Geek Squad TV calibration: My Story

[bhampton]

Hello,

I scheduled a free geek squad tv calibration for Friday the 14th (10 days from today.)

I thought I would document how it goes here for reference (or more likely entertainment value.)

I don't have pix in my HT gallery currently so maybe I'll make some so that you can follow along.

The display is a Sony VPL-VW60 and it projects to a 82 inch screen.



I tend to do my own calibrations and currently I use a i1 pro spectrophotometer to profile a Display2 colorimeter and then that gets used with the free HCFR and AVS709 disc.

I'll post up my "before" graphs and then the aftermath of the visit from BB.

Why do the GS calibration?... Well, I bought some appliances last year so I qualified for the free version ($249 value ) and I don't think I'll ever quality again. And, who knows .... maybe I'll learn something.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Hello Again,

I'm hoping this thread will be info for anyone else who currently qualifies for the free calibration or even maybe someone who considers actually paying for the service.

Over the phone the BB person told me the visit will go like this: First the technician will perform the calibration, then he will discuss some remote control options I may not be familiar with (ie he will try to sell me a Harmony remote), then he will make sure the wiring is all organized (ie he will make a last ditch attempt to sell some cable ties or power conditioners or basically anything he thinks I can be talked into buying.)

Before the visit, I'll do my own calibration with the tools I have and post up the current state of the display.


-Brian

[Xander Crews]

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out. (I am NOT interested in BB coming to my house, though). You've gotta keep a running total of how many upsells they attempt and how many times they mention that "other customers got this..." in an attempt to sell you on something. This could be a good time to have 20/20 do a hidden camera thing to see how people get duped and expose high pressure suggestive selling.

[bhampton]

Yeah,... ha ha.... videotaping it could be cool.

Geek Squad did get busted once for leaving a cell phone on video recording mode in someone's bathroom while they performed services on a home computer.

I'm pretty reluctant to have them come out to the house but... I really don't know,... maybe it will be worthwhile or at least ... funny.

I'm willing to give them a chance. Maybe they will send an ISF trained technician (Hopefully level 2 at the least) with quality measuring gear and willingness to perform the calibration as it should be.

Can't wait to find out.

-Brian

[dobyblue]

Cool thread, looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

[Lush23]

I am looking forward to your findings. As far as upselling goes, my tech didn't upsell anything.. He just came and calibrated and showed me the results from it.

[Member-231231]

i used to set up calibrations on TV's before mostly in store instead of at customer's house.

it will really depend on the TV you have and if it is an LCD, PLASMA, LED (edge lit) or LED (Back lit).

most plasma TV's if they are a Panasonic have a cinema THX mode and its pretty damn close to a calibration service. you can however get a calibration CD or color panel and adjust it to your eye setting but its hard because everyone has a different look and feel that they like.

the problem with the Calibration disc is that it will work on your color but not so much on the black and white settings. another thing is that it will not turn down the saturation on the colors from the back panel.

im in no way trying to sell this just trying to give insight. i really like my picture and i have a 42' LED LG 5600 from 2 years ago and it looks awesome with the right cables and the calibration. during holiday season usually November calibration gets marked down to 100 dollars.

[bhampton]

In my case it's a projector and there's no THX mode.

I'm gettting pretty excited about this appointment because I'm certain i'll learn "SOMETHING" and that's good enough for me.

I calibrated the set myself the other day and got a RGB balance under 5DE from 30 to 100 and as a bonus, the picture looks great too.

There are many ways to go about calibrating this display (and I'm sure any display though flat panels don't seem to have as much controls as projectors in my experience.)

Will the person just have a calibration disc and go about verifying Brightness, Contrast, Color, Hue and Sharpness?... If so it will only take a minute flat and all that stuff is going to be correct anyway.

Will he bring test equipment and conduct 2 point Grey scale? ... I wonder.

Will he have an opinion on the iris? Turned off, Manual, Dynamic?

Will he try the gamma presets and measure gamma?... Surely, he won't know about the gamma correction software the pj ships with.

Will he use RCP (Real Color Processing) to make adjustments? Chances are it will do more harm than good ,... it's not a good way to make gamut adjustments.

Will he go into the service menu?... Lots of adjustments can be made without going into the service menu.

Will he be female?... I think that's a billion to one odds but that would be a nice surprize like meeting a female automotive tech ... they do exist.

Will he give me the calibration report showing before and after?

I'll upload a report of my own showing defaults (oh man the defaults are off the chart literally) and the results of my calibration.


So many questions... I can't wait to see what Best Buy sends here.

-Brian

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Will he be female?... I think that's a billion to one odds but that would be a nice surprize like meeting a female automotive tech ... they do exist.

Indeed - ever see the handywomen Mike Holmes has on Holmes on Holmes? Awesome.

[bhampton]

I'm not familiar but I'll check it out.

Best buys website says the service tech is ISF trained.

They also mention the talk about remote control and the tech will tie wrap your wiring if needed.

With that in mind I've gone over my remotes and set them up perfectly. I also cleaned my gear rack (which was way overdue) and bought tie wraps and organized all the wires.

I guess I was supposed to get that done but I'll save the tech the trouble.

Even if they don't send anyone I'll come out ahead.

Tomorrow I'll calibrate myself and post my results.

-brian

[MrFattBill]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Indeed - ever see the handywomen Mike Holmes has on Holmes on Holmes? Awesome.

You mean his daughter?

Bill

[PUsokrJosh305]

Originally Posted by quikblend

i used to set up calibrations on TV's before mostly in store instead of at customer's house.

it will really depend on the TV you have and if it is an LCD, PLASMA, LED (edge lit) or LED (Back lit).

most plasma TV's if they are a Panasonic have a cinema THX mode and its pretty damn close to a calibration service. you can however get a calibration CD or color panel and adjust it to your eye setting but its hard because everyone has a different look and feel that they like.

the problem with the Calibration disc is that it will work on your color but not so much on the black and white settings. another thing is that it will not turn down the saturation on the colors from the back panel.

im in no way trying to sell this just trying to give insight. i really like my picture and i have a 42' LED LG 5600 from 2 years ago and it looks awesome with the right cables and the calibration. during holiday season usually November calibration gets marked down to 100 dollars.

I do my own calibrations myself as well, we have a device called the X-Rite i1Display 2 and a calibration disc and there is a website out there called calibration for dummies, it takes you through a step by step process on how to calibrate the tv yourself, total cost was $150 total, and I have done about 3 or 4 tvs with it, that would cost you roughly around $1,000 if you went through Best Buy or any other place, the tvs look amazing!! The results are stunning!!

[Wingman1977]

I would rather have my dog calibrate my tv before I would let those people from BB touch it. To the OP, for a expensive projector like that, just spend the extra cash (if you can) and hire a professional calibrator to work on it.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Wingman1977

I would rather have my dog calibrate my tv before I would let those people from BB touch it. To the OP, for a expensive projector like that, just spend the extra cash (if you can) and hire a professional calibrator to work on it.

I understand your view.

Let me try to explain mine.

I have been using projectors since 1999. I've always done my own calibrations because it's fun. I didn't always have the best tools.

These days I think I have tools and know how that rival most professional calibrators. I use a photospectro meter and a colorimeter. I plan to do a calibration this morning and post my results so I can compare to what happens in the appointment to tomorrow.

The "service" is free and I'm just curious what they will deliver. I think several members qualified for silver level rewards last year for one reason or another. For me it's because I bought some home appliances.

So, it's free, I won't qualify again, I'm not scared, and I'm curious.

Maybe it is a mistake,... I just want to check it out.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Here is half (the first five of ten pages) an example of a first rate professional calibration done by Tom Huffman on the same projector model that I have.

The person that had this done posted it on AVS and I keep it as a reference of what to strive for.

However, these results are not possible without a video processor. In this case Mr Huffman sold the approx $1000 processor used to make the adjustments.The onboard color management system on my projector doesn't function correctly so getting this type of results would be difficult or impossible.

If someone wants the other half... I'll upload it too. Not sure if there's interest.

I will go make some graphs using my own calibration gear so that I have my report to compare to what the Geek Squad does.

[Mr.Twinks]

Sub'd!

This will be an interesting read and I am curious at the results. I have been contemplating getting my Pj professionally calibrated by a local mom & pop HT shop, but my dilemma is if it is worth the coin.

Thanks for taking the BB geek squad plunge op!

[bhampton]

Here's a comparison of my RGB balance with defaults and the RGB balance with defaults from the sample calibration work done above.

The graphs are very similar. This particular projector has defaults that are INSANE and calibration is 100% needed.

The default picture is actually very watchable and enjoyable ... it's just nothing like correct.

Now, I'll calibrate and post the results. If I had to guess I guess the Geek Squad will adjust grey and gamma and leave color gamut alone. (That's actually imagining they will do a great job.)

[MrFattBill]

Originally Posted by Mr.Twinks

Sub'd!

This will be an interesting read and I am curious at the results. I have been contemplating getting my Pj professionally calibrated by a local mom & pop HT shop, but my dilemma is if it is worth the coin.

Thanks for taking the BB geek squad plunge op!

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

http://hdtvbychadb.com/

Bill

[Mr.Twinks]

Thanks MrBill, I will jot down his info!

[bhampton]

Here's the "AFTER" of my calibration today.

Not my best ever but my goals in calibration are delta E under 5 from 30 to 100 and a reasonable gamma.

In this you see Delta E is about 4 from 30 to 100. It's crazy off the scale at 20 so if I had more time today I would try to tame that. The resulting Gamma today is 2.12.

The resulting picture... is good.