As shipped from the factory (or following a reset), the following is true of all 500 series Spectrodensitometers:
Density
| Default Factory Settings | Possible Options | |
| Density Color | = Auto | All, Auto, V, C, M, Y |
| Density Mode | = Absolute | Absolute or - Paper |
| Reference | = Auto | Auto, 1..16 |
| Status | = T | T, A, E, G, Ax, Tx', Ex, I, HIFI |
| Precision (X10) | = Normal | Normal or High |
Serial Port
| Default Factory Settings | Possible Options | |
| Baud Rate | = 9600 | 300..57600 baud |
| Hardware Handshake | = Off | Off, Xon, CTS, Busy, |
| Auto XMT | = Off | On-With Status, On-No Status, Spreadsheet, Off |
| Field Separator | = Comma | Space, Comma, Tab, 'CR', 'CRLF','LF' |
| Field Delimiter | = CRLF | 'CR', 'CRLF', 'LF' |
| Protocol | = RCI | RCI or ICP |
| Emulation | = Normal | Normal or 400 Series |
| Default Factory Settings | Possible Options | |
| Color Space | = L*a*b* | L*a*b*, L*C*h, L*u*v*, Y u*v*, Reflectance (530 only) |
| Delta E Method | = Lab | CMC, Lab, or CIE94 |
| Observer Angle | = 2 | 2 or 10 |
| Reference | = Auto | Auto, 1..16 |
| Illuminate | = D50 | D50, D55, D65, D75, F2, F7, F11, F12, A, C |
| Lab Method | = CIE | CIE or Hunter |
| LCh Method | = LCh (ab) | LCh (ab) or LCh (uv) |
| CMC Tolerancing | = 2:1 | Lightness: 0.01 to 9.99 Chromaticity: 0.01 to 9.99 |
| CIE94 Tolerancing | = 2:1 | Lightness: 0.01 to 9.99 Chromaticity: 0.01 to 9.99 |
| Precision (X10) | = Normal | Normal or High |