Phil,
You are right; I don't know of any analyzer ever built that would reproduce exactly the color and contrast of a final film print, but it's probably one of the most flexible systems ever built in simulating a good approximation of what the end result could be of a film print.
That has always been what a good timer does; they extrapolate how the image WILL look from what they see on the screen. You can only develop this skill through experience with the grading machine and with the historical characteristics of the output of your film processing workflows and stocks.
Our work is to preserve and protect the collections of the U.S. Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division. The vast majority of these collections are Nitrate 35mm Motion Picture elements deposited at the Library through a staggeringly complex series of agreements with such depositors as The American Film Institute, Major U.S. Motion Picture Studios, Corporate Institutions, Private Donors and the U.S. Copyright Division. Our collections are much more diverse than listed above, but you get the general idea...
Our photo chemical lab is strictly monochrome (B&W), but we do have 4K digital workflows for color work (which I won't address now).
A typical job would entail preserving a B&W 35mm feature from the 1920's.
Assuming we have the original negative in our vaults, it would be sent to the lab for inspection and hand repairs of the element; inspecting for damage, shrinkage and other potential problems in duplication.
Once repaired and prepped for timing, I would time the element and then note any problematic aspects of the element and chose the proper motion picture printing machine upon which to generate an archival interpositive and, if in good enough shape, a reference print directly from the nitrate negative. If it is in poor condition, the interpositive would then be used to generate a dupe negative, which would then be timed and printed to make a reference print for projection.
That's a grossly simplified workflow, but encompasses the basics. If the element has sound, is a projection positive with color tints or tones, non-standard perforations or any other myriad variations on what we can have on hand, the process becomes quite complex very quickly.
The Colormaster will mainly be used to time new positive prints from our newly generated duplicate negatives.
I will still have to time interpositive elements to make dupe negatives by eye, but this helps considerably in reducing eye strain by off loading the timing/grading process of positives from archival dupe negatives!