ISF calibration. Is it worth it?

[Blu Tiger]

I have an appointment with a Best Buy technician to come and calibrate my Pioneer Elite Plasma for $300. Is it worth it? Will I be able to tell the difference? Would his calibration be preferable to buying a do-it-yourself disc that kind of does the same thing? Thanks.

[Heresy]

Not sure how much of a difference it is on a plasma but it was a big difference on my DLP and well worth it for me.


https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=6172

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by kiddtigger

I have an appointment with a Best Buy technician to come and calibrate my Pioneer Elite Plasma for $300. Is it worth it? Will I be able to tell the difference? Would his calibration be preferable to buying a do-it-yourself disc that kind of does the same thing? Thanks.

Hey, after you've had it done, please let me know how it went for you. I want to get mine calibrated, and want to know if Best Buy is a good place to have do this.

[Deciazulado]

If the ISF tech knows his stuff he can know service codes for the TV and do tweaks that you can't regulary do like reducing overscan, 1:1, color space mods, etc if the TV permits.


On the other hand, if you know your video stuff, you can use the test disc/patterns to get a good picture.

[Spankey]

An "ISF" calibration, absolutely, positively, YES. Calibration by a Best Buy tech? I wouldn't throw my money away. Find a calibrator with references. Hate to say this but check out AVS *cough*, or Home Theater Spot. I use Eliab at Avical.

[Blu Tiger]

Well the guy is contracted by Best Buy. He is ISF certified though.

[ascian]

best buy isf technicians are not the same as their in-home installers. there should be no reason to shirk them just because of the best buy reference.

[clyon]

Where to find a real ISF trianed person.
Costs are around $400 & always ask if they have worked on the same tv you have

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

[nhaase]

Thanks for the link.

[Blu Tiger]

Getting my tv ISF calibrated in an hour.

[SVTCobra_71]

Originally Posted by kiddtigger

I have an appointment with a Best Buy technician to come and calibrate my Pioneer Elite Plasma for $300. Is it worth it? Will I be able to tell the difference? Would his calibration be preferable to buying a do-it-yourself disc that kind of does the same thing? Thanks.

Congrats Kidd,

I have the PRO-FHD1 and saw a huge gain after having my TV ISF Calibrated. Pioneer Elite in general is known for there black level, however, after having my Elite ISF Calibrated there was around a 30% gain in the black level but more noticable was the contrast and detail gained in darker scenes, whether it be on gaming or on Blu-Ray movies. Enjoy the new gain in picture quality.

[AustinSTI]

Hmmm I have the PRO-FHD1 as well and though I don't see HOW the picture could get ANY better your comments got me thinking maybe I should have it Calibrated...Care to share any PRO-FHD1 calibration thoughts/notes?

[i want HD movies]

actually Best Buy does not have ISF guys. Magnolia Home Theater does. You hjave to go to a store with a Magnolia Department to arrange for a calibration service.

We sent our regional ISF calibrator to all the schooling any independent contractor goes to. Do not underestimate a major company doing things right. The cost is 300. The Specialist comes out to calibrate 2 sources (or 2 inputs depending), with each receiving its own day/night setting.

I have had many clients that say it was well worth it, with only one client, who owned a Fujitsu I sold him, who said they did not notice a "big difference." But even he said the deail was a little better and the colors were more lifelike. Funny enough he said he liked the colors richer than more lifelike anyway!!! lol

Some clients are actually buying down, maybe a lower model Samsung or the Sharp LCD instead of the Sony and getting a calibration done. They seem to feel the difference becomes even less and it costs them 300 instead of a grand or more.

[SVTCobra_71]

Originally Posted by AustinSTI

Hmmm I have the PRO-FHD1 as well and though I don't see HOW the picture could get ANY better your comments got me thinking maybe I should have it Calibrated...Care to share any PRO-FHD1 calibration thoughts/notes?

Sure,

While as I previously stated the Elite's are known for industry leading black levels, however, the ISF Calibration really brought out a deeper black i didnt think was possible on this set. The main area in which i noticed these changes was while playing PS3 and watching Blu-Ray movies on the Elite player. For example while watching X-Men III( which i have still found to be one of the best Blu-Ray movies on the market for showing lights and darks and from one color extreme to the other) there are scenes in which color and black level where remarkably different after being ISF Calibrated. Playing Oblivion on the PS3 also showed reamarkable detail(color wise) actually seeing the different hue's of yellow and green on the leaves as you rode by. I can't say as to whether or not the pricing that Magnolia offers is consistent or if they do a good job at all. If thinking of ISF Calibrating your TV id highly recommend trying a local High End (non big box/pallet slinger store)store it might run a little more but in the end you always get what you pay for.

[JTK]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=561596

^^ My take on the ISF calibration subject. Totally worth it!

[Jodi]

Originally Posted by clyon

Where to find a real ISF trianed person.
Costs are around $400 & always ask if they have worked on the same tv you have

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

All of my experiences with ISF calibrations have been first rate. Getting your set calibrated REALLY shows off what your TV can do and SHOULD do.
Definitely check with the above ISF link to locate ISF-certified techs.
I even had my Ayre Acoustics DX-7e DVD transport calibrated along with my Loewe Aventos 30 by the same guy on the same day.

Jodi

[Blu Tiger]

I have noticed a difference. The color is right on now, and skin tones look real. Black level is better too. Yeah, it was Magnolia Home Theater, but I thought that was a part of Best Buy. The tech that came to my house said that he was trained by the guy that founded the Imaging Science Foundation. Anywho, it was well worth the $300 I spent.

[Chris Gerhard]

There are no absolute answers to whether or not an ISF calibration is worth it. For me, the answer is no. For many others, the answer is yes. I have a 720p LCD projector with a 100" screen and a Sony KV30XBr910 CRT HDTV and simply using DVE provides results I am delighted with. If I had better displays and more money, I might find the benefit worth the price. What is clear is that there are many ISF certified guys that do a great job and their fee is reasonable for their level of expertise.

Chris

[Blu Tiger]

Hey, I had a question for anyone. The tech that calibrated my PRO-FHD1 was supposed to do two inputs. I thought that meant it would be two of the display types like movie, standard, game, user, etc, but the only one he changed was the user display type. He said that would apply to the Component and HDMI inputs. Does that sound correct? Thank you.

[i want HD movies]

yes magnolia is employed by best buy. but we are a partner and have an independent training and corporate philosophy from Best Buy which is why only Magnolia Pros can sell in the Magnolia rooms.

yes he was trained by the isf founder. all of our company's Elite services reps (the Magnolia guys that do ISF calibrations) were trained at the ISF site by ISF people.

Every tv is different, so it is hard to say how the results will effect different sources. If you have any questions just contact your calibrator if he left a card or your MHT Pro for answers.

One important point: many tv's do not allow us to hard save the settings into the set so DO NOT CHANGE ANY SETTINGS OR YOU COULD ERASE THE WHOLE PROCESS. some sets do have a created setting "day/night" but many just have us use the "user" or "custom" setting.