I just had my second ISF calibration since something went wrong wiith my TV... I had the second calibration done as well as the first by Gregg at LionAV.com..

I have watched some movies and it made it sharper, deeper color, even for HD-DVD which I thought was already sharp.. And I can see 3D effect everybody is talking about now.

Trust me. Get your set calibrated.

Been wanting to get mine done for a while now. Anyone recommended for Southern California? What is the usual price?

Been wanting to get mine done for a while now. Anyone recommended for Southern California? What is the usual price?

I highly recommend Jeff Meier aka umr on these threads. He does tours through out the country. I think he's overbooked for southern CA this time around so you may want to ask to be put on a waiting list. I would as he's that good. He did my set which I thought had an awesome picture to begin with. I was floored when he was done.

-xrispy

Been wanting to get mine done for a while now. Anyone recommended for Southern California? What is the usual price?

Anyone who is ISF certified will do the trick ; )

Call around or look online for repair shops or installers who have ISF certification.

I know Greg, president of LionAV.com and not only is he a exceptional ISF calibrator, but he is a terrific gentleman. I believe Greg personally travels to Southern CA.

-Robert

Anyone in Maryland or the DC Metro area?

I got quoted $350 CAN where I picked up my 37" Sharp AQUOS 1080p LC-37D90U LCD HDTV?

I'll stick to Digital Video Essentials...for now. LOL

Have you ever thought to calibrate the most important element you own? it's your eyes!
Go and get new pair of eyeglasses, you will see new HD you 've never seen to date .. it may sound stupid but you can not imagine how much's the improvement... :D :D :p

I got quoted $350 CAN where I picked up my 37" Sharp AQUOS 1080p LC-37D90U LCD HDTV?

I'll stick to Digital Video Essentials...for now. LOL

Ditto

I highly recommend Jeff Meier aka umr on these threads. He does tours through out the country. I think he's overbooked for southern CA this time around so you may want to ask to be put on a waiting list. I would as he's that good. He did my set which I thought had an awesome picture to begin with. I was floored when he was done.

-xrispy

I second that. Jeff (umr) calibrated my Sony 50" XBR1 SXRD and my whole audio set-up this past October. He is a great guy and does a fantastic job. I would highly recommend picking one of his audio calibration packages to go along with the video calibration. My whole system breathed new life when he left!

Anyone in Maryland or the DC Metro area?

The best one is Craig Rounds. He is based in Chicago, but often does tours to the DC area. He is actually coming around Thanksgiving to this area and will be
retouching my display and adding a Lumagen HDQ VP.

His website is:

http://www.cir-engineering.com/

Greg has done my 50PHD7UY and he transformed a great set into an exceptional one. Sharper picture with much better contrast. Black level is outstanding as is the detail. Shadow detail is outstanding. The set ow has a complete 3d image. HD-DVD PQ s outstanding. I keep posting about this that you have no idea what this set is capable of until it is calibtrated by an expert. The colors a as perfect as they can be. People who think Pioneers have better color including green, have not seen this set calibrated. I know Grg does the east coast as well as Southern California. Expensive but well worth the cost!

When your set is professionally calibrated, as was done on my 65" Mit CRT RPTV, the jump from SD to HD wasn't that great.

Don't get wrong, the HD looks good, but it's not like watching a VHS tape and then a DVD!

Mine was first done by Craig Miller(retired) and lastly by Craig Rounds...2 of the best in the business!!!

When your set is professionally calibrated, as was done on my 65" Mit CRT RPTV, the jump from SD to HD wasn't that great.

Don't get wrong, the HD looks good, but it's not like watching a VHS tape and then a DVD!

Mine was first done by Craig Miller(retired) and lastly by Craig Rounds...2 of the best in the business!!!

Something must be wrong. Everybody here has said it looks great except for you..

SD to HD wasn't that great? that's 150x times the resolution.. Something MUST be wrong.

Thanks. So Greg @ LionAV is highly recommned? Is it truly a huge difference once it has been calibrated? Any want to share personal experience?

I wish words could say it all.. What specifically are you looking for?

Something must be wrong. Everybody here has said it looks great except for you..

SD to HD wasn't that great? that's 150x times the resolution.. Something MUST be wrong.

Well, first you have to see a CRT that has been professionally calibrated. Once that is done, then you'll understand my post.

Uhh, I did have my CRT set calibrated I am the one that started this thread.

Mods, there was a reason I posted this in the HD-DVD area...

Anyone who is ISF certified will do the trick ; )

Call around or look online for repair shops or installers who have ISF certification.

Not all ISF folks are equal by any means, nor are all the best folks all ISF certified (though most all are).

Not just "anyone" will be of the caliber as many of the fine folks you'll find around here.

Well, first you have to see a CRT that has been professionally calibrated. Once that is done, then you'll understand my post.


My set, the Mits 65813 was calibrated by Craig Rounds too about almost two years ago. However, did he recalibrate your set by using the Toshiba HD A1?
Because the HD A1 is on the hot side of the greyscale, and the toshiba's input in your tv needs to compensate for this.
In my case Craig is coming to recalibrate and add a Lumagen VP, which allows to
add more calibration capabilities to my set.

This post is just my personal observation.
I've seen 2 identical plasmas set up in my A/V installers show room. One was ISF certified and right beside it was the identical set done using the AVIA DVD.
I looked at them both long and hard, so did my wife we noted the ISF one looked different but only just slightly and if they weren't side by side we would be hard pressed to notice anything I'm sure. The only difference I could see was in the color and it was subtle to say the least. These were done on 50" Panasonic Plasmas I don't have the model numbers but they were impressive sets. (all the same cables and equipment hooked up to each as well so to make it as equal and fair as possible the only difference been how each set had it picture calibrated)
If you read my thread I've been pretty pumped about getting my PJ ISF certified for some time. Now that I've finally seen what a properly calibrated image vs a ISF image is I just don't think its worth the $ anymore now that I've had a chance to directly compare them.
If your wondering why an A/V dealer would show a comparison like this (I did wonder outloud ) its because my installer doesn't do ISF and doesn't think 99% of people need them they were trying to show that a properly calibrated TV can be just as impressive. (They are selling their service just to "calibrate" at a much lower cost vs ISF in this case).
Anyways long story short I walked away a believer so their display worked in my case.

Greetings

This all works if every tv comes out of the box in exactly the same condition and everyone uses the same DVD player ...

Seen plenty of sets that actually come from the factory close in certain modes. Problem is ... if the end user does not know which of the modes is the most accurate, then it means nothing. Even an accurate set can be set to "vivid" mode ... which is very wrong. The owner of the set can proclaim all he wants that the image is accurate ...

Regards

My set, the Mits 65813 was calibrated by Craig Rounds too about almost two years ago. However, did he recalibrate your set by using the Toshiba HD A1?
Because the HD A1 is on the hot side of the greyscale, and the toshiba's input in your tv needs to compensate for this.
In my case Craig is coming to recalibrate and add a Lumagen VP, which allows to
add more calibration capabilities to my set.

No, CraigR did mine in Dec. of '05. I got my A1 2 months ago. When he gets down here in So Cal, I'll have him touch up mine using the A1 like you say. Maybe he'll have his little device ready for us that only have component.

Don't get me wrong, after he calibrated mine, watching SD's was like film at a theatre...the picture was super great! To me, HD looks super, but not a giant leap. You know as I do, we have the best TV's on the market, other than projectors, so we are lucky, plus you have the 9 inch guns!!!

One other thing, since I've upgraded to FW 2.0, my picture is on the dark side. I really think that 2.0 screwed it up. I hope they get out 2.1 soon and hopefully the slight darkness will go away.

Have you upgraded to 2.0 yet? If you haven't, make sure you make a comparision in darkness level...then you can wish you didn't upgrade like me!

greetings

Why not just use the HD DVD test disc floating around these days to recalibrate the HD from the player? It's results are a close match for HD signal generators.

Regards

Do you mean Kane's HighDefVideoEssentials is on the market?

no, he doesn't there is a high-def video signal disc floating around on the HD-DVD players thread..

Kane's hidef disc doesn't come out till next week.

And, the reason you don't just get a color pattern and go from there, you have to use a colorimeter that measures gray scale to make true grey. (6500 Degs kelvin RGB)

Craig did my MIts 65813 last April. He does amazing work and very professional. I highly recommend him. Joe

Gregg is great. He calibrated my Panasonic Plasma. The poor guy is addicted to Diet Coke though. :(

No, CraigR did mine in Dec. of '05. I got my A1 2 months ago. When he gets down here in So Cal, I'll have him touch up mine using the A1 like you say. Maybe he'll have his little device ready for us that only have component.

Don't get me wrong, after he calibrated mine, watching SD's was like film at a theatre...the picture was super great! To me, HD looks super, but not a giant leap. You know as I do, we have the best TV's on the market, other than projectors, so we are lucky, plus you have the 9 inch guns!!!

One other thing, since I've upgraded to FW 2.0, my picture is on the dark side. I really think that 2.0 screwed it up. I hope they get out 2.1 soon and hopefully the slight darkness will go away.

Have you upgraded to 2.0 yet? If you haven't, make sure you make a comparision in darkness level...then you can wish you didn't upgrade like me!

Hi,

Yes my HD A1 has the latest firmware and with it the black levels did improve. The color decoder in the player is not perfect, and also it doesn't have any sort of adjustments. therefore, you really need to adjust it in your display. What TV do you have?

Mit 65711 CRT RPTV.

i have a Mits 65413 (w/ OPDV971H DVD player connected via DVI) and a Sharp LC37D42U (w/ a Philips DVP 5960 DVD player connected via HDMI)...should i get someone to come out and professionally calibrate them (the Sharp is new, but i've had the Mits for about 3.5 years...Sears has come out to "clean" it every year, but no real "calibration" has taken place from what i can tell)? or, would it be just as easy to get a calibration DVD and i can do it myself?

also, who would you guys recommend in central Ohio to do a calibration? or what DVD would you guys recommend nowadays?

thanks.

Go to ***************.com and under the Mit section, they have calibrators such as CraigM and others.

Good luck!

Or you could go to www.lionav.com

Greg Loewen is GREAT!

hi guys!!
Anthony thanks for the kind words.
Im not sure why inspector would refer a person in this thread to the "Spot", when I have been a "Spottie Calibrator" for 4 plus years.
All LionAV calibrators know the Mits crt sets inside and out. I have personally calibrated hundreds of them.
Happy viewing

Gregg

I just had my second ISF calibration since something went wrong wiith my TV... I had the second calibration done as well as the first by Gregg at LionAV.com..

I have watched some movies and it made it sharper, deeper color, even for HD-DVD which I thought was already sharp.. And I can see 3D effect everybody is talking about now.

Trust me. Get your set calibrated.

A difference like you describe is unfortunately only apparent with a CRT(assuming you have it from your equipment list) My friend and I both had our DLP's calibrated (not by the same calibrator) and we barely see a difference. Of course, if the digital display is set at the out-of-the-box settings, or something was done wrong at the factory, it's likely you will notice a significant difference, but I would think most people here don't leave their sets at factory settings.

A difference like you describe is unfortunately only apparent with a CRT(assuming you have it from your equipment list) My friend and I both had our DLP's calibrated (not by the same calibrator) and we barely see a difference. Of course, if the digital display is set at the out-of-the-box settings, or something was done wrong at the factory, it's likely you will notice a significant difference, but I would think most people here don't leave their sets at factory settings.


Plasma is one technology where proper Service Level adjustments can make a perceptible difference in Detail. Even set at Factory settings of Movie Modes or something similar that ratchets back Contrast or White Level, the light output is still much greater than need be for a vivid image under most common viewing circumstances. Reducing light output in the Service Mode to "CRT-like" levels will bring Detail back into the forefront, as well as having the by-product of preserving phosphor life. The subsequent readjustment of Gamma (necessary by altering light output) and alignment of the Color Decoder (if applicable) and dialing in of Grayscale certainly makes for a noticeable difference with Plasma technology.

As for DLP and other fixed pixel, lamp based displays, I must say that I am surprised that you say there is barely a difference. The lamps in these units, while not as pronounced as some years back, do drop some Red content in the first 50 hours of "wear-in". The restoration of correct Grayscale alone makes a manifest difference in these technologies (using ice hockey as an example, Grayscale adjustment restores the ice to "white", as opposed to another Hue-influenced skew due to the lamp).
In particular, the Mitsubishi DLP sets with the heavily tinted outer screen offer a substantially changed color pallette post-calibration.
Perhaps you are referring to a noticeable change in Detail on DLP pre/post calibration. There aren't a lot of parameters available in many of the Service Menus that allow for reducing the very heavy Edge Enhancement that most manufacturers seem to fancy. Samsung provides a few, and they do reduce, but not eliminate, the "ringing" affect that is prevelant on their RP DLP sets.

While calibration, in this era of display devices, does not render the wholesale night and day differences it once did when CRT RPTVs exhibited poor Factory Focus, pitiful Magnetic Alignment, crazy Color Decoder errors, and erratic Grayscale, there are still a plethora of ills than can be cured to make them emminently more watchable (in my humble opinion).

...There aren't a lot of parameters available in many of the Service Menus that allow for reducing the very heavy Edge Enhancement that most manufacturers seem to fancy. Samsung provides a few, and they do reduce, but not eliminate, the "ringing" affect that is prevelant on their RP DLP sets. ...

Samsung actually provides many adjustments that effect edge enhancement in the service mode. I have been able to eliminate ringing on these sets.

I had my Sharp LCD, the LC-42D62U ISF Calibrated this past weekend by Michael TLV. He's a great guy and I am relieved that he was knowledgeable enough to do an outstanding job within the service menu.

Before ISF calibration, his Colorfacts Pro 7 showed that the greyscale setting I had arrived at from using the Avia disk was a little over 6000K, and the dE on the chromacity coordinates were far too high.

After the ISF calibration there was a color improvement, increased detail, and a more noticable 3D effect. I was stunned at how realistic many of the face closeups in different scenes now looked in the Pixar movie, The Incredibles. I can now tell that there is a shimmer to Mr. Incredible's new red suit.

If you can find an ISF calibrator with a lot of experience then it's well worth the $$

Yes, your set and input devices are capable of near perfection. It's getting them to that state from their out of the box settings that will unleash their full potential.

You're definitely right, getting a competent really experienced calibrator might make a difference. I assumed that the run-of-the-mill calibrators who mainly sell home theatre equipment would not be that different from one of those gurus that travel around (The key thing I looked for is "ISF-certified) Oh well.

The guy showed me the things he was calibrating as he was doing them, and all I remember is Greyscale, gamma(not sure if an adjustment was necessary here), and the basic user settings. I don't recall anything involving the fancy options Samsung apparently provides. It's possible he did slip a few extra adjustments past me, but it doesn't explain why I never got the "Wow, this is awesome" feeling that people are describing with their image.

And Brian, if you're reading this, there's no need to post here defensively like you did the first time I talked about my impressions of your calibration. This is what I see with the before and after of my display and people have the right to know the possible downside of a calibration by you or by anyone. Before you say that I'm too nitpicky, my friends and family were not wowed either with the picture. I just assumed that that's the nature of DLP...based on the posts I read I was wrong.

Gregg Loewen does excellent work. I had a Samsung DLP calibrated by him a couple of weeks ago and love the results. My wife even noticed a difference which says alot. Oh, and if Gregg reads this: Sorry, if I spoiled King Kong for you. LOL You have to come back in a few months when I get another set for the spare room.

Robert