rite Emissive Display Reference (EDR) files) specifically designed for various display technologies, and which provide improved measurement accuracy. Eight EDR files are supplied, including ones for OLED and Plasma displays; additional files could be added in the future without a need to reinstall CT&A.
  • Select between two measurement speeds.
  • Note : On Mac, OS X 10.5+ is required (Mac Intel tested, PowerPC TBD).
  • FluoCheck tools : Added a set of tools to measure the effect of substrate fluorescence on measured colors. FluoCheck tools provide numerical data on the stability of a color under the M0, M1, and M2 Measurement Conditions as defined in ISO 13655. A Fluorescence Index (FI) is obtained by measuring a color using either M0 (i.e. Ill-A) or M1 (i.e. D50), and M2 (i.e. UV-cut), and computing the color difference between the two measurements. When two colors are compared, a Fluorescence Metamerism Index (FMI) is obtained by using the M2 measurements of the two colors, and either the M0 or M1 measurements (a different FMI is computed relative to M0 and M1).
  • An i1Pro 2 which supports the M0/M1/M2 measurement conditions is required to be able to use the FluoCheck tools.
  • Density, Graph, and Metamerism Index tools : In reflectance mode, and if using an i1Pro 2 which support the M0/M1/M2 measurement conditions, you can now select the measurement condition applicable to the measured data.
  • RAL Design tool : In reflectance mode, and if using an i1Pro 2 which support the M0/M1/M2 measurement conditions, you will now obtain the RAL DESIGN measurement for all these measurement conditions.
  • Whiteness tools : If using an i1Pro 2 which support the M0/M1/M2 measurement conditions, you can now obtain the fluorescence value by using the measurements corresponding to the M0 and M2 measurement conditions, without the need for an external UV filter.
  • Preferences : You can now select between Bradford or CIECAT02 as the Chromatic Adaptation Transform (CAT) to be used for space conversion in the 'RGB vs RGB' and 'MI' tools, and to compute display colors.
  • Improvements:
  • RGB vs RGB tool (the Main screen of previous CT&A versions) :
  • Entering data with an instrument is now done with dedicated controls which appear in the window whenever the 'L*a*b* / L*u*v* input' checkbox is selected. Each side, Space #1 and Space #2, can be set to use different measurement modes.
  • This window has a dedicated menu that regroups the functions which are dedicated to this tool. This window also has three dedicated icons on the toolbar, with two of these that can be used to open data tables and change some graphics on the chromaticity diagram.
  • Custom RGB space dialog : This dialog can also be called from the RGB space selection menu in Space #1 and Space #2. Improved data entry feedback in the dialog. The other dialog parameters and the graphics are updated dynamically as you enter the values.
  • The 'Bradford matrices' tables has been replaced by 'CAT matrices' so that both Bradford and CIECAT02 matrices can be inspected and copied.
  • Density tools : The density standards now clearly correspond to those of ISO 5-3. Changing the density status no longer requires deleting previous measurements; the previous measurements are now recomputed according to the selected status.
  • ISO 3664+ tools : Improved accuracy for MI (ISO 23603 / CIE S 012) and CRI (CIE 13; also computed in the Graph and Metamerism Index tools).
  • Metamerism Index tools : Patches are not completely surrounded by a thin black border; this enables better discrimination for alike colors.
  • Improved matching between the displayed colors on the various tools for different combinations of illuminants and CAT. Whenever feasible, a measured color is shown as it would appear under the selected illuminant (as in a virtual light booth).
  • Measuring instruments : Instrument detection and connection is more robust and user-friendly.
  • Emission measurements : The program now shows the White Point luminance and CCT in the toolbar window when making an calibration in emission mode. The program now better manages the device used for emission calibration (LEFT, RIGHT, or OTHER display). Default values are assigned if there is a problem measuring the White Point.
  • Help manual : Simplified Table of Contents structure.

New in BabelColor CT&A 3.1.1 Build 250 (Aug 20, 2012)

  • Compatibility fix:
  • (Mac OS X 10.8-Intel) Corrected a compatibility problem with Mountain Lion where the printed output is not scaled properly. This affected only the 'File/Print Graphic...' menu in the Main screen, and the 'Print report...' button in the ISO 3664+ Spectral tools.

New in BabelColor CT&A 3.1 Build 249 (Sep 30, 2011)

  • New features:
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : Added a tuning mode where measurements are automatically taken at user-specified time intervals. This mode is particularly useful to tweak the chromaticity of a display.
  • Custom RGB space dialog : Added the capability to save the RGB space as an ICC profile; save the profile with an ICC or ICM extension.
  • Improvements:
  • Spectral Tools - Graph : Added text entry fields for user-assigned Sample names.
  • Spectral Tools - Graph : Added 3200 K (TV Studio lighting) in the Reference Illuminant menu when selecting 'S1 vs Illum.' or 'S2 vs Illum.'
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : The chromaticity target interface has been enhanced. The target layout indicates if the measured color is too Red, too Green, or too Blue, and the relative position of out-of-range measurements is now shown around the target.
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : Added 3200 K (TV Studio lighting) to the Chromaticity and CRI menus.
  • Munsell Color Deck : New higher accuracy Munsell database; this database also improves the conversion accuracy towards the Munsell space.
  • Bug fixes:
  • Main screen : The scrollbars' mouse wheel action will not change the Y, R, G, or B value when the scrollbars are disabled. The scrollbars are now hidden when disabled.
  • (Mac OS X 10.7-Intel) Due to a compiler bug, the scrollbars' elevator position remains visible when the scrollbars are disabled. To fix the issue, the scrollbars are now hidden when disabled.
  • Custom RGB space dialog : Now correctly assigns the illuminant coordinates when computing the XYZ-to-RGB and RGB-to-XYZ matrices for the file obtained with the 'Export to file...' button. The bug happened only for the file obtained with the 'Export to file...' button AND when using an 'Other...' Illuminant that was just changed, i.e. an Illuminant different from the presets (A, C, D50, D65, and E) and different from the previous 'Other' Illuminant. The bug never affected the custom RGB space used in the Main screen as Space #1 or Space #2.
  • Other:
  • Changed the Color Decks database file name to accommodate the new Munsell database. Users who have customized their Color Decks will need to regenerate them.

New in BabelColor CT&A 3.0 Build 238 (Jun 8, 2010)

  • New features:
  • The program is now color-managed. The patches color in the main screen and in Spectral Tools are corrected using the default, or user-selected, ICC display profile.
  • Spectral Tools - Whiteness : Added a set of tools to measure paper whiteness, brightness, fluorescence, and opacity. There are also tools to check if white and black backings are compliant. Some accessories are required; see the Specifications for more information.
  • Spectral Tools - Whiteness : Use this tool to measure color patches with and without UV-cut with only a non-UV-cut Eye-One. A UV-blocking filter is required; see the Specifications for more information.
  • Spectral Tools - Metamerism Index : There are now two custom Ambient inputs instead of one.
  • Spectral Tools - Metamerism Index : You can save a measured Ambient illuminant to a file and load the illuminant from a file.
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : You can print well formatted one-page reports which contains information dedicated to compliance reports.
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : You can load an Ambient spectrum from a file instead of having to measure it.
  • Custom RGB space: added the L* (L-star) tone response curve in the preset gamma list.
  • Main screen : Additional patch layouts are available when increasing the screen dimensions. Compare color patches on various backgrounds and see how text of each color looks like on black and white backgrounds, as well as on a background of the other color.
  • Main screen : The chromaticity diagram is now represented in color to help select a colors with a mouse-click, and the coordinates are shown while moving the mouse over the diagram.
  • Main screen : You can select a color on the chromaticity diagram with a mouse left-click or a mouse right-click (ctrl + click on a one-button Mac mouse) and assign the input respectively to one space or the other.
  • Main screen : Added the option to show the Planckian locus in the chromaticity diagram.
  • Added a Page Setup menu to set the margins, paper size, and paper orientation prior to printing.
  • Improvements:
  • Spectral Tools - Graph : You can save an image at twice the screen resolution for improved quality when printing.
  • Spectral Tools - ISO 3664+ : Updated the requirements to those of ISO 3664:2009(E) (essentially, the expected display Luminance is now 160 cd/m2 instead of 100 cd/m2)
  • Main screen : The eciRGB 1.0 space has been updated to eciRGB_v2, with a L* (L-star) tone response curve.
  • Main screen : You can change the instrument measurement mode with the mouse popup menu.
  • The measuring instrument serial number and UV filter information is included in saved files and reports.
  • The saved files and reports have been reviewed for presentation uniformity.
  • Bug fix:
  • Will show a warning message and not an error message when trying to save a file which is opened by another application, or locked.
  • (Mac OS X-Intel) The main screen gray background is now uniform on program start; before the fix, it was required to resize the display to refresh the background.

New in BabelColor CT&A 2.8.6 Build 201 (May 4, 2009)

  • Fixed a problem in XYZ to L*a*b* conversion for very dark colors (L*=8 or smaller). The problem was present in the main CT&A screen only; the problem did not affect the Spectral Tools.

New in BabelColor CT&A 2.8.5 Build 200 (Mar 11, 2009)

  • New feature:
  • Spectral Tools - Graph : Added the capability to measure FLASH light sources (Flash mode).
  • Improvements:
  • Spectral Tools - Graph : The CRI (Color Rendering Index) and the reference illuminant used to compute it are now shown in the Graph tools for Ambient and Flash modes.
  • Bug fix:
  • Fixed the problem where the program would go into an infinite loop with imported Color Decks of less than 20 chips (Note: Custom Color Decks are imported via BabelColor's PatchTool).

New in BabelColor CT&A 2.8.0 Build 198 (Mar 11, 2009)

  • Improved spectral tools and a new tutorial on measuring color patches on a display.

New in BabelColor CT&A 2.7.1 b189 (Dec 8, 2007)

  • Improvements:
  • (Windows Vista) The drivers and system libraries (DLL) are now fully approved for this OS.
  • (Mac) The program is now offered in Universal binaries and Intel packages.
  • Bug fix:
  • Fixed the reload of the custom RGB space data when starting the program. This bug was introduced in version 2.7.0.
  • (Windows Vista) Windows Vista incorporates a Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature which monitors how applications access memory. In most Vista Home systems, the DEP setting is set, by default, to check only the system programs and services; in this case, even before the fix, BabelColor CT&A started correctly. However, the DEP setting can be changed by the user, either globally or on a program by program basis, and its default setting may also vary for other OS configurations. BabelColor CT&A did not start when the DEP was assigned to all applications, or to BabelColor CT&A only; this has been fixed.