Geek Squad TV calibration: My Story

[bhampton]

So here's the basic things I'm curious about

1) Will someone show up?

2) Will they be ISF certified?

3) Will they be ok with the projector which is not a flat panel display?

4) What adjustments will they make?

5) Will I get a calibration report?


I expect someone to show up late, have at least ISF 1 level certification and make a 2 point RGB balance adjustment and then print a calibration report.

I can't wait till tomorrow to find out what really happens. One thing I want to really try to avoid is to bias the experience by being a back seat driver. I know a lot about the response of my projector and I have my own style when I calibrate it but I really want to get a look at how someone else would do it.

-Brian

[bhampton]

A geek squad technician named Chris confirmed yesterday by phone that he would be here this morning to calibrate my projector.

I will describe the visit. If someone wants to know something particular then let me know.

[daddee73]

The Geek Squad came to my house 2 weeks ago an calibrated my VT-30. 2 Tech's came, only 1 was ISF certified. He explained the process and did everything right in front of me. He also answered any questions I had as he was doing his work. He calibrated 1 picture mode (cinema). The Tech's that came to my house were professional, but real people. After they finished with the VT-30 we went downstairs to take a look at my projector. I might let them calibrate it next year.

[bhampton]

The End,

Hi,

So they have come and gone. Here's the story.

I scheduled the calibration for between 8 and noon and they called this morning before 8 to say they would arrive around 9. Sure enough at 9:06 they rolled in.

It was an ISF tech and his boss who came along because he claims to have never sat in on a projector calibration and he just wanted to watch.

Both the fellas were named Chris but I'll just go on talking about the ISF tech Chris as the other fella was just along for the ride.

First up was a look at the setup. Then came in the big briefcase and tripod.

A sencore VP403 test pattern generator was patched into my system and also connected to a laptop running CalMan.

A Chroma 5 was tripod mounted at the screen.

Calman had control of the test pattern generator so the process could be sped up considerably.

I'm glad I did what I did on the greyscale yesterday. The tech mentioned the grey scale was good apart from a red-ish 20IRE which is something I did know about yesterday but I didn't have time/energy to sort out.

So,.. he didn't spend much time fixing the greyscale but rather spent lots of time trying to adjust the color GAMUT.

Now, I tend to leave color processing off on my PJ because it's on board color processing (Sony's Real Color Processing) doesn't function correctly so using it is very difficult.

He certainly worked with it quite a lot though.

He prepared a report of before and after that he will email me later and I'll share it at that time.

The resulting image was great.... Of course,... I think it was great before too anyways.

The "feel" I got from the visit was good. Here was an ISF trained calibrator with countless years of experience who came equipped with excellent hardware and software and knew how to use them effectively.

I had no idea what to expect but I love what they delivered.

If there's any specific questions people have I'll try to answer them.

Final thoughts that for FREE I recommend it.

For $250,... I would have a hard time getting excited about paying. If I had $250 I would shop for the particular ISF guy I wanted... then, it may cost more than $250 but that may be better too.

-Brian

[MrFattBill]

I qualify for a free one as well, now you have me thinking about having it done.

Bill

[NotMe]

Thank you OP for posting your experiences.

I've also been told I qualify for a free calibration on my SONY VPL-VW60 (same as your's).

How many cinema modes did they calibrate?

I guess they did not offer to calibrate the speakers?

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by NotMe

Thank you OP for posting your experiences.

I've also been told I qualify for a free calibration on my SONY VPL-VW60 (same as your's).

How many cinema modes did they calibrate?

I guess they did not offer to calibrate the speakers?

In my case they calibrated only a single mode (user3)

The description of the service online says they calibrate 2 inputs but I only use 1 input and one (calibrated) mode.

I think I even said that to the tech. I get the feeling they may have done things slightly different If I wanted them too but they seemed to understand what I wanted.

I've heard best buy limits a calibration to 90 minutes which is likely more than what you need for a flat panel. They spendt more than 2 hours here.

They didn't try to sell me anything whatsoever and they complemented my setup which was nice.

I suppose it's strictly video calibration. A lot of audio processors do thankfully have nice calibration programs built in.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Oh,


And,... The defaults of the vw60 are off the charts. It puts out a watchable pic but it's far, far, out of spec with defaults.

A vw60 needs and benitfits from calibration to be sure.

I would schedule it.

I like to do my own setups and I've invested a lot of time trying to learn. If best buy delivers for you like they did for me,... Its worthwhile for sure.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Calibration report is here and ... interesting.

If you read them here's some stuff to keep in mind...

I did a grey scale and gamma calibration the day before and if you compare mine and his... it's almost a wash really. We both got what there is to get from the projector unless you use the Image Director Software to fine tune which I think could lead to artifacts so I don't tend to use it.

As for Color Gamut,... well,... his measurements before and after are strange. The luminance is better after. I give him credit though. There's no good on board color adjustments and the only way to really adjust the gamut is with an outboard video processor. I tend to just bypass the gamut tuning...Colors looks good either way.

-Brian

[Mr.Twinks]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Geek Squad and the analysis reports op.

[zombie77]

Hmm, I too have a free Geek Squad service from premier silver rewards. I may have to give them a call, I live about 45 min from the nearest BB though.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by zombie77

Hmm, I too have a free Geek Squad service from premier silver rewards. I may have to give them a call, I live about 45 min from the nearest BB though.

The supervisor that came to watch the tech came from two and half hours away. I don't think either geek squad member was local. Set it up on the phone and let them come to you. My area only got a best buy maybe five years ago. Before that it was over an hours drive to one.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by MrFattBill

Chad-B is right up the road in Dayton and he gets great reviews.

http://hdtvbychadb.com/

Bill

This guy also does Audyssey Pro Calibrations.

[Lush23]

Thanks for sharing your experience, bhampton. I had a good experience with heir calibration process as well. I agree with you, for free, definitely worth it.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by MrFattBill

You mean his daughter?

Bill

No Corin "Pinky" Ames and Kate Campbell.
http://makeitright.ca/Mike_Holmes_On...ba05775f26f0ae

[Wingman1977]

Originally Posted by bhampton

The End,

Hi,

So they have come and gone. Here's the story.

I scheduled the calibration for between 8 and noon and they called this morning before 8 to say they would arrive around 9. Sure enough at 9:06 they rolled in.

It was an ISF tech and his boss who came along because he claims to have never sat in on a projector calibration and he just wanted to watch.

Both the fellas were named Chris but I'll just go on talking about the ISF tech Chris as the other fella was just along for the ride.

First up was a look at the setup. Then came in the big briefcase and tripod.

A sencore VP403 test pattern generator was patched into my system and also connected to a laptop running CalMan.

A Chroma 5 was tripod mounted at the screen.

Calman had control of the test pattern generator so the process could be sped up considerably.

I'm glad I did what I did on the greyscale yesterday. The tech mentioned the grey scale was good apart from a red-ish 20IRE which is something I did know about yesterday but I didn't have time/energy to sort out.

So,.. he didn't spend much time fixing the greyscale but rather spent lots of time trying to adjust the color GAMUT.

Now, I tend to leave color processing off on my PJ because it's on board color processing (Sony's Real Color Processing) doesn't function correctly so using it is very difficult.

He certainly worked with it quite a lot though.

He prepared a report of before and after that he will email me later and I'll share it at that time.

The resulting image was great.... Of course,... I think it was great before too anyways.

The "feel" I got from the visit was good. Here was an ISF trained calibrator with countless years of experience who came equipped with excellent hardware and software and knew how to use them effectively.

I had no idea what to expect but I love what they delivered.

If there's any specific questions people have I'll try to answer them.

Final thoughts that for FREE I recommend it.

For $250,... I would have a hard time getting excited about paying. If I had $250 I would shop for the particular ISF guy I wanted... then, it may cost more than $250 but that may be better too.

-Brian

Glad to hear that it wasn't one of those geek squad clowns and that the experience was a positive one. I'll never take advantage of that since I no longer deal with those a-holes BB (that's a story for another discussion though).

[Jutty]

After reading this thread,which i found to be quite interesting,,i looked into it and i also qualify for a free calibration...
think im gonna take advantage of this

[Ace_BB6]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Calibration report is here and ... interesting.

If you read them here's some stuff to keep in mind...

I did a grey scale and gamma calibration the day before and if you compare mine and his... it's almost a wash really. We both got what there is to get from the projector unless you use the Image Director Software to fine tune which I think could lead to artifacts so I don't tend to use it.

As for Color Gamut,... well,... his measurements before and after are strange. The luminance is better after. I give him credit though. There's no good on board color adjustments and the only way to really adjust the gamut is with an outboard video processor. I tend to just bypass the gamut tuning...Colors looks good either way.

-Brian

Are there any pro calibrators on here that can verify these results are any good?

I had a free GS calibration done last month and I was told this:

1) RGB Balance - The lines on the RBG balance should be between 95-105.
My lines are straighter and yours are split off from the beginning

2) Gamma Luminace The grey line (your tv) should be on top of the yellow line(correct level). Yours is off the yellow line.

3) Gamut CIE - All the dots should be in or at least close to the box. The tech said that being a little off doesnt really matter. Something about us really not perceiving it. But some of yours are way off.

4) Color Temp - All bars should be at 6500. You have one bar dipped lower.

5) Gamut Luminance - Forgot info about this section.

My presettings were recorded off the THX settings which I use my set mainly for BDS.
So Im not sure who is right or wrong. My guy says hes being doing it for one year but has 8 years doing HT design. But Im still weary. Any pro calibrators can chime in or if you guys know someone on these forums that can lead them here for an evaluation. That would help a lot of members decide

EDIT: How do you take the pre/post sheet off the pdf and on here?
I would like to post mine.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Ace_BB6

Are there any pro calibrators on here that can verify these results are any good?

I had a free GS calibration done last month and I was told this:

1) RGB Balance - The lines on the RBG balance should be between 95-105.
My lines are straighter and yours are split off from the beginning

2) Gamma Luminace The grey line (your tv) should be on top of the yellow line(correct level). Yours is off the yellow line.

3) Gamut CIE - All the dots should be in or at least close to the box. The tech said that being a little off doesnt really matter. Something about us really not perceiving it. But some of yours are way off.

4) Color Temp - All bars should be at 6500. You have one bar dipped lower.

5) Gamma Luminance - Forgot info about this section.

My presettings were recorded off the THX settings which I use my set mainly for BDS.
So Im not sure who is right or wrong. My guy says hes being doing it for one year but has 8 years doing HT design. But Im still weary. Any pro calibrators can chime in or if you guys know someone on these forums that can lead them here for an evaluation. That would help a lot of members decide

EDIT: How do you take the pre/post sheet off the pdf and on here?
I would like to post mine.

Hi,

The graphs of my calibration are not good actually. The signal generator used had it's batteries die near the end of the calibration and this crashed the laptop and I don't think the guy was saving anything yet. I sort of don't think he really recovered from that crash too good.

He was a good tech though and did a good job.

I've always calibrated my own projector and again,.. I have calibrated it since and I have graphs that are much better. I'm certain that I know alot more about calibrating my projector than that tech did,... which isn't his fault really, I've been learning and doing my own calibrations for over 10 years.

I actually have good test equipment now and so I can do a fine job. I was curious about the free service though and wanted to have it and report on it to others who qualified.

As for uploading the PDFs... I opened the PDFs and took a few Snapshots (which is something you find in the pull down menus) and then saved those as images.



-Brian

[Ace_BB6]

^^^

Cool man. That's nice you have the means to compare results. At least it was free for ya. Can't complain there.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I was also curious how other people's experiences were with GS.
At this point Im not even sure if its worth it to pay those 'pro' calibrators more for their services. Curious if anyone can elaborate
for some of us noobs.

Here are my GS calibration results. I don't know crap about calibrations but based on what the tech explained it does coincide with the graphs. So Ill take it for what it is.

Precal.jpg
Postcal.jpg