SpyderCUBE White Balance Solution

The Datacolor company who brought us the affordable(?) monitor calibration device Spyder3Elite and Spyder3Pro (and I presume Spyder1 and 2!) have developed a new product for obtaining correct white balance - the SpyderCUBE.

SpyderCUBE is unique amongst white balance tools in that it not only has a grey reference for setting white balance but also has pure white and black faces as well as a 'black trap' which is a hole in the device into which light cannot go and thus gives the photographer a 'pure black' reference.

To use the device, you place it in the scene you are photographing and take a reference shot (preferably as a RAW capture). Later, in Camera RAW, you can synchronise all shots taken under the same lighting to this reference shot and click the grey face of the cube to set the white balance, then; using the exposure and brightness sliders, you can set the optimal white point by observing the white face on the device. The optimal black point can then be set using the 'black' slider in Camera RAW to ensure you can visibly distinguish between the 'black face' of the cube and the 'black trap' hole within the black face of the cube.

Instructions on exactly how to set the white and black points are vague on the website - even after watching the instructional video - but I can see how having a pure white and pure black reference can help you to set the correct density for your lighting setup.

Andy