is it worth paying to get my tv calibrated

[christopher2200]

Just bought sony kdl-46xbr8 and was at BB the other day and they said that they isf calibrate tvs. Is this actually worth getting done and if so should I pay BB $300 or should I try and look somewhere else. If you think I should look elsewhere please tell me the name so I could look into it.

[Wingman1977]

If you want your diesplay to look it's best (and have the $ to spend on it), do it.

[Scooby Blu]

Yes! Check around you will find a place.
Thank god I did!

[jibucha]

Hello

I cannot comprehend anyone with a quality display, with either DVD or Blu-ray, not having it properly professionally calibrated.

Thank You

[Odin75]

Well, have you tried calibration settings from review websites? CNET, among other sites, include calibrations settings along with their reviews. I think that's a good start. After all, you might not like the calibration, and you might adjust it to your liking afterward. That pretty much throws $300 out the window.

I would personally never pay $300 for a calibration. No way jose. I'd rather spend that money in blu-ray movies or something.

Here's a link to CNET's settings for the 55" version:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10065972-1.html

[jlafrenz]

I have seen calibrations do great things on some TV's. I say it is worth it. I am thinking about finally getting mine done. $300 seems to be a pretty standard fee, though I am sure it will vary depending on who does it.

[kaitoe]

A professional calibration is recommended for an accurate image. You will be seeing more or less what is intended. Not what's most pleasing to the eye, while it might be, as a by-product. However, a calibration by Bestbuy is not always great, because you never know who you're going to get. The guy might be completely inept and calibrating TVs. You should probably be able to get a good one through http://www.imagingscience.com/ by clicking "Dealers."

What you shouldn't do, if you're striving to obtain the most accurate picture possible, is to go by eye or copy settings from other televisions. Even if you copy settings from another TV that's the exact same model which has been professionally calibrated, it will look different, due to electronic component tolerances. No two same-model televisions are ever the same, so it may require different settings on both televisions for them to look the same. Moreover, a calibrator will tune the settings to your environment (lighting setup, etc.). Copying settings may look good, but if you want it to look good, you can mess with the settings all you want and forget accuracy. Now if you want it to look like what it's meant to look like, and you're willing to spend the cash, then by all means, get a professional calibration.

A step down from that is a calibration disc. This will allow you to adjust the basic settings, but not things like greyscale. That requires expensive tools.

[recS-12]

Just wait for best buy to have a sale on the calibration. They have a couple times a year that I know of, maybe even more. I think the sale is usually $50 off reg price. This is what I plan on doing, and enjoying my tv till then.

[cawgijoe]

I'm too cheap to pay for a professional calibration. I say buy Digital Video Essentials or another calibration disc on blu-ray and do it yourself. Yes, it's not as extensive, but it's much better then eye-balling it.

Also, do go to Cnet and other websites.....find their professionally calibrated settings and start from there as was mentioned by someone else here. Most of these calibrated sets are done in a dark room, so keep that in mind as you tweak from there.

You can also buy equipment such a SpyderTV if you feel inclined.

My recommendation would be to buy a calibration disc for about $20, use the published settings from a review site, tweak from there......first.......if you are happy with the results, you've saved a bunch of money.

If not, sell your disc and buy the calibration.

Just the way I do things....YMMV......

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by christopher2200

Just bought sony kdl-46xbr8 and was at BB the other day and they said that they isf calibrate tvs. Is this actually worth getting done and if so should I pay BB $300 or should I try and look somewhere else. If you think I should look elsewhere please tell me the name so I could look into it.

http://www.avical.com

[bhampton]

I find that calibrating AV stuff can be fun so I do it myself.

At first I bought a few test pattern discs like Avia and Digital Video Essentials (I even have the laser disc calibration disc "A Video Standard".)

Later I picked up a Sound Pressure Level meter. These days I don't need that anymore because my AVR comes with a mic to use for setup.

Eventually I bought a color meter as well.

It's part of the hobby for me so I prefer to do it myself. But then again,.. I built my own room and have a DIY screen so clearly I enjoy some HT DIY. I like how the Home Theater hobby has so many DIY elements to it.

Edit- By the way,... I enjoy calibrating so much I'm thinking of going to the seminars and becoming ISF certified as well.

-Brian

[ezdriver]

I just had my Samsung calibrated professionally and it does make a difference. It was recommended that I wait until I had roughly 100 hours of viewing time on the set before calibrating in order to give it time to "settle in". This also gave me time to get familiar with the TV as to what I liked and don't like about it. Afterwards, I could instantly see more natural colors and better whites and blacks. No more fluorescent greens or crushed blacks. This TV now displays more natural looking images that I don't think I could have achieved on my own...so it was worth every penny to me.

ez

[Wingman1977]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I find that calibrating AV stuff can be fun so I do it myself.

At first I bought a few test pattern discs like Avia and Digital Video Essentials (I even have the laser disc calibration disc "A Video Standard".)

Later I picked up a Sound Pressure Level meter. These days I don't need that anymore because my AVR comes with a mic to use for setup.

Eventually I bought a color meter as well.

It's part of the hobby for me so I prefer to do it myself. But then again,.. I built my own room and have a DIY screen so clearly I enjoy some HT DIY. I like how the Home Theater hobby has so many DIY elements to it.

Edit- By the way,... I enjoy calibrating so much I'm thinking of going to the seminars and becoming ISF certified as well.

-Brian

Since you enjoy doing that so much, go for it. Go into business for yourself and make some side scratch.

[derzauberer]

Originally Posted by ezdriver

I just had my Samsung calibrated professionally and it does make a difference. It was recommended that I wait until I had roughly 100 hours of viewing time on the set before calibrating in order to give it time to "settle in". This also gave me time to get familiar with the TV as to what I liked and don't like about it. Afterwards, I could instantly see more natural colors and better whites and blacks. No more fluorescent greens or crushed blacks. This TV now displays more natural looking images that I don't think I could have achieved on my own...so it was worth every penny to me.

ez

I got exactly that too but didn't have to pay $300. I did it myself using a VE BD disk and a video calibration disk that I downloaded for free at avsforum.com.

However, I agree that some TVs might not be as easy as others. My recommendation is to try DIY first. If that doesn't give you excellent PQ, then pay $300 to have it done professionally. But, if you really put your all into it and understand what you are doing, then the DIY route should give excellent results.

[Glassroots]

Is that $300 per input or do they calibrate the settings on all the inputs? Just curious.
I just used the Spears and Munsil calibration disc and I'm quite satisfied.

[Trogdor2010]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I find that calibrating AV stuff can be fun so I do it myself.

At first I bought a few test pattern discs like Avia and Digital Video Essentials (I even have the laser disc calibration disc "A Video Standard".)

Later I picked up a Sound Pressure Level meter. These days I don't need that anymore because my AVR comes with a mic to use for setup.

Eventually I bought a color meter as well.

It's part of the hobby for me so I prefer to do it myself. But then again,.. I built my own room and have a DIY screen so clearly I enjoy some HT DIY. I like how the Home Theater hobby has so many DIY elements to it.

Edit- By the way,... I enjoy calibrating so much I'm thinking of going to the seminars and becoming ISF certified as well.

-Brian

Calibration is the way to do it, but it's fun by doing it. I would recommend calibration if you spent alot of money on your home theater, but experience does help.

[SellmeyourDVD]

Originally Posted by christopher2200

Just bought sony kdl-46xbr8 and was at BB the other day and they said that they isf calibrate tvs. Is this actually worth getting done and if so should I pay BB $300 or should I try and look somewhere else. If you think I should look elsewhere please tell me the name so I could look into it.

Just get some setting off of tweak tv or Cnet. The BB calibration is VERY sneaky, and their calibrators are only trained for ONE weekend. Here is a good example of a BB calibration, the picture tells a thousand words


The whole story is here http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1

There have also been horror stories on here about how BB came over to calibrate their TV's and it was totally not worth it. One member had them come over to calibrate his Kuro, but when the calibrator got there he simply said "it's a Kuro, you don't need a calibration," and left.

[steve1971]

I look at it this way. If you have the money to calibrate your tv then do it, if you dont then go to Cnet or TweakTv and use their settings. Or use a calibration disc. Me? I used TweakTv's settings and then checked it out with Spears and Munsils calibration disc and found that I had to change nothing. Tweaks settings were right on to my eye anyway.

[Codyblaze]

If you have any THX-branded discs they have a basic calibration program called THX optomizer, while it's not nearly as good as a professional calibration disc or ISF professional calibration, it will make a big difference with your TV if you haven't done anything to calibrate yet. Terminator 2 is an example, try it out!

[K_Williamson42]

You could spend like $20 and get a calibration disc and do it your self

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Digit...s-Blu-ray/551/