Datacolor has announced a major overhaul of its display calibration suite with the release of SpyderPro, positioning the software as a professional-grade solution for studios and postproduction environments. The company describes it as a “quantum leap” in calibration accuracy and workflow design. Marketing rhetoric aside, the tool introduces measurable technical improvements that could matter to HDR and colour-critical workflows.

Technical updates for HDR displays

SpyderPro now supports displays up to 12,000 nits brightness, including OLED, QD-OLED, Mini-LED, and Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR panels. This covers the luminance range typical of current reference and field monitors used in HDR mastering and on-set review.

The software retains Datacolor’s colourimeter-based measurement approach but now integrates calibration control and simulation tools intended for more consistent HDR handling. Whether measurement precision remains reliable at such brightness levels has not yet been independently verified.

3D-LUT export for video workflows

A new 3D-LUT export (.cube) function allows calibrated colour transforms to be exported directly to compatible video monitors. This enables the SpyderPro to feed LUTs into devices used in video or cinema environments, simplifying display matching.

Device Preview Plus: cross-device simulation

SpyderPro introduces Device Preview Plus, a simulation and comparison tool allowing users to preview how images appear on different displays or in print. The feature supports side-by-side comparisons, pixel sampling, batch conversions, and extended export options. For production artists, this could serve as a quick-check tool when evaluating deliverables across multiple output devices.

Integration with light meters

The new light-meter integration enables synchronisation with Datacolor’s LightColor Meter and other lux-capable devices. This function adjusts calibration according to ambient illumination, potentially improving accuracy in variable lighting conditions, a practical addition for studios with mixed lighting setups.

Content authenticity with C2PA

SpyderPro now embeds Content Credentials (C2PA), an open standard for cryptographically securing authorship and edit history metadata. This allows creatives to attach verifiable provenance data to calibrated outputs. The move reflects growing industry interest in transparency within AI-influenced workflows.

We are currently preparing a story on content authenticity and will be speaking directly with Datacolor about how C2PA is implemented in SpyderPro, what data it embeds, and what that means for creative verification. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Pricing and availability

The new SpyderPro software is available immediately for €289 through Datacolor.com, Amazon, and authorised resellers. Existing SpyderPro owners receive the update free of charge. Users of Spyder, Spyder Express, SpyderX, or Spyder X2 can upgrade at a discounted rate.

Verdict

SpyderPro’s technical claims (HDR coverage to 12 k nits, LUT export, and ambient-light integration) target postproduction more directly than earlier Spyder tools, which often leaned toward photographic use. As with any colour management solution, results depend heavily on hardware quality, measurement repeatability, and consistency of use.

The post SpyderPro goes full HDR with receipts (C2PA) first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

TL;DR
The ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM is a 31.5-inch 4K UHD QD-OLED monitor with not really necessary 240 Hz refresh, Dolby Vision certification, and a factory calibration promising Delta E < 1. In other words: it ticks the boxes that colourists and editors have been pestering about for years. Price: $1,899.

Why bother? Because this is a rare all-rounder: looks corporate enough for client calls, handles HDR mastering, and even moonlights as a gaming panel. If you’ve ever wanted to preview After Effects at 240 frames per second (spoiler: it won’t speed up RAM previews), this is your chance.

First Impressions

The ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM is the Clark Kent of displays. On your desk, it could pass for a premium, but otherwise unassuming office monitor: sleek, thin, and lightweight, with none of that over-designed “gamer” bling. But underneath? A 32-inch QD-OLED with UHD-resolution (3,840 × 2,160), 1,000 nits peak brightness, HDR support across the board, and a decent Delta E (Measured always below 2), so colour-accurate, you’d expect to see it on a colourist’s wishlist.

In daily use, the PA32UCDM mostly stayed out of the way, which is high praise for a display. The first setup-wrestle with Uniform Brightness aside (more on that later), it behaved impeccably. At 31.5 inches, the panel feels luxurious, though anyone coming from a 27-inch will find themselves turning their head more than expected. First world Problmes? You betcha!

The 240 Hz Question: Do You Need a Screen This Fast for VFX or Grading?

Let’s get this out of the way: 240 Hz is a spec normally reserved for serious gamers. Does it matter for content creation? In practice, yes and no. Yes for Game developers, obviously – if you create the things that are supposed to run at this speed, then you should test them! For the people in video/3d-Land, at full tilt, the higher refresh is easy on the eyes, with ultra-smooth UI movement and instant response, but it also means increased energy consumption and a bit more heat (in our Munich summer, that translates to unobtrusive but audible fan noise). For everyday work, 120 Hz is the real sweet spot—snappier than the 60 Hz “old normal,” without making the fans work overtime. Still, seeing 240 Hz on a premium OLED work display? Ten years ago, that would’ve sounded like sci-fi.

What We Liked

It just works, no fuss, no tantrums. Even casual gaming (Gamescom made us do it) looked sharp and fluid. The 240 Hz refresh rate exists, but we quickly settled at 120 H. At full tilt, 240 Hz feels more like ASUS’s party trick for spec sheets than a real-world need for editors. The thin profile means it looks like a normal office display until you switch it on and the QD-OLED panel smacks you with perfect blacks. For content creation, editing, compositing, light grading, it is more than enough. Calling it a “reference monitor” would be stretching it (For a “true” refrence Monitor, we would expect 12G-SDI, for example), but as a daily workhorse? Absolutely recommended. The extras (USB-C charging, Thunderbolt daisy chain) are convenient, even if the most used feature was charging a phone without hunting for a spare wall socket.

On color, the PA32UCDM is exactly as precise as you’d hope. With our spectrometers, we consistently measured Delta E below 2, effectively invisible even to most pro users. 99% DCI-P3 coverage, full sRGB, and 10-bit color mean you can throw nearly anything at this screen: SDR, HDR, live-action, animation, you name it. OLED brings perfect blacks (native contrast rated at 1,000,000:1, if you care for big numbers), with VESA TrueBlack 400 certification. That is, in our opinion, the sweet spot for professional in 2025: Yes, you can get more HDR and Contrast and stuff, but right now, you’ll enter the world of diminsihing returns. VESA 400 is perfectly fine for most things.

Limitations

OLED giveth and OLED taketh away. Full-screen brightness is locked to 250 nits in Uniform Brightness Mode—a mercy for colourists, a disappointment for anyone expecting searing HDR. Disable the limiter and you’ll get 1,000 nits, but only in stampsized highlights. Mid-sized highlights? About 400 nits. Burn-in is managed with ASUS’s OLED Care wizardry, but the risk remains. That Risk isn’t too big though: Asus has a three year garantuee, which covers Burn-in – so if your DCC interface killed the Screen, you’ll get help, or at least a replacement panel. Nobody can help a hardcore 3ds Max user, but that is a different topic.

That might be feature worth an explainer: Uniform Brightness Mode. By default, the monitor can give you full-screen brightness with 250 nits—great for critical grading or UI work where uniformity matters. If you disable it, you unlock that 1,000-nit peak, but only in small patches (up to 3% of the screen). For mid-sized highlights, 400 nits is your limit at about 10% screen area (This is where the VESA-400-thing comes from).

In practice? Watching movies or scrubbing through VFX shots in a dim room, those 1,000-nit highlights are plenty for sunlight, explosions, or the occasional science fiction lens flare. But for serious color work, you’ll probably stick with uniform mode anyway for reliable, consistent output.

What We Don’t Like

The glossy panel. We even confused reflections for image artefacts at one point, which says more about us than the monitor (note to self: LED indikators from your Voice assitant can masquerade as image artefacts …). At 240 Hz in summer heat, the fans can get loud enough to remind you that physics exists.

The Menu navigation is straightforward once you learn ASUS’s vocabulary. We skipped the bundled calibration software, which felt like bloat after a brief play. Worth noting: although the screen is Calman ready, connecting via a Blackmagic Design DeckLink will not let the software detect the panel. A small but annoying gotcha. To be fair: Since we send the test unit back, both the firmware for the screen got an update, as well as the ProArt Calibration Software, so test in the beginnning! And yes, we send the test samples back, even though sometimes that hurts. Would have had no problem keeping this screen!

And while the VESA mount precision is technically commendable, it also means some budget monitor arms need “persuasion” to fit. Percussive persuasion. If you stick to the stock stand, you’ll be fine—it’s heavy, stable, and less likely to tip over by lunch.

And in 2025, omitting a dedicated DisplayPort on a $1,899 pro monitor still feels “meh”. Again, first world problems. “Noooo, I don’t want to use the cables there, I am too lazy to switch those!”). But this is literally the ony things we can complain about – and that shows you, that aside from the glossy panel, the PA32UCDM makes a lot of things right.

Verdict

The ASUS ProArt OLED PA32UCDM is the OLED professionals have been asking for, minus the RGB circus of gamer panels. It delivers the formats (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG), the contrast, and the calibration options that make it credible for post work. At $1,899, it is a compelling deal for freelancers and studios who want OLED precision without selling their kidneys to buy a reference monitor. And you can get it for around 1600€ to 1750€ delivered tomorrow!

Full Technical Specifications

Category	Specification
Panel	31.5″ QD-OLED, Anti-Reflection surface, 16:9 aspect ratio, 3840 × 2160 (140 PPI), Pixel pitch 0.182 mm, Viewing angle 178°/178°
Brightness & Contrast	250 cd/m² typical, 1000 cd/m² HDR peak, Contrast ratio 1,500,000:1 (typical & HDR)
Colour	1.07 billion (10-bit), 100% sRGB, 99% DCI-P3, Factory calibrated ΔE < 1
HDR Formats	Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
Performance	240 Hz refresh rate, 0.1 ms GtG response, Adaptive-Sync VRR, Flicker-free
ProArt Presets	Native, sRGB, AdobeRGB, DCI-P3, BT.2020, DICOM, Rec.709, HDR_PQ (DCI, BT.2020), HDR_HLG (BT.2100, DCI), Dolby Vision, 3 × User modes
Calibration Tools	ASUS ProArt Hardware Calibration (Calman & ColourSpace support), ProArt Palette (RGB, gamma, temp), QuickFit Plus, DisplayWidget Center
OLED Care	Pixel shifting, screen saver, proximity dimming
Connectivity	2 × Thunderbolt 4 (96W PD, daisy chain), 1 × HDMI 2.1, USB hub: 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, HDCP 2.3, No dedicated DisplayPort (only via USB-C Alt mode)
Audio	2 × 3 W speakers, no headphone jack
Ergonomics	Tilt +20°/−5°, Pivot ±90°, Height 0–130 mm, VESA 100 × 100 mm
Sensors	Ambient light, Proximity
Dimensions & Weight	71.7 × 60.2 × 22.8 cm (with stand), 9 kg (with stand), 6.5 kg (without stand)
Power	<32W typical, <0.5W standby, <0.3W off, 100–240V 50/60Hz
Certifications	TÜV Flicker-free, TÜV Low Blue Light, VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black, Calman Ready
Warranty	3 years (including panel burn-in)

The post ProArt PA32UCDM: The OLED Display That Thinks It’s a Reference Monitor And Dresses Like an Accountant first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

ASUS has unveiled its latest monitor, the ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM, a 31.5-inch QD-OLED model designed for creators in fields like VFX, animation, and postproduction. This new display combines cutting-edge Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) technology, providing vibrant colors, deep contrast, and high brightness levels. QD-OLED merges the deep blacks and energy efficiency of OLED with the color accuracy of quantum dots, allowing the PA32UCDM to achieve 99% DCI-P3 color coverage and superior color fidelity.

The PA32UCDM features 4K resolution and delivers true 10-bit color depth for smooth gradients and precise color reproduction, essential for professional content creation. It reaches an impressive average ΔE value of less than 1, ensuring industry-leading color accuracy. In addition to its factory-calibrated performance, it includes ASUS ProArt Hardware Calibration, allowing artists to optimize color accuracy over time and save custom color profiles directly to the monitor. The display also integrates seamlessly with professional calibration software like Calman and Light Illusion ColourSpace CMS, catering to users who require fine-tuned color settings.

Creators working on HDR content will find the PA32UCDM a reliable tool. With 1000 nits of peak brightness and support for multiple HDR formats, including HDR10 and HLG, it accurately represents highlights and deep blacks for detailed, lifelike content. The ability to preview HDR metadata across different formats is critical for those delivering content to a wide range of display types. For users working on motion-based media, the PA32UCDM features a 240Hz refresh rate, providing ultra-smooth animations and enabling accurate quality checks in real-time. This high refresh rate is especially useful during rendering and postproduction, where even small stutters can impact the final product.

The monitor’s connectivity options include a Thunderbolt 4 port with up to 96W power delivery, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a built-in USB hub. These versatile connections make the PA32UCDM adaptable to various workflows and hardware configurations. Its ergonomic design includes height, tilt, and swivel adjustments, with a 50% smaller base than its predecessor to maximize desk space. Additionally, the monitor is compatible with wall-mounted setups, thanks to an included mounting bracket.

What is Quantum Dot OLED?

Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) technology combines the deep blacks and contrast of OLED with the color accuracy of quantum dots. OLED panels can turn off individual pixels, creating perfect blacks, but they sometimes struggle with color brightness and saturation. Quantum dots, which emit precise colors when exposed to light, enhance OLED performance, allowing QD-OLED displays to deliver more accurate colors and improved brightness. For creators, this translates to more reliable color fidelity and better handling of HDR content.

Key Specs:

• Pricing not available yet
• 31.5-inch QD-OLED display
• 4K resolution, 99% DCI-P3 coverage
• HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision support
• Factory-calibrated, ΔE < 1
• 240Hz refresh rate
• Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1

Why should you be interested in this screen?

The ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM is noteworthy because its immediate predecessor, the “ASUS ProArt Display OLED PA32DC” (Catchy name, as always …) , has served as our “Editorial Reference OLED” for assessing media, calibration tools, and various display technologies.

We were impressed by the stability of the screen; with our calibration and measurement tools, the Delta was consistently well below ΔE2. We can’t claim more due to the limitations of our available tools – but it was probably well below that. The 10-bit-display played along well with all test-images we had it generate (Doing screen insert tests and stuff like that), and had a brightness consistency over its whole panel that made tracking and keying a absolute joy.

The viewing angle was damn near perfect, the included functions balanced flexibility with practicality, without succumbing to “gamer featuritis.” In an other recent test, we evaluated the Dolby Vision implementation (a detailed interview with Dolby Technicians is in the works), examining claims made by different content providers. The PA32UCDM has the potential to continue the legacy of its predecessor as a reference screen for content creation, and we look forward to seeing how it performs – and are a little bit excited about it.

The post QD-Oleds by Asus first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.