Do I need to calibrate

[MikeINNBPT]

I am a new owner of a Sony46" XBR6. Do I need to calibrate for the beast results. I also received a new Sony BDP S550 as part of the package.

Do I have to calibrate for best results? What is the best method to calibrate? I am semi handy with technology.

Any other hints or information would be greatly appreciated.

This forum is great BTW.

thanks
Mike

[allstar780]

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...-46xbr6-2.html

try that for starters, tweak it a bit as necessary

[dadkins]

Many will recommend calibrating.
The thing I notice missing from the calbration discussions it how often.

Weekly?
Monthly?
Yearly?
When you think it needs it?
For the hell of it?

At what? $200? $300?
How often are most people going to want to drop $200 - $300?

Something to also remember, even if you get your set as perfectly calibrated by a professional as possible, some sources will still look - screwy.
Channel to channel on HD cable/Sat can have hues at different ends of the spectrum.
Discs are no exception.
One Blu-ray may look incredible, the next... not so much.
Your set may be spot-on, but no one can guarantee the source is.

You might find yourself changing the brighness/backlight setting, contrast, edge enhancement, color level, hue, ??? - because the source you are watching *RIGHT NOW* looks wrong.
Green haired blonde girl maybe?
A red car that looks like it was sprayed onto your screen with a spraycan?
Grey sky?
Blue grass?
Violet water?

If everything looks - not right, on all sources, ya might want to have it calibrated.

Right now, on most channels/discs/files/sources, *MY* new HDTV looks pretty damn close.
Grass is green, sky is blue, nothing is overly saturated with color, it isn't so freakin bright you need a welding mask to watch it.
The generic "setup" items on Sony and Pixar discs are pretty close.

Me, personnaly, I'm ok with how my set looks to me - right now.
I will probably get it calibrated if it ever starts getting hosed on all sources.

[jsteinhauer]

With a Sony set, DVE and your eye can get pretty darn close. I'd estimate about 75% of the way. If you read around, you will find user menu setting for different Sony displays end up nearly the same. If you view in a dark room, a backlight of minimum to 1, in a bright room, 2 or 3. Brightness at 50 plus or minus 2, and a contrast in the 70-90 range. I would best guess 80-85 is best. Use the Warm2 color temperature, and turn all other goofy features off. Color near 50 plus or minus a couple and Hue near 0 plus or minus one. You shouldn't bother with white balance without a meter. It's pointless. My white balance settings are way off any published settings.

[SlmShdy1]

What about using a colorimeter? I was reading about a couple people using one but the discussion got heated and was locked. Is that able to get as close as a pro? If you buy a colorimeter, I'm guessing it comes with instructions on how to calibrate the TV, right?

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

What about using a colorimeter? I was reading about a couple people using one but the discussion got heated and was locked. Is that able to get as close as a pro? If you buy a colorimeter, I'm guessing it comes with instructions on how to calibrate the TV, right?

shhhh don't tell anybody I'm here...I'm the guy that got that thread locked down...

If you get a colorimeter, you're looking at doing things inside the service menu of your set - and that is a very, very bad idea. You can get lost in there and really foul things up if you're not familiar with the settings.

Go with professional calibration if you're at all tempted to do that. But it's probably best if you try one of the calibration disks first, it's pretty close to perfect when you're done.

[jsteinhauer]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

What about using a colorimeter? I was reading about a couple people using one but the discussion got heated and was locked. Is that able to get as close as a pro? If you buy a colorimeter, I'm guessing it comes with instructions on how to calibrate the TV, right?

A colorimeter can help without accessing the service menu. Like I've said before, there are limited things you can do in the Sony service menu anyway. It does not have a color management system, so I think you are limited to some grayscale tweaks. And even if you can't adjust everything, with the colorimeter you can learn the limitations of your display and understand what is happening with your grayscale and colors.

If you don't have a meter, you might not be able to set the contrast so that your peak luminance is appropriate for the lighting conditions in your room. My Sony's don't clip whiter than white, so if you use DVE and your eye, you will set the contrast at 100, which is not correct. Using DVE and your eye you can set the brightness appropriately, but you will not know whether the near black luminance is appropriate for your peak luminance. Also, with your eye, DVE and color filters you can set the Color and Hue settings pretty well, but you may do better with a meter. Without a meter you can not adjust the white balance settings. With a meter, you should be able to get accurate color tracking, temperature and gamma from 10% to 100%.

If you are reasonably savvy with electronics and computers, using ColorHCFR which is a free download and a consumer level meter, you should have good success, if you have the time. I don't know, if it can be as good as a pro, but I plan to find out.

[SellmeyourDVD]

Originally Posted by dadkins

Something to also remember, even if you get your set as perfectly calibrated by a professional as possible, some sources will still look - screwy.
Channel to channel on HD cable/Sat can have hues at different ends of the spectrum.

Don't they calibrate each input? Or do you mean that each broadcast is different IE one channel may be 720p compared to one channel that may be 1080i?

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by SellmeyourDVD

Don't they calibrate each input? Or do you mean that each broadcast is different IE one channel may be 720p compared to one channel that may be 1080i?

Calibrate for each TV channel? Can't be done... can it?
Two TV channels, SD/720/1080 - doesn't matter, may be completely off from one another.
Having the TV set for *ideal* will still get you a messed up picture on your display because the source is hosed.

Watch a DVD upconverted, and then the same movie on Blu-ray.
Many times, the same scenes will look way different. Color/contrast/brightness/ etc.
People will see something "wrong" and start adjusting the controls til it looks acceptable.

Ok, movie is over... back to TV and channel "3" looks fine. Watch it for a while. Cool!

Switch to channel "15". Whoa! WAY too much color saturation/bleeding, way red, and too bright.
Back to the menu to make THAT look acceptable. Cool!

Switch channels again... guess what. Yep, nearly no color and the picture is too dark.

2 days later, that $300 you just dropped on calibration is... a waste.
While the default settings should still be well within spec, who here runs their TV at default?
I turned off Dynamic Contrast and turned down the backlight.
Took it off warm and set it to "normal".

As always, YMMV.

[allstar780]

Originally Posted by dadkins

Calibrate for each TV channel? Can't be done... can it?
Two TV channels, SD/720/1080 - doesn't matter, may be completely off from one another.
Having the TV set for *ideal* will still get you a messed up picture on your display because the source is hosed.

Watch a DVD upconverted, and then the same movie on Blu-ray.
Many times, the same scenes will look way different. Color/contrast/brightness/ etc.
People will see something "wrong" and start adjusting the controls til it looks acceptable.

Ok, movie is over... back to TV and channel "3" looks fine. Watch it for a while. Cool!

Switch to channel "15". Whoa! WAY too much color saturation/bleeding, way red, and too bright.
Back to the menu to make THAT look acceptable. Cool!

Switch channels again... guess what. Yep, nearly no color and the picture is too dark.

2 days later, that $300 you just dropped on calibration is... a waste.
While the default settings should still be well within spec, who here runs their TV at default?
I turned off Dynamic Contrast and turned down the backlight.
Took it off warm and set it to "normal".

As always, YMMV.

Okay, true enough, but the TV channels are SUPPOSED to be standardized broadcast colors and settings, obviously that is not always the case but 90% of the time it is.

[dadkins]

Agreed, but...

10% of 100 channels - 10 channels
10% of 300 channels - 30 channels
J6P will not be pleased when he hears that he has to drop $300+ to get his new high dollar HDTV calibrated, and CMT still looks screwy to the point he changes the settings back to where the picture looks right... after it's done.

If you have a set that is obviously hosed, get it calibrated.
Otherwise, the set is probably fairly close to start with and anything you or I change, for whatever reason, just made things either better or worse.

Are you(I'm not!) going to want to drop a few hunderd every week?
Every month?
Six months?
When the wind blows?
When someone on a message boards tells you to?

I have a few items that I can display and if green - isn't, I know something needs adjustment.

Sometimes a calibration can help, sometimes the calibration isn't needed and you still get to pay the fee.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-5153490-1.html
"It turned out that something right was bothering him: one of the set's preset picture modes was actually producing a good picture.

"This is bad for business," Miller said. "Bad for my business.""

It seems, more and more, sets are pretty freakin close OTB.
For now, *FOR ME*, I think I shall wait on getting mine calibrated.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by allstar780

Okay, true enough, but the TV channels are SUPPOSED to be standardized broadcast colors and settings, obviously that is not always the case but 90% of the time it is.

Sorry guys, an example of "What The Hell" on a single channel - FOX News:



Left guy is kinda red, right guy is kinda green - who's right?
Who's closer to being right?

Which way would you tweak your display settings?
*WOULD* you tweak your display settings?
Is this a warning that the set needs calibration - or - is it just that this point in time/particular item/channel(or each camera) is way screwy?

[SellmeyourDVD]

Originally Posted by MikeINNBPT

I am a new owner of a Sony46" XBR6. Do I need to calibrate for the beast results. I also received a new Sony BDP S550 as part of the package.

Do I have to calibrate for best results? What is the best method to calibrate? I am semi handy with technology.

Any other hints or information would be greatly appreciated.

This forum is great BTW.

thanks
Mike

try cnet, they may have some good dark room settings for your tv. I got mine from there and the picture looks really good