Comparison

Light Panel Pro vs Datacolor LightColor Meter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Light Panel Pro

Transform your device into a professional lighting tool for creative projects, film scanning, and video calls. Adjust brightness, color temperature, and RGB hues to enhance any scene. Give your existing technology a vibrant new purpose.

Highlights
  • Pocket-sized professional light
  • Creative lighting control
  • Film scanning
  • Video call enhancement
  • Brightness adjustment
  • Kelvin temperature control
  • RGB color control
Features
Read full description

Light Panel Pro: Transform your device into a professional studio light. Perfect for creative lighting, film scanning and video calls. Control screen brightness, Kelvin temperature and full RGB color on any Apple device. ► Light Panel Pro turns your mobile device into a portable light panel - one that you always have with you as a small fill light for photography or videography. ► Light Panel Pro is a perfect backlight for scanning film with its dedicated scanning mask. It can also be used as a light table or light box with the built-in alignment grid. ► Light Panel Pro is a great light for video calls. ► Control screen brightness and temperature. Display & save arbitrary colors for creative lighting effects. ► Automatically match the color temperature of the ambient light. ► Lock screen settings from accidental touch input. ► Create complex or remote lighting setups with the optional Remote Control feature. ► There are many other potential uses whenever you need extra light: reading light, mood light, torch etc. ► Give your old tech a brilliant second life - great for transforming old devices that can't run recent versions of iOS (iPad Air 1st gen & iPhone 5s onwards) into high-quality light panels, offering a highly cost-effective solution by repurposing hardware that might otherwise go unused. ► Available as a universal purchase for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, Apple TV & Vision Pro. ► Print magazine PC Professionale recommended Light Panel Pro as "Original and unexpectedly useful" in the July 2021 edition. ► Join 5000 happy users and download Light Panel Pro now ! ◄

About

Datacolor LightColor Meter

This pocket-sized device streams real-time light and color data to your smartphone, offering precise control over exposure and color consistency for photos, videos, and cinema. It measures various light types and color parameters, and includes gel filter libraries for creative adjustments.

Highlights
  • Real-time light and color data streaming
  • Exposure and lighting ratio control
  • Color consistency across setups
  • Measures Lux, Chromaticity, CCT, DUV
  • Includes gel filter libraries
  • Simultaneous measurements from multiple meters
  • Hands-free functionality
Features
Read full description

· The Datacolor LightColor Meter is a Bluetooth-enabled, multifunctional tool that fits in your pocket, continuously streaming both light and color data in real-time, to your smartphone. · Perfect for photos, videos, cinema and hybrid photo/video shoots, the LightColor Meter takes the guesswork out of exposure settings, giving you better control of lighting ratios as well as color consistency across varied lighting conditions and multiple camera setups. · The Datacolor LightColor Meter accurately measures all types of lighting, from fluctuating outdoor light, mixed natural/artificial location lighting, plus any type of studio lighting, including continuous lighting and strobe/flash. · It goes beyond a regular light meter to also measure color temperature, Lux, Chromaticity, CCT and DUV. Additionally, the device comes with filter libraries from Profoto®, LEE® and Rosco® to help you choose the right color gels for functional or creative color adjustments. · The rugged, travel-friendly device goes anywhere you’re shooting, providing you with a wireless versatility that lets you easily fine-tune your lighting and exposure without having to leave your camera. · You can attach the device to a light stand or tripod, use the through-hole for lanyards to hang the meter where needed, use the alligator clip that’s included to attach the LightColor Meter to clothing or other fabrics or use the rare earth magnet on the back of the device for easy magnetic attachment. · You can seamlessly sync multiple Datacolor LightColor Meters to get light and color temperature measurements from several locations simultaneously. The device accurately measures light and color temperature from a distance of up to 80 feet, allowing you to cover wide areas and is perfect for ensuring uniform lighting for green screens for easy and effective chroma keying in post-production. Key Feature Highlights o Incident Metering for Ambient & Flash o Mobile App/Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 LE o Photo, Video, Cine Exposure Modes o Measures Lux, Chromaticity, CCT, and +/- Green (Duv) o Measures Any Kind of Light Source o Color Temperature Range: 1,600K - 20,000K o Luminance Range: 1.0 - 1,000,000 lux o Cine Settings: Frame Rate, Shutter Angle/Speed & ND Filter Compensation o HSS Flash & Flash Duration Measurements o Included: Gel Filter Libraries from Profoto®, LEE® and Rosco® o Simultaneous Measurements from Multiple Meters Up to 80 ft Away o Hands-Free Functionality - incl. Magnet, ¼”-20 Mount o Cord-in (PC Sync) o Custom Exposure Profiles

Screenshots

Light Panel Pro4 screens
Datacolor LightColor Meter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Light Panel Pro at 84% against Datacolor LightColor Meter's 17%. Light Panel Pro also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.7) and ratings volume (65 vs 7). Datacolor LightColor Meter's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ads, monetization model and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Datacolor LightColor Meter is free to download; Light Panel Pro costs $4.99 up front. Light Panel Pro sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Datacolor LightColor Meter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Light Panel Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Light Panel Pro has 65 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Light Panel Pro's written reviews are positive against 17% of Datacolor LightColor Meter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Light Panel Pro ships an update every 6 weeks, Datacolor LightColor Meter fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Light Panel Pro versus Datacolor LightColor Meter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLight Panel ProDatacolor LightColor Meter
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (65 ratings) — better1.7 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews84.2% of reviews — better16.7% of reviews
Number of ratings65 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMike WoolleyDatacolor Inc.

Customer experience

Light Panel Pro

All ratings65 ratings
Positive86.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive84.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.8%

Datacolor LightColor Meter

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive16.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative83.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Light Panel Pro

One-time2
  • Buy Me A Coffee$2.99
  • Remote Control$9.99
None

Datacolor LightColor Meter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Light Panel Pro free?
Light Panel Pro costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Datacolor LightColor Meter free?
Datacolor LightColor Meter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Light Panel Pro or Datacolor LightColor Meter?
Light Panel Pro is rated higher. Light Panel Pro averages 4.5 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Datacolor LightColor Meter averages 1.7 from 7 ratings.
Do Light Panel Pro or Datacolor LightColor Meter have ads?
Neither Light Panel Pro nor Datacolor LightColor Meter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Light Panel Pro or Datacolor LightColor Meter?
Light Panel Pro ships an update every 6 weeks, and Datacolor LightColor Meter fortnightly. Most recently, Light Panel Pro was updated on September 21, 2026 and Datacolor LightColor Meter on September 10, 2026.

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