Is the Colorvision disk or Spyder2 Express worth it or is the Avia or DVD disk just as good or better?:D



ColorVision - DataColor Spyder2express Color Calibration System

Save the extra change and get the i1Display LT for about $150.

The Spyders are hit and miss whether they're good or not.

I myself have used Avia for the past year, and I finally decided to get an i1, and I just really wish I would have done it sooner. I wasted SOOO much time and money on other methods. I wasn't even close to what the i1 settings were with Avia.

I simply can't believe how good my picture looks now.

Hope it helps,
-Brian

Greetings

Getting grayscale done is nice, but probes won't help you get your black level set right or your contrast set right either. Need test patterns for that and ditto for setting the color and tint and sharpness of the TV.

Getting the black levels and contrast set right are bigger deals than having accurate grayscales.

regards

I agree with you completely Michael.

I just figured that if he got a probe, he would need a test disk for it to read anyways, so using that he could also learn to set white and black levels.

Is this correct thinking?

In other words, do you suggest using test patterns to adjust white and black level?

Thanks in advance,
-Brian

Save the extra change and get the i1Display LT for about $150.

The Spyders are hit and miss whether they're good or not.

I myself have used Avia for the past year, and I finally decided to get an i1, and I just really wish I would have done it sooner. I wasted SOOO much time and money on other methods. I wasn't even close to what the i1 settings were with Avia.

I simply can't believe how good my picture looks now.

Hope it helps,
-Brian

Is it hard to use? will need to look for the site.

Thanks guy's for your help:D

In other words, do you suggest using test patterns to adjust white and black level?

There is no other way to adjust the dynamic range.

"Is it hard to use? will need to look for the site.

Thanks guy's for your help"

Not at all.

There's a couple of threads on here on how to use it. Just a bit of reading required.

You can download some free software and follow the tutorials on here. Very helpful.

-Brian

Greetings

Getting grayscale done is nice, but probes won't help you get your black level set right or your contrast set right either. Need test patterns for that and ditto for setting the color and tint and sharpness of the TV.

Getting the black levels and contrast set right are bigger deals than having accurate grayscales.

regards

There is no other way to adjust the dynamic range.


Actually, this is kind of confusing me :(

You can't use a probe to set in white and black levels, and even color and tint?

Or do you mean it could be used in conjunction with test patterns?

For instance, if I wanted to acheive 50 fL of light output on an LCD display, I would first make sure using test patterns that I'm not clipping whites and that I avoid an overt color shifts in the near whites. Then I would connect the probe and then dial in the contrast to 50 fL? Then finally give a visual check on my test pattern, to make sure I didn't change it to clipping or color shifting?

Sorry if I seem ignorant, and thanks for your advice.

-Brian

Greetings

You got it. You can have a good grayscale, but still be crushing the blacks and clipping the whites. Or have washed out blacks ...

The test patterns are essential or else what is the point of doing the grayscale. Of course you need test patterns to do the grayscale too.

The test disc would have to come before any probe purchase or there really isn't a point to it all. :)

Regards

Good to hear I'm at least partially right for once :p

I'm making adjustments to my LCD right now, following your guidlines a little more closely.

I got so caught up in acheiving a bright picture with the backlight as low as possible, that I completely ignored the color shifts! :eek:

So now I'm readjusting, making color shifts and non-clipping top priority. Thanks for your advice Michael and Gregg, really appreciate it!

-Brian

Was at BB today looking for a BL Disk and decided to talk to the Magnolia employees and asked what was the Cost of a ISF Calibration and they responded $300 and showed me a 50" or so LCD that they had in display and then proceeded to show me the difference on 1 movie mode and how bluish it was at a night seen then changed to a different movie mode and show me a ISF calibrated movie mode could see more details in the black scenes then I asked where is the sharpness or the detail in the scene and he stated that was it.

With my Avia disk or DVE disk could have done a better 3d affect, which their display lacked but again the screen size was 50" or so when compared to my 100" Carada screen?

The movie was the Pirates of the Caribbean a BL disk playing on a Bl player on a 1080P LCD set.

Well, I doubt Best Buy has an ideal viewing enviroment for that display and the enviroment is one of the most important factors in a calibration.

Was it in a blackened room with neutral colored walls and 6500k (at least 90 CRI) bias lighting?

For all I know it might have been, but somehow I doubt it! :p

Not only can calibrating it yourself be very helpful with image fidelity, but it will also teach you a LOT about your display you didn't know before.

Or if you don't want to invest the time, an even better option would be to hire a professional ISF certified calibrator. I would personally steer clear of the BB Magnolia calibrations, but maybe that's just me :)

-Brian

The set was in the open and the employee showed me the before and after report where the Kelvin was way off and reduced to the correct 6500.

Had a RPT ISF calibrated a few years ago from someone that was ISF certified and was in the group that helped Joe Kane set up a new DVD calibration disk and to be honest it did not looked that great to me, not for the money that I spent.:(

Save the extra change and get the i1Display LT for about $150.

The Spyders are hit and miss whether they're good or not.

I myself have used Avia for the past year, and I finally decided to get an i1, and I just really wish I would have done it sooner. I wasted SOOO much time and money on other methods. I wasn't even close to what the i1 settings were with Avia.

I simply can't believe how good my picture looks now.

Hope it helps,
-Brian

Pardon my stupidity but isn't this for monitors not for front projectors????

Check out the calibration threads in this forum.

The i1 Display LT can be used for CRT, Plasma, LCD, and Front Projection...

Just different methods for each.

-Brian

thanks for your reply have you heard about. Monster/ISF HDTV Calibration Wizard, if so no good????

greetings

The Monster ISF disc is for beginners that are afraid of test patterns or following instructions based on reading.

It helps you to set contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness, and even overscan based on human test patterns rather than traditional patterns.

They achieve the same results and in some cases might actually work better than real test patterns.

They do not help you to do things like grayscale though. User controls only.

regards

Thanks for your response, so if I was to use it would still need the gray scale download pattern.

Greetings

Yes. It is designed for beginners and people that get intimidated by test patterns.

Regards

Thanks again but then again it would probably cost about the same as a ISF Pro calibration, except that would have the disk for future calibration.

Greetings

?? The Monster Disc costs $30 SRP ...

Pro level calibration ... more $$

Regards

Thanks Michael, will probably get the Monster disk to add to my calibration disk collection.:D have to wait until the PJ has 100 hours or more.

Why?