Was your TV professionally calibrated?

[Warm Gun]

How much did you pay? How different did movies look afterwards? Or is the cost too high for you?


Why did I not ask in the "Display Theory and Discussion" board? Because I don't want biased answers on a dead board.

[Warm Gun]

What the hell? I thought I posted this in "Movie Polls."

Edit: Fine here too. Wish I hadn't made the poll anonymous. Been so long since I made a poll thread.

[hanshotfirst1138]

No, Although I’d pay someone to do it if I could find them.

[CWCprime]

No, I just used the recommended settings on RTINGs. If that's "wrong" somehow, then sue me.

[CreasyBear]

I just use calibrated settings from a member on AVS.

[Alashington]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

I just use calibrated settings from a member on AVS.

I tried something like that but I didn’t like it; so I went with the brightest default settings and decided I liked that ten times better anyway.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by Alashington

I tried something like that but I didn’t like it; so I went with the brightest default settings and decided I liked that ten times better anyway.

Ewww.

[crutzulee]

One of the reasons I never engage in ridiculous discussions about colour grading is because that among the myriad of variables, one of the most important is the fact that the overwhelming majority of people on this site are watching on displays that are not calibrated... me included..

For emittive displays, I've always relied on test patterns from calibration software going all the way back to Joe Kane's VIDEO ESSENTIALS on Laserdisc through to readily available files that one can purchase over on AVS. TV manufacturers have gotten way better with out of the box settings than they used to be... at the very least, most will now have some kind of FILMAKER like mode that defeats all the stupid processing that sells units but destroys accuracy...a test disc will get you the rest of the way to compensate for your individual room setup...

JVC projectors have an AUTOCAL software that requires the use of a meter (or meters in my case) that, have increasingly gotten the end user closer to a professional calibration than ever before... I'm about to continue down this rabbithole on my day off tomorrow as I just purchased an X-Brite i1 Display Pro meter that can do both COLOUR and GAMMA calibrations better than my current SPYDER X...

The efficacy of any calibration can be measured with test patterns as opposed to "eyeballing" it or using the settings of someone whose unit and environment are completely different from yours..

[David M]

The efficacy of any calibration can be measured with test patterns as opposed to "eyeballing" it or using the settings of someone whose unit and environment are completely different from yours..

Test patterns, and a probe with measurement software.

Some things can be checked with test patterns (eg black level, sharpness) but to know what you're looking at in regards to grayscale tracking, color tracking etc., the only way to know for sure is to measure it.

The good news is that on many of the better modern displays, you can get a lot of the way there by using the accurate modes.

The bad news is that you have to know what those modes are and how to find them.

It breaks my heart when I see photos of peoples' displays online and even through the off-screen photo, you can tell they're looking at stuff in the blue-tinted, edge enhanced modes. And it's not those people's fault. It's the manufacturers' fault for hiding the "hands off" modes the way they do.

[yougottaguys]

Originally Posted by David M

it's not those people's fault. It's the manufacturers' fault for hiding the "hands off" modes the way they do.

Well said. A good example is that the accurate picture mode on Sony TVs is called "Custom" like what the heck?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by David M

Test patterns, and a probe with measurement software.

Some things can be checked with test patterns (eg black level, sharpness) but to know what you're looking at in regards to grayscale tracking, color tracking etc., the only way to know for sure is to measure it.

The good news is that on many of the better modern displays, you can get a lot of the way there by using the accurate modes.

The bad news is that you have to know what those modes are and how to find them.

It breaks my heart when I see photos of peoples' displays online and even through the off-screen photo, you can tell they're looking at stuff in the blue-tinted, edge enhanced modes. And it's not those people's fault. It's the manufacturers' fault for hiding the "hands off" modes the way they do.

Same: did it myself with test patterns, probes, and measurement software.

Originally Posted by cuzzin

I did. I'm willing to bet there's a correlation between amount spent on the TV/projector versus how many voted "yes." I wouldn't calibrate a $500 TV set either. But the more you spend, the better the set, thus greater ability to present a truly accurate picture when professionally calibrated.

It's quite the opposite in my experience of selling TVs for 15-ish years: the more money spent the more likely the viewer is to be the "I'll set it up how I want it" type. But to be fair, those people who just eyeball it have always made up the majority no matter what display they have, even on an 'enthusiast' forum like this. Then there's the inbetweeners, the ones who plug in settings from rtings or whatever, and that's a start. Folks with proper measured calibrations can prolly be counted in the single digits on here.

[Prog5000]

No. I used a few test patterns when setting up the tv, turned off all the nonsense modes and I’m unconvinced that calibration would squeeze anything noticeable useful out of my tv.

[fancycar]

I believe in my own eyes better than the professional calibration.

[DKLou]

Nah - my 83" Sony OLED is very dialed in right out of the box in expert modes. Minimal tweaking makes it superb. No need to dick with service menus, etc. Not required.

[jvonl]

Originally Posted by DKLou

Nah - my 83" Sony OLED is very dialed in right out of the box in expert modes. Minimal tweaking makes it superb. No need to dick with service menus, etc. Not required.

Agree. My first two OLED's (65' LG C7 and 77' Sony A80J) were purchased from Robert at Value Electronics and were calibrated (and just gorgeous!). When the A80J lost a fight with a lightning strike, Sony replaced it with a new A80K. (I tried to get them to give me a voucher so that I could buy from Robert, but no dice.) In any event, I was properly amazed when, right out of the box, it was stunning. After years of hearing stories about tv's being shipped from the factory in torch mode, I'm wondering if that is no longer the case. Sony at least seems to be shipping tv's more in line with real world settings. I know, one or two stories don't prove anything, and I still believe that calibration is valuable, but perhaps more as a trouble-shooting exercise than for the actual picture settings. The panel lottery still exists, and calibration can diagnose issues before the tv gets to your home. Should I bump up to an 83' someday I will get it calibrated for that reason, but for now, I'm really pleased with what I have!

[Doc Samson]

Nope, I played around with the settings until I got an image I liked across the board and then called it a day.

[drb999]

Nope, I adjust to what looks best to me.

[bondfooll]

I’d like to, but it’s so expensive for something that might be what? 10-15% more accurate than using a test pattern disc from Spears and Munsil?

[Vilya]

I purchased my 85" Sony Bravia 9 TV from Robert Zohn's Value Electronics last summer and I opted for the "VIP Calibration Service" which "includes a full Q/C for stuck pixels, abnormal banding, tinting, screen uniformity & any defect in the TV. Then we do a proper break-in, then our calibrator DeWayne takes care of the top professional calibration."

https://valueelectronics.com/product...r90-4k-hdr-tv/

At the time I believe that the price for this service was $700, but after some generous discounts were applied I think that I actually only paid $400. The website today says that the price is $850 to calibrate and Q/C check an 85" TV. I think that it is worth the cost even without any discounts.

I feel that the Q/C check was as valuable as the calibration service. It was great not having to worry about how my luck would fare in the "panel lottery," especially for a TV of this size.

I have enjoyed my new TV for 7 months now and I am happy that I chose this added service. I have watched a variety of content across several formats and I am well pleased with what I am seeing.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

How much did you pay? How different did movies look afterwards? Or is the cost too high for you?

The good news is that it's never been easier to attain an accurate representation of a creator's intent and a superior image with modern television technology and related formats (UHD, WCG, HDR and HEVC).

Buy a modern TV, purchase a UHD player (as opposed to streaming) and select Filmmaker Mode. For most people, a DV-capable OLED is a good, general starting point.

If an accurate image is important and you choose to go the eyeball route, the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark disc is a good investment.

As someone who is an executive in the marketing communications field and a former designer who also manages and on occasion proofs deliverables (art and photography), my monitors at home and in the office must be calibrated.

For this reason, I have used a colorimeter for my monitors, and as an adjunct, applied those learnings to my home TVs. While some manufacturers and related panels are pretty close out of the box, most are not, and very few are perfect.

It has never been easier, provided you are willing to invest the time and money, to calibrate your own set to ensure an accurate image. Calibrite recently released a new lineup that will work with a Mac or PC, with prices starting around $175 and going up to $300.

A professional calibration may represent a good choice if you only have one TV and intend to keep it for at least five years. But, if you are someone such as myself with lots of computer and TV screens and likes to upgrade every three years or so, a colorimeter is a great investment.

Why? Manufacturers are constantly upgrading firmware, which on occasion can impact on board software such as Dolby Vision. Panels change over time, which is why most professional calibration experts suggest waiting 500 hours or a few months before a calibration. If you do it yourself, you can conduct and check at your convenience, e.g., annually.

The big thing to remember is this – an accurate image and the image you as a viewer may prefer is not necessarily one and the same. In fact, to echo David's point above, many people are conditioned by the images they see most frequently and by extension biased to prefer an image that is brighter and more saturated than an accurate image.