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Flanders Scientific BoxIO

August 3, 2020

Calman takes advantage of the features of the Flanders Scientific BoxIO advanced color management device to calibrate a video display with a 12-bit 1D lookup table (LUT) and/or a 16-bit 33x33x33 3D cube LUT. The BoxIO functions as a reference pattern source for video display LUT calibration.

This setup guide assists you in calibrating a video display with the FSI BoxIO and the Calman Color Cube workflow.

Calman Required Version

  • Version 5.7.1 or newer

Calman Recommended Workflow

  • Color Cube (3D LUT)

Required FSI BoxIO Firmware

  • Version 1.45 or newer

FSI BoxIO Control

  • Ethernet or wireless (Wi-Fi)

FSI BoxIO Computer Connection

Follow one of these methods to connect the BoxIO to your computer:

  • Ethernet Local Network Connection – Connect BoxIO via Ethernet cable to the same local network as your Calman computer.
  • Ethernet Direct Cable Connection – Connect BoxIO directly to your Calman computer via Ethernet cable. Assign a static IP address to your computer that is different from the BoxIO IP address but in the same subnet (i.e. BoxIO has an IP of 192.168.1.244 and you assign your computer an IP of 192.168.1.5).
  • Wireless Connection – From your computer’s wireless connection dialog, select the BoxIO you wish to connect to and enter the wireless password from the BoxIO back label.

A label on the back of the BoxIO includes the default Ethernet static IP address, the ad hoc wireless network SSID and password, and MAC address information.

Note: A reset button near the BoxIO USB port can be used to reset the unit to the factory network settings found on the label on the back of the BoxIO.

With the BoxIO connected to your computer, you can now use Calman to connect to and control the BoxIO to create and automatically load 1D and/or 3D LUTs, following the instructions below.

BoxIO 3D LUT Display Calibration

The Color Cube workflow in Calman is used to create an optimized 3D LUT calibration file and automatically load it into the BoxIO:

  1. In Calman, load the Color Cube (3D LUT) workflow. In the main menu, select Open Workflow Template / Color Cube (3D LUT)
  2. Proceed through the instructions on each page of the Color Cube workflow, using the following notes for BoxIO specifics.

Initial Setup

In the Initial Setup section of the Color Cube workflow, step through the following pages:

Session Setup – Meter Connect
  • Connect your color meter to the Calman computer.
  • On the Session Setup page, click the Find Meter button to connect your meter.
  • Under the Target Display Type drop-down, select the backlight/pixel technology for the display that is being calibrated.
Session Setup – Source Connect
  1. On the Session Setup page, click the Find Source button.
  2. On the Calman Session Setup page, click the Find 3D LUT Device button.
  3. On the Find Source dialog, under Manufacturer, select Flanders Scientific
  4. Under Model, select FSI-BoxIO (Or, you can elect to use an external pattern source.)
  5. Click Connect

Note: If you have difficulty connecting to the BoxIO with Calman, you may want to use the BoxIO Utility to try to connect to the BoxIO, to confirm the network setup. If the BoxIO Utility doesn’t connect to the BoxIO, then Calman won’t connect either. The BoxIO Utility is available as a free download from this link

Session Setup – Source Settings
Pattern 1D LUT, Pattern 3D LUT

The 1D LUTs and 3D LUTs that Calman writes to the BoxIO are always active for the display output signal, but they can be enabled or disabled for the internal pattern generator. Until you have created a 1D or 3D LUT and are ready to validate its performance, do not enable the pattern LUTs here on the Source Settings tab. The Validation section at the end of this document guides you in this process.

Note: When Calman creates a 1D LUT for the BoxIO, it automatically writes the LUT to both the display output and the pattern output and enables the LUT on both outputs.

Session Setup – LUT Device Connect
  1. On the Session Setup page, click the Find 3D LUT Device button.
  2. On the Find Display dialog, under Manufacturer, select Flanders Scientific
  3. Under Model, select FSI-BoxIO
  4. Click Connect.
Display Pre-Test

In the Display Pre-Test section of the Color Cube workflow, you can measure the performance of a display before you calibrate it, on the Gamma & ColorChecker page and on the Advanced Linearity page.

If the Performance Analysis page indicates any red lights for display performance, you may wish to optimize the display’s picture controls before creating a 3D calibration LUT. Click the Display Optimization button to proceed to that workflow section.

Otherwise, click the Calibrate Cube LUT button to proceed directly to the Display Calibration section.

Display Optimization

To optimize the display’s picture controls before creating a 1D or 3D calibration LUT, advance through the adjustment pages in the Display Optimization section of the workflow.

Display Calibration section

In the Display Calibration section of the Color Cube workflow, there are provisions for calibrating with both a 1D Ramp LUT (1D Ramp LUT page) and a 3D cube LUT (3D Cube LUT page)

1D Ramp LUT page

  1. On the 1D Ramp LUT page, if you wish to create a 1D LUT, click the AutoCal button (rotating arrows) at the right end of the meter action buttons. The AutoCal Setup dialog then appears
  2. Under File Format, select Flanders LUT
  3. Under 1D LUT, select your desired LUT ID in the BoxIO.
    Note: If you are going to create both a 1D LUT and a 3D LUT, they should both be in the same LUT ID.
  4. Under LUT Entries, select your desired bit depth for the 1D LUT.
  5. Under LUT Value Range, select the full value range for your selected bit depth (0-xxx).
  6. Under Range Expansion, select None
    Caution: Selecting any signal state other than full range, with no Range Expansion, will cause the BoxIO to clip signal levels.
  7. Under File Path, select the desired directory path and provide a name for the backup
  8. LUT file that Calman will create and save. (e.g. monitor ID and date).
  9. Under Active Grayscale Points, select the number of grayscale points you wish to measure on the display to create the 1D LUT.
  10. Click OK.

When the AutoCal 1D Ramp LUT calibration completes, Calman automatically writes the optimized 1D LUT calibration data to the selected BoxIO LUT ID and enables the LUT on both the display output and the internal pattern output.

Caution: Calman takes some time to write the LUT data to the BoxIO display output and then write the LUT data to the BoxIO internal pattern output. The write process will fail if you attempt Calman operations before the LUT write process complete dialog appears

3D Cube LUT page

  1. On the 3D Cube LUT page, click the AutoCal button (rotating arrows) at the right end of the meter action buttons. The AutoCal Setup dialog then appears
  2. Under File Format, select FSI – BoxIO (.cube)
  3. Under Output Cube Size, select “33 Points.”
  4. Under Bit Depth, select “16.”
  5. Under 1D LUT, if you are creating only a 3D LUT and have not already created a 1D LUT, select “Off”. If you have already created a 1D LUT, select the LUT ID into which you loaded the 1D LUT.
    Note: When Calman creates a 1D LUT for the BoxIO, it automatically writes the LUT to both the display output and the pattern output and enables the LUT on both outputs.
  6. Under 3D LUT, select your desired LUT ID. If you have already created a 1D LUT, select the same LUT ID as the 1D LUT.
  7. Under File Path, select the desired directory path and provide a name for the backup LUT file that Calman will create and save (e.g. monitor ID and date).
  8. Under Calibration Type, select the desired type of 3D LUT calibration process.
    • IR Profile (time-based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible in the selected period of time. You select how much display quality you have time for, from 30 minutes to maximum display quality (6,000 points max). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
    • IR Profile (point based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible with the selected number of measurement points (1,000 – 10,000 points). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
    • Lightning LUT: Creates a display calibration 3D LUT in five minutes or less. Produces a very high-quality result on professional displays with moderate linearity. Displays with significant nonlinearity may produce marginal results.
  9. Under Video Range, select “Full (0-255).”
    Caution: Video Range selections other than “Full” will cause the BoxIO to clip its input signal
  10. Click OK

When the AutoCal 3D LUT calibration completes, Calman automatically writes the optimized 33x33x33 LUT calibration data to the selected BoxIO LUT ID.

Caution: Calman takes some time to write the LUT data to the BoxIO display output and then write the LUT data to the BoxIO internal pattern output. The write process will fail if you attempt Calman operations before the LUT Write Process Complete dialog appears.

Display Validation section

Before you validate a 1D LUT and/or 3D LUT, you need to enable the corresponding Pattern LUT on the Source Settings tab.

  • If you have created a 1D LUT, on the Source Settings tab, under Pattern 1D LUT, select the appropriate LUT ID in which you created the 1D LUT.
  • If you have created a 3D LUT, on the Source Settings tab, under Pattern 3D LUT, select the appropriate LUT ID in which you created the 3D LUT. (If you have created both a 1D LUT and a 3D LUT, they should both be in the same LUT ID.)
Tags:  BoxIOFlanders ScientificFSI