I'm contemplating picking up one of the calibration dvds such as avia and digital video essentials. Are these available at local retail stores like Best Buy or Circuit City or is it only available for purchase online at amazon or ebay? Thank you. :)

You might try a book store like Borders.

Really, Borders? Thank you for the info Kevin, I'll give it a shot.

Which would you guys recommend for trying to calibrate a Samsung LCD?

Greetings

DVE ... Monster ISF ... AVIA ... all fine. Depends on how far i nto it you want to go. AVIA is closer to a pro tool ... while the other two are consumer tools.

Regards

Thank you Michael for the information. I definately wouldn't consider myself anywhere near a pro so I think its best I look in to getting DVE or Monster ISF. Thanks again.

You can do a on line stock check of your local Borders stores.

If you're a Netflix member, they have 'em both! :)

If you're a Netflix member, they have 'em both! :)But then you won't get the filters that you need.

I recently obtained the isf Monster disk. Unless you are a total dummy there are MUCH better choices.

DVE (Digital Video Essentials) has lots of useful patterns, but is a pain to navigate.

I still like to recommend the "Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up". It is the right combination of easy to understand (without the Monster hype), effective, and has a reasonable selection of additional test patterns. Plus it covers audio too (which Monster doesn't touch).

These days, few of these are in stores. But they are easy to get on-line (Amazon, etc.).

Pratt75 -- The AVIA disc is easy to use, also. Don't discount getting it, it is a lot easier to use than DVE is. It has very simple instructions, on the DVD, for using each pattern.

BTW, Your best bet is on-line, like Amazon, the sources on eBay may also have the filters missing.

I'm wondering, would the SD DVE disc work for my Panny plasma, or should I wait for the HD-DVD version? Does it really make a difference?