Are all ISF calibrators authorized manufacturer service technicians for the specific set to go into their service menus? How does a pro calibrator get around the concept that entering a service menu will void the warranty if not? Supposedly Samsung puts a warning in their manual to such an effect that entering the service menu will void the warranty, but Panasonic and possibly Pioneer don't. Is this an issue for calibrators? :)

Some calibrators may also be service technicians, but most aren't. To answer your question, if their is a possibility of voiding the warranty, I will always inform the client as such and let them make an informed decision. Since a calibrator is supposed to write any changes down and keep them in a log, if the TV requires service, the calibrator can change the settings back to factory defaults if necessary.

Greetings

THX calibrators are sanctioned to go into SMs of THX certified displays ... where applicable.

All others ... tends to be don't ask don't tell.

regards

Besides all the other replies... many manufacturers (including Samsung) are quite cooperative with calibrators and even provide details about how to get the most out of their displays but it can take time to build a relationship with a manufacturer. Which is why it helps to be in a calibrator "co-op" situaton where members work with each other to share what they have learned about various displays either from the manuacturer or from "playing" with various displays (sometimes at stores, sometimes in their own system, etc.).

I personally have never heard of any incident where anybody ever got in any kind of warranty trouble from a calibrator using a service menu (I'm sure there are exceptions - there are a lot of "calibrators" who do not know enough to be calling themselves a calibrator, they can certainly waltz right into a land mine that more "seasoned" (and educated) calibrators would never get into.

That said, more and more TVs are putting the necessary adjustments in the User Menu anyway so there are fewer and fewer reasons to even need to enter a service menu.

Greetings

Over the years I've heard of two or three people that ran into warranty difficulties with the manufacturer because they opened their mouth and mentioned calibration. They all played out the same way ...

The warranty is denied ...

They spend the next 3 to 4 months yelling and screaming at the TV company that the calibration had nothing to do with the issue at hand. Then the TV maker relents ... and proceeds with the warranty work. With 4 less months left on the warranty of the TV.

Two potential tracks ... open mouth ... go through the agony ... then have them do the work. Lose 4 months or so in the bitter fight.

Don't tell ... they do the work ... and all is happy with the world. Also up 4 months on warranty period too.

Fortunately these days ... we tend to have good relations with panasonic ... LG ... JVC ...Samsung ... even sharp is coming around. To name just a few ...

regards

Greetings

Over the years I've heard of two or three people that ran into warranty difficulties with the manufacturer because they opened their mouth and mentioned calibration. They all played out the same way ...

The warranty is denied ...

They spend the next 3 to 4 months yelling and screaming at the TV company that the calibration had nothing to do with the issue at hand. Then the TV maker relents ... and proceeds with the warranty work. With 4 less months left on the warranty of the TV.

Two potential tracks ... open mouth ... go through the agony ... then have them do the work. Lose 4 months or so in the bitter fight.

Don't tell ... they do the work ... and all is happy with the world. Also up 4 months on warranty period too.

Fortunately these days ... we tend to have good relations with panasonic ... LG ... JVC ...Samsung ... even sharp is coming around. To name just a few ...

regards

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. This question was brought about by a discussion in another thread that entering the service menu voids a warranty and it made me curious how calibrators got around that issue if indeed that were true. From my searching I wasn't able to find a warning of such in a current Pioneer or Panasonic manual but another poster said it was in a Samsung manual.