Does the
      i1pro High Resolution mode improve accuracy ?
    
    A question that has been asked is : "You've extended the Eye-One Pro with a high resolution
      spectral mode, giving readings at 3.3nm spacing rather than the
      default 10nm. Does this mode improve accuracy ?"
    
    This is a quite reasonable question. The following attempts to
    answer it.
    Why would a higher
      resolution spectral mode improve accuracy ?
    
    A spectrometer computes CIE tri-stimulus values by measuring
    spectral values and then weighing those values by the observer
    curves before summing the weigted values. The accuracy depends on
    the correct weighting being applied at each wavelength. If the color
    is composed of very narrow spectra peaks, as is sometimes the case
    for certain light sources and many display devices, then the exact
    positioning of one of the peaks on the observer curves may be
    influencial in the final color value, and too coarse a quanization
    of the spectral readings may lead to tri-stimulus errors. So in
    theory increasing the spectral reading resolution to 3.3 nm should
    lead to improved color accuracy with narrow spectra color sources. 
    Why may this not work in
      practice ?
    The instrument spectral resolving power is set by a number of
      factors, and a critical one is the entrance slit width. By
      measuring a very narrow band source such a as a laser, using the
      default 10nm resolution indicates a FWHM (Full
        width at half maximum) of about 25nm. Doing a measurement at
      3.3nm resolution reveals that the optical limit seems to be about
      15nm, so there is some hope of improvement from that perspective.
    Another factor is that the calibration data for the instrument is
      only given at 10nm intervals. So to produce calibrated readings at
      3.3nm intervals, it is necessary to up-sample the calibration data
      with sufficient accuracy. If the calibration data is sufficiently
      smooth (indicating that the underlying device characteristics are
      also smooth), or any slight inaccuracy will get calibrated out
      (which is typically the case for reflective measurements) then
      this may not be a limitation either. In the case of the i1pro2,
      which seems to have a diffraction grating/light sensor with a less
      smooth spectral efficiency curve than the Rev A - D models, the
      task of up-sampling the emissive calibration data with sufficient
      accuracy is more difficult.
    
    The verification experiment
    
    To give some indication of whether ArgyllCMS's high resolution
    spectral mode is capable of improving color measurement accuracy, or
    at least to indicate that it doesn't noticeably worsen it, the
    following fairly simple, real world experiment was performed:
    
    A measurement target consisting of white + primary + secondary
    colors (White, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) repeated 10
    times was used. This target was displayed on a conventional LCD
    screen with a CCFL backlight (MacBook display), and measured using
    using ArgyllCMS V1.6.0 dispread:
    
    1) Using a JETI
      specbos 1211 reference Tele-Spectro-Radiometer.
    
    2) Using an i1pro2 in standard 10nm mode.
    
    3) Using an i1pro2 in ArgyllCMS 3.3nm mode.
    
    The resulting readings were then analyzed using colverify.
    
    The results were analyzed two ways, first in absolute value error
    terms, and secondly in brightness (Y) normalized terms, the latter
    corresponding to the typical way such readings are used for display
    calibration and profiling. 
    
    A second, similar experiment was run on a CRT type display.
    Results:
    
      LCD display:
    
    Absolute errors of i1pro2 10nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    3.070420, avg = 2.204137
    
    Absolute errors of i1pro2 3.3nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    2.108411, avg = 1.568577
    
    
    White Y normalised errors of i1pro2 10nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    2.419800, avg = 0.747926
    
    White Y normalised errors of i1pro2 3.3nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    1.595033, avg = 0.578270
    
    
    So in this particular situation, hi-res mode improves accuracy by
    somewhere between 0.2 and 0.6 DeltaE 2K.
    
    
    Example of white spectrum for the three measurements (red: 10nm
    i1pro2, green: 3.3nm i1pro2, black: specbos):
    
    
    
      CRT display:
    
    Absolute errors of i1pro2 10nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    1.516886, avg = 0.965740
    
    Absolute errors of i1pro2 3.3nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    1.751776, avg = 0.887878
    
    
    White Y normalised errors of i1pro2 10nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    1.509129, avg = 0.654752
    
    White Y normalised errors of i1pro2 3.3nm mode to specbos 1211:
    
      Total errors (CIEDE2000):     peak =
    1.284044, avg = 0.622501
    
    Conclusions:
    The results for the conditions of this particular experiment
    indicate that ArgyllCMS High Resolution mode can very slightly
    improve colorimetric measurement accuracy of display devices.
    Accuracy may conceivably be improved a little more than indicated by
    this experiment for i1pro rev A-D instruments which have a smoother
    diffraction grating/light sensor characteristic, but it is also
    conceivable that an unfortunate combination of display spectra and
    the i1pro2 may result in reduced accuracy. More extensive testing of
    a range of instruments and illuminants would be needed to allay such
    a concern. 
    
    In summary: the High Resolution mode is unquestionably useful
    for showing more spectral detail, and demonstrates promise of
    improved accuracy, but should probably not be used used for
    colorimetric measurement when the highest possible confidence is
    desired.
    Raw Data:
    The raw measurement data is available in this .ti3 archive.