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Technical Articles Professional Display Calibration: What It Is and What It Means to Your Home Theater Experience
Technical Articles Professional Display Calibration: What It Is and What It Means to Your Home Theater Experience
Technical Articles
| Professional Display Calibration: What It Is and What It Means to Your Home Theater Experience |
| Written by Christian Eberle |
| Sunday, 23 November 2008 17:00 |
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Page 6 of 6
Conclusions So to answer the question posed by the title of this article: what professional calibration means to the home theater experience, it means you will have a display that matches the original film content as closely as possible. The only way to significantly improve upon a properly calibrated display is to install an actual film projector in your home! While some consumers have done this, video is the omnipresent product the majority of us own as part of our hobby. Thanks to organizations like the THX, ISF, and SMPTE, it is now possible for us to replicate the cinema experience in the home with affordable equipment and a visit from your local professional calibrator. Comments (10)
ISF Calibration
written by Ron W , November 25, 2008 The unfortunate thing about professional calibration is unless you have a video display that hasn't been calibrated to compare it to, you don't know what you are missing. I have a large screen 6 year old RP CRT in which not only has professional calibration given me more accurate colors but the reducing of the brightness and contrast(voltage) levels to where they are supposed to be, has actually substantially increased the life span of the set! I have seen nothing in the newest technologies(plasma, LCD etc.) that changes this in that most sets delivered to the customer from the retailer are far from delivering the best and most accurate picture and this is regardless of price or size. Look at professional calibration as turning your monitor from a Chevrolet to a BMW. In my opinion, for those that want to get the best of their video display, it is money well spent.
Cost and Benefit
written by David Appleby , November 29, 2008 What would one expect to pay for professional calibration? Once the display has been calibrated, will all components (DVR, DVD, and Blu-Ray player) benefit equally or does one really need a set that will take a different calibration per input?
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written by Dave Pace , December 01, 2008 I purchase displays that already come from the factory properly calibrated. Like Samsung LCDs or Panasonic plasma in Thx mode. The other issue is that ISF certification means they took a class, not that they have been factory trained to understand the optimum setting in the service menu for my display. Its a risky, expensive proposition with no guarantee of customer satisfaction.
Cost and Benefit
written by Christian Eberle , December 01, 2008 Mr. Appleby, Calibration services run about $300-$400 for most displays. While a TV that allows seperate calibrations per input is ideal, there are adjustments that can be made to some source components if the TV forces a single global calibration.
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written by Christian Eberle , December 01, 2008 Mr. Pace, While THX-certified displays have above-average accuracy, there are still gains to be had. I have yet to see a current-generation Samsung that did not improve after a thorough calibration. Calibration is also affected by the viewing environment. A professional can address this. There are many older model TVs out there that can benefit greatly as well. You would not believe the image quality of a well-made CRT TV! Many people are hanging on to these venerable displays and extending their life with the help of a professional. If anyone is concerned with the quality of a potential calibrator, they only need to ask for references. ISF certification means not only that one has taken a class but that they have passed a test demonstrating their knowledge of the theory and applications of video reproduction.
Misconceptions
written by Stephen Cooper , December 02, 2008 In reference to Dave's comments above I have to clarify one thing. One of the main factors that come into play for display calibration is the viewing environment. There is no way any display is properly calibrated out of the box. These newer panels (especially the newer samsungs) have done an excellent job of providing all necessary controls (including 18 controls for Color Management Systems) to achieve precise calibration. But they do not come calibrated out of the box. That includes the Panasonic in THX mode also.
Equipment
written by Ron W , December 03, 2008 In reference to Dave P's concerns about the outcome of calibrations, it should be noted, over the years I have dealt with two reps connected to two different retailers and they were both equally competent. Since the equipment to do the calibrations along with, in some cases, computer software, runs in to several thousand dollars, there is much more to it than an individual just taking a course. In both these cases the rep had to purchase their own equipment so they had to know how to use it. That is one reason the cost is in the $400 range. Accurate gray scale at various brightness levels is problematic with most units coming out of the factory. All you have to do is read the reviews about new models when the reviewer is discussing this subject. This is only one issue alone in the process, where the vast majority of monitors fall short, regardless of price, and this is the single most important element in making sure colors are accurate. It is a time consuming process to do it right. Ideally, you want the individual that is using a laptop so they can provide you with a printout of the results and how close they come to the ISF optimum guidelines since no set can ever be calibrated to 100% accuracy up and down the scale.
Panasonic THX Mode
written by Doug Weil , December 03, 2008 Adding to the comments about factory pre-calibrated displays, I agree that manufacturers are making a more honest attempt to provide HDTVs that are closer to accurate out of the box, but like any other aspect of high-volume manufacturer quality control, there are hits and there are misses when it comes to these modes. For example, just last night I worked on a Panasonic TH-50PZ800U and the pre-calibration results for the default THX settings measured at just under 5,800K at both 30% and 80% white levels, with a readily visible red and green tint to grayscale test patterns. My customer, who was relatively new to the world of video, had complained when we first spoke that using Warm in THX mode made the picture too red and using Normal made it too blue -- for a relative novice, he proved to have a very good eye. He was very happy with the improvement once all his sources were aligned to D65. I've noticed that there's an unfounded belief that the Panasonic THX modes are accurate out of the box, in part because this was reported by CNET. I've worked on a half dozen of the Panasonic 800U models, and all but one that I've measured were in the 5,800K range (one outlier that was closer to 8,000K). I've calibrated more than 800 displays over the past 6 years, and only TWO were close enough out of the box that I felt compelled to reduce my fee to just travel costs. I suspect that the Panasonic unit CNET reviewed was hand-tweaked by Panasonic prior to delivery. Consumers should be wary of any pre-calibration data in reviews, unless the reviewer explicitly states that the review unit was acquired via a retail store rather than from a manufacturer. Due to the costs involved, this rarely happens.
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written by Bob Walters , December 09, 2008 Aside from the $10K worth of equipment & the many hours of education both formal & informal ALL the display calibrators that I know [and I am one]have an attribute that separates them from the BB & CC calibrators....DEDICATION.....if it takes 3hrs or 100hrs until we [as well as the informed client] are satisified that the display "replicates the cinema experience" we continue or return at a later date!!!!! Write comment
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