TV configuration. Is it worth it?

[Bullseye]

What does it involve and is it worth paying someone to do it? Does it really improve the quality and performance of the TV?

[ajkj9]

i just bought a disk to do it on my own i love the improvement no way i could afford to have it professionally done

[Bullseye]

Where do you buy the disk? And how does it work?

[ajkj9]

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Video-...6677705&sr=1-3



that's the one i bought it's basically a walkthrough on what settings to use based on your tv and lighting and etc. it's a little confusing and i didnt do the whole thing because it is extremely long but the improvments that it did make were amazing

[me_inside]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

What does it involve and is it worth paying someone to do it? Does it really improve the quality and performance of the TV?

When I bought my panny and sharp over the last 18 months, I simply googled them and found websites that list the best picture settings for every major LCD, plasma or projection TV sold in America.

[CptGreedle]

Professional Calibration is very good.
A professional technician will be able to adjust the color wavelengths so that each shade of color will be accurate. A standard self calibration system can not do this, only a simple color correction at the most. The professional can make it so the shadows are adjusted separately from the highlights and mid tones and can see a graph that shows the accuracy of a series of points along the wavelength.
They can also adjust the image for best resolution and cropping (many TVs crop and enlarge images to avoid "edges" of the image that can be distracting, but you only see this on cable/sat/airwave signals, not on BD or DVD, but they also over crop and cut part of the image out.
They also adjust the sharpness.
They adjust the brightness measuring it to 6500° (don't ask if you don't know).
They will adjust the sound as well to get the best quality calibrated sound you can get.

I had mine done professionally, and he was very good and knowledgeable. As a profession imaging technician, I was impressed and understood everything he was doing.

In short, a professional can do things with your tv that you yourself can no do (without expensive equipment and knowledge), and will do everything they can to give you the best home theater se-up you can get. A self calibrating disc only does minor adjustments on the image. And since he is a human, he can judge if a fix works or not, and make the proper adjustments with demos and samples until the result is ideal.

I suggest that you have a professional calibrate your system, I did and I love the image and sound. It is perfect!

[devils3023]

Where did you get it done and how much did it cost you? I just ordered my 40" xbr4 and am considering getting it professionally calibrated.

[Jim L]

My previous TV (Pioneer Elite RPTV) cost ~$500 for a full calibration.

I've heard that locally it costs 300-500 for an ISF-certified calibration. There are additional costs depending on the number of inputs, presets, etc that they do.

I have seen that it makes a huge difference even on a very good display.

I've had my SXRD display now for about a year without it. I was told that one of the ISF technicians said the SXRD displays have some of the most perfect specs after calibration.

I want to do it, but cost is always a concern. Right now I'm buying a lot of movies.

[secret]

Originally Posted by me_inside

When I bought my panny and sharp over the last 18 months, I simply googled them and found websites that list the best picture settings for every major LCD, plasma or projection TV sold in America.

Do you still have the website with those listings...Please send a PM if you're in the neighborhood on this issue. Thanks.

[mgonzo2u]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

What does it involve and is it worth paying someone to do it? Does it really improve the quality and performance of the TV?

You meant "calibration".

Yes, its worth it.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

You meant "calibration".

Yes, its worth it.

You are correct. I meant calibration. Do you go direct to the TV manufacturer, in my case Panasonic and see if they offer the service or can recommend someone?

[clyon]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

You are correct. I meant calibration. Do you go direct to the TV manufacturer, in my case Panasonic and see if they offer the service or can recommend someone?

they have a global search, too:

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by clyon

they have a global search, too:

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm

Thanks thats very helpful. It only has three stores with people qualified in Ireland. I will ring one of them to see if there is anyone alittle closer to me.

[CptGreedle]

Best Buy Magnolia center... 2 versions of the calibration are available. One smaller simple calibration for ~$100 or so.
The full calibration (which I went for) was $300 plus you get a $100 off if you purchase an HDTV with it.

[JYD59]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

What does it involve and is it worth paying someone to do it? Does it really improve the quality and performance of the TV?

Hey Bullseye, I was wondering if you'd ever get around to calibration. You were very concerned about choosing a good set so I guess the Panny is working out for you.

Here is a link to the ISF website. It has a locator for techs that have proper calibration equipment to adjust the greyscale of your set. Those reference CD that you can buy OTC are pretty good but only a tech with calibration equipment can properly adjust greyscale. I looked for a guy in Ireland and there is one in Cork--check out the site. Enjoy.

http://www.imagingscience.com/

[cleric]

Buy a disc, download some test patterns, or I know hdnet has test patterns on tuesday (not positive on time or date). Don't be a sucker, plus it will help you to understand TVs better.