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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Home Theatre & HDTV => Topic started by: Rusty M on July 31, 2008, 02:49:55 PM

Title: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Rusty M on July 31, 2008, 02:49:55 PM
anyone bought this service?  they use some special computer and only middle- to upper-end sets can be calibrated.  According to the TV manager at BB (who actually seemed like he knew his shit), samsungs, LGs, pannys, and most sonys can be calibrated, Sharps CANNOT, I didn't ask about Toshiba.  The cheaper store brands cannot be calibrated.  From the description, calibration produces:

"In addition to stunning picture quality, you'll benefit from reduced eye strain, longer TV life and significant energy savings"

The TV sales manager showed me 2 in store of the same model that they have been running for a couple months - 1 calibrated, 1 uncalibrated - (almost like a comparison tape  :) ), and said that the uncalibrated model is using 30% more energy.  And by exstension, he claimed a calibrated TV will last 3-5 years longer.

I asked the guy straightup if he was selling me the undercoating, he said that this is for real, best buy of course makes money off it because all we have to do is buy the computers and then pay some kid $8/hour to go do the calibrating, but that the cost of $200-$300 (only $150 at CC) will pay for itself within 3 years of energy savings and then there is the longer life issue.

??? ??? ???

(hoping John Kelly will chime in even though I know I pissed him off in another thread)
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: John Kelly on July 31, 2008, 02:58:56 PM
Haha.  You pissed me off?  I can't remember anything like that.

In any case, yes calibration is awesome.  But there is no way in HELL I'd pay a big box store to do it.  You're better off either doing it yourself or hiring a local home theater installer.  On AVS there is a guy that tours the country just doing calibrations, and people rave about his work (I think he runs $4-500).  If you want to do it yourself, you need to get yourself a set of filters (they look like old-school 3d glasses) and a calibration DVD or Blu-Ray.  The standard is the Digital Video Essentials stuff, over at http://www.jkpi.net .  There's way more info about it on AVS - you should really check on there (www.avsforum.com).

As for energy savings, they should be minimal.  The only way you would really save energy would be if you took a TV with a maxed out brightness and brought it down to normal levels.  Most TVs don't ship with the brightness that high, though...

Edit - Just want to note that I did it myself.  Friend had a set of filters and the DVD already downloaded, and we calibrated the TV in a matter of minutes.  Also, any TV can be calibrated as long as you can get into the service menu.  You don't need any specific brand to do it.
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Rusty M on July 31, 2008, 03:33:43 PM
I'm all for doing it myself.  what are the filter and DVD going to run me?
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: George on July 31, 2008, 03:39:11 PM
Check avsforum as John mentioned, you'll often find members who post their settings.  When I bought my Toshiba 65" DLP I found someone who posted some settings and I tried them out and was stunned by how much better the picture looked.
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: scervin on July 31, 2008, 06:17:46 PM
Most often you can DIY, but paying a few hundred for an ISF cert. calibration is worth it.  Much more than one can do on their own.   If you plan on DIY you need DVE or AVIA dvd's to get started, I will say the THX Disney discs have a quick and dirty test pattern to get close.

SC

Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: John Kelly on July 31, 2008, 09:10:34 PM
Check avsforum as John mentioned, you'll often find members who post their settings.  When I bought my Toshiba 65" DLP I found someone who posted some settings and I tried them out and was stunned by how much better the picture looked.

Great point.  If you can copy someone's settings with the exact same model as you you can get pretty close to being calibrated.  It won't be perfect since every panel is different, but it's better than nothing.
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: jhirte on August 13, 2008, 11:04:42 AM
Get AVIA and DIY it man. ISF calibration is gonna cost you a few hundred bucks, and though they do use some nice gear to test everything out, and have the knowledge to get into service menus, etc,  you can do a decent enough job DIY.
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: willndmb on August 14, 2008, 03:22:57 PM
i have a dvd that helps you do it
and i have also got other peoples off avs
to be honest i can't tell much difference between settings personally
so no way would i pay someone to do it
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Gordon on September 27, 2008, 12:31:14 PM
Check avsforum as John mentioned, you'll often find members who post their settings.  When I bought my Toshiba 65" DLP I found someone who posted some settings and I tried them out and was stunned by how much better the picture looked.

Great point.  If you can copy someone's settings with the exact same model as you you can get pretty close to being calibrated.  It won't be perfect since every panel is different, but it's better than nothing.


I did this with my model and was not happy with any of the results.  it looks better in plain "sport mode" than any of the custom ones.  ymmv


I got avia but now need filters.  where do I get them?  best buy etc?

Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Jamos on December 14, 2008, 06:06:30 PM
If anyone's interested in calibrating their new set, these DVD's can help a lot:
http://www.shop3m.com/75050052911.html

I got one about a year ago when 3M was offering them for free, but IMO they are worth the $9 they charge now.

It has a series of different color, shading, and images and you adjust your set at each step.  Includes glasses as well.

Very happy with the results on my 720p 32" Samsung LCD.
Seems the most common thing people do is to turn the brightness up too far, trying to make it look "better"...
 :P

Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Dr.FOB on February 14, 2009, 06:11:07 PM
Joe Kane publishes the Digitial Video Essentials in Blu-ray for HDTV callibration.
It includes the filters along with a host of patterns that will highlight your sets weaknesses...

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Video-Essentials-Basics-Blu-ray/dp/B000V6LST0 (http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Video-Essentials-Basics-Blu-ray/dp/B000V6LST0)
Title: Re: HDTV calibration???
Post by: Stagger on February 14, 2009, 09:39:30 PM
Good advice here so far. I worked for Tweeter, Etc. for a number of years (mostly when they were financially healthy so...) I sold more TV's than I can count. A few things.

1. You can not truly calibrate your TV to your eye or a friends setting. Calibration, like setting the levels when you record are dependent on the particulars of the source and the room. If your room, during the time you do most of your viewing, is very bright or dark it will change the optimal setting of your set.

2. This doesn't mean setting your TV to your eye is useless, of course. TVs are shipped set so they catch a potential customer's eye in a showroom setting (read: screaming bright). It is better to take it down a good deal even without proper calibration. The issue is twofold. The first problem is that our eye has no consistent mechanism to adjust settings accurately for the scaler. While we can see some amount of line crawl and such with a normal picture, you do really need black and white patterns (http://www.ntsc-tv.com/images/tv/test-pattern.gif) to make the proper adjustments. Secondly, we are so accustomed to TV pictures that are really too bright. Therefore, unless you are very accustomed to seeing a properly calibrated set, most everyone setting their TV to their eye will make their picture much brighter than it would be if properly calibrated.

3. I haven't looked to see what calibration DVDs and kits are out there today but, in addition to the test pattern such as the one shown in the link in issue #2, you need color filters to properly set your levels. These filters look like a color "gel" that is used in stage lighting (i.e. a colored piece of thin plastic). A good kit will typically have at least a red and a blue color filter. If the kit does not have this it isn't useless, it is just useless for color calibration. Having the pattern to set your TV's scaler is better than nothing, it just isn't the whole job.

Hope this helps somewhat.