Author: Matthias Betz
Author info: Owner of Proof GmbH, Owner of absurd orange GmbH & Co. KG
MYIRO-9: New spectrophotometer from Konica Minolta in use
Over the last few months, we at Proof.de have been thinking about further improving our already very good color measuring technology in terms of speed and measurement precision. Relatively quickly, it became clear that only two devices could be considered for this purpose: The Konica Minolta MYIRO-9, the successor of the former FD-9, or the X-Rite ISIS 2 XL.
The starting point: Since we have 5 proofing devices at Proof GmbH, the calibration of targets for profile optimization is a time-critical undertaking for us. Therefore, we had been looking around for an upgrade of our previous X-Rite i1-iO table for the last few months, because here we always had the difficulty: When we started an iterative color measurement of the profile optimization, we always had to calibrate two measurement targets per measurement run. And the calibration on the i1-iO table means: Click three times on the target, and then start the measurement again by clicking. After a few minutes, the first target was measured, which then had to be removed from the measuring table, the new target placed on it, clicked three times again, then clicked on "Measure" and at some point an IT8 chart with 1,617 or, in the case of a modified target, over 1,800 measuring fields was measured. The whole thing was then optimized, and went again into the next print, measure and optimize round, and - depending on the result of the optimization - this was repeated 3-4 times per printer and per proof substrate. In addition, since for M1 measurements the iO table has to scan each line twice, the measurement speed was reduced even further for all proof substrates containing OBA.
After some considerations we decided for the Konica Minolta MYIRO-9, why? For the X-Rite ISIS 2 XL speak some clear motives: We would have remained further in the X-Rite world, the equipment is fast and has a small deviation from measuring instrument to measuring instrument and from measurement to measurement ... and by the good alignment within the X-Rite family we would have certainly achieved very good results. But the MYIRO-9 is simply a notch better in speed and measurement precision than the competing device from X-Rite.
It measures about 1,500 color patches in only 4 minutes delivering M0/M1/M2 in one measuring run. In practice, a target with 1617 patches is completely measured in about 5 minutes. With a short-term repeatability of ΔE00 0.05 and an instrument agreement of ΔE00 0.3, it also measures extremely precisely.
Excitingly, the MYIRO-9 doesn't just travel down the measurement line, it stops extremely briefly over each field, takes a measurement, and then moves on to the next field and the next measurement - all at an extreme speed. And although we were a bit skeptical at first: Even with textured surfaces like canvas, it has so far captured all measurements accurately and well, and delivered fast measurement results.
And it has another advantage: It has temperature compensation, which compensates for the warming of the measuring device, especially during longer operations. Since we have to measure around 100,000 patches on our proof printers during a measurement round of our common proof papers alone, compensation for temperature drift is an understandable argument here.
After some discussions with Claas Bickeböller from Konica Minolta and Jan-Peter Homann from Homann Colormanagement, we decided to buy the device despite some of the uncertainties described: The plus in speed and precision were simply too tempting
The MYIRO-9: A perfect fit for our proof measurement world
By now, our MYIRO-9 has been in use for a few weeks and has already had to endure a few tests. First, we checked the fit to our previous i1-iO measurements with our two X-Rite i1 Pro-2 and five X-Rite ILS-30 measuring devices to analyze how well the KonicaMinolta device would fit into our measuring world. Since all of our proof printers have Spectroproofer, the calibrations and linearizations of the individual proofing devices are always found by the built-in ILS-30 measuring devices in the proof printers, also the ICC profiles of each proof substrate are created via the ILS-30.
Then we started with a profile optimization on each proofer and compared the proof results of the new optimization visually and metrologically with the previous proof results using our test forms. When it was clear that we could switch over without any problems, we finally subjected all proof substrates to profile optimization on all proofers with the MYIRO-9 over a period of several days and then cross-checked the results again. And after we couldn't find any difficulties there either, we switched all workflows to the new MYIRO-9 profile optimizations at the beginning of October.
In the first run alone, the MYIRO-9 had to measure almost 200,000 fields to convert all workflows to the new profile optimizations, which the device did with flying colors. We will continue to convert more specific workflows for customers and projects in the coming weeks. But it is already clear that our new measuring device was the right choice for us.
The network team player
Another important criterion for our decision in favor of the MYIRO-9 was its network capability.
Since the measurement by the MYIRO-9 is noisier than with the furthermore fanless iO stages from X-Rite due to the "jerky" measuring head caused by the single-field measurement, we set up the measuring device in the proof room, where it is far away from our EFI and GMG servers. However, because the MYIRO-9 can be easily docked to the network via Ethernet, it is available to all our applications, regardless of location. Whether it's Fiery XF, GMG Colorproof, or the Colorlogic products that we use partially from the workstation: All can rely on the MYIRO-9, since no USB connection is required.
MYIRO-9: Conclusion
For us, the following things were decisive for the purchase:
- Speed: An optimization run of our most important proof substrates now takes only days instead of weeks. On the one hand, the MYIRO-9 is much faster, and on the other hand, we need fewer targets because the MYIRO-9 can measure more measuring fields per target in one swing.
- Precision: Short-term repeatability and inter-measurement deviation with the MYIRO-9 are much better than with our previous measurement solution. All our customers benefit from this higher precision, as we can produce proofs within even lower tolerances.
- Connectivity: The network connection allows us to easily connect all our proofing software and profiling solutions to the MYIRO-9, as it does not require a USB connection to a single server or workstation.
The MYIRO-9 has really met our expectations. We primarily benefit from the higher speed, our customers primarily from the higher precision of the MYIRO-9 compared to our previous measurement solution.
Are there also downsides? Few: Admittedly, the MYIRO-9 is not cheap. But of course it is also technically more sophisticated than many other devices. Another downer is that the features of the free software components of the Konica Minolta MYIROtools are not so lush: But at least they bring a display calibration (which of course does not work with the MYIRO-9, but only with the MYIRO-1), have a Fogra media wedge license included and can measure charts, compare measurements and perform a uniformity evaluation. If you need more features and don't have Fiery, GMG and Colorlogic software working with the MYIRO-9 like we do, you'll have to budget a little extra for the MYIROtools "Basic" and "Advanced" software features in addition to the MYIRO-9, as with other manufacturers.
For us, we draw a very positive conclusion: The Konica Minolta MYIRO-9 was definitely the right investment for us and supports us with its speed and precision. In this respect, the MYIRO-9 fits very well with Proof GmbH's claim ... 🙂