I just purchased AVIA based on the opinions in this forum and right now I'm a bit confused. I watched the bulk of the dvd and then ran the calibrations....and it looks pretty much the same. I'm wondering if I am using them incorrectly, and I had a few questions.

1. The video on the dvd looks....crappy. Which leads me to wonder how much calibration I can get for a HD-TV off of a DVD. Did I buy a incorrect version? Is there a HD-DVD version? For example, the sharpness pattern has white lines around the black lines no matter what setting I have it at.

2. When I run the blue and the red color bar patterns I can get them spot on, however, when I switch to the blue pattern it looks totally wrong. Should I be trying to get two out of the three right? Or trying to find what makes them all look the least wrong?

3. The steps and spikes pattern (first on the basic calibration part) I can't see the "two moving bars" that are supposed to be in the btm right corner, even when I turn my contrast and brightness all up and down, they are never visible. (however when my xbox 360 menu over laps them, they are visible)

I've heard how a correct calibration is night and day and I'm not seeing that at all, so If someone could answer my few questions or give me some pointers on what the rookies typically mess up I would be greatful.

Thank you.

1) sharpness, look for additional sharpness settings in the source, also displays may have VSM or other "features" on them that cause these problems.

2) blue is what you want to use. Often displays have wrong color decoding, you can see this in the color decoder check pattern.

3) sounds like something is clipping somewhere.

also see the FAQ at top of the forum.

...and post the specifics of your system if you want specific advice.

I would be greatful of any specifics anyone might have on my device. If they have settings that work for them, or know of any mistakes I might be making.

I have a Polaroid 40' FLM-4034b (black Friday special) connected via component to a XBOX360 which I am using as my DVD player. I believe that the xbox360 upconverts to 480P, could that be causing some of the issues?

Thank you.