I'm getting a Panasonic TH-50PZ700U tomorrow and I want to get the TV calibrated. However, I really can't afford to pay Best Buy $300 to do this when I will be buying the TV itself, speakers, a receiver, DirecTV, cables, wall mount etc.

Is there any instructions any of you can give me that I can follow so I can calibrate it myself?

I'm getting a Panasonic TH-50PZ700U tomorrow and I want to get the TV calibrated. However, I really can't afford to pay Best Buy $300 to do this when I will be buying the TV itself, speakers, a receiver, DirecTV, cables, wall mount etc.

Is there any instructions any of you can give me that I can follow so I can calibrate it myself?

Get AVIA or DVE. Follow the directions. Carefully.

Get AVIA or DVE. Follow the directions. Carefully.

What are those things?

Greetings

Test DVDs. $25-$40 range

Regards

does the avia and DVE calibrate you service menu settings too? not just the main menu

Greetings

It just gives you test patterns ... you have to figure how it applies to your specific TV display. A disc cannot read minds ... and does not have arms that come out to calibrate the TV for you.

regards

Greetings

It just gives you test patterns ... you have to figure how it applies to your specific TV display. A disc cannot read minds ... and does not have arms that come out to calibrate the TV for you.

regards

Monster has one in the works, but the arms will destroy any non-Monster cables in your set-up, so I don't recommend it.

Don't pay Best Buy for a clibration period. They are probably just kids using the same disks you can buy yourself

So wait, there are discs I can buy that will calibrate the TV for me? Sorry guys I'm really new at this. Is it better than Best Buy calibrating it?

Greetings

Answer ... it depends.

On the competence of the BB person ...

On your own compentence and ability to follow instructions provided on the test disc.

Regards

So wait, there are discs I can buy that will calibrate the TV for me? Sorry guys I'm really new at this. Is it better than Best Buy calibrating it?
There are no discs that calibrate the TV for you. As some of the posters imply, there is not a mechanism in the DVD player for it to measure what your TV is doing and then have it make adjustments on the TV (hence the crack about a Monster disc that destroys non-Monster branded cables...).

You can buy discs that contain test patterns that will also (sometimes) contain narration that talks you through how to change the controls on your TV. However, you would be the one changing the controls.


I HIGHLY recommend reading either my calibration How-To (under my old UserID Ursa -- linked in the FAQ thread at the top of the forum), or, even better, download the demo version of our calibration software and read through the extended help on the "Basic" user profile.

www.calman.tv/downloads/ (http://www.calman.tv/downloads/)

If this is over your head, then invest in an SD-DVD called "The AVIA Guide to Home Theater", commonly referred to as AVIA around here. It is the easiest to follow of the calibration discs out there (in my opinion, of course). Your local video store may also have a copy of it if the $25 - $40 price tag is more than you want to invest in calibration at this stage.

On the other end of the scale, you can also hire a professional calibrator -- but do it later when the pain of the initial investment has dulled a bit. Most of the good pro calibrators spend more time talking you through what they are changing and why as they do making the adjustments themselves. For $300 - $500, it can be a very worthwhile investment, and it is an investment that you may or may not receive from someone beholden to someone else's schedule.

Bill

Best Buy uses actual equipment for calibrations not just a disc that anyone can purchase. The equipment used is from sencore.

I checked out Best Buy for Illinois on the ISF website. Their calibrators are listed as being certified. I pre-purchased a calibration package from them when I bought my Panasonic plasma last week.

is it really worth it to pay 200 dollars for a calibration from best buy?

... versus changing you main settings...

Greetings

Worth is subjective. To some it is ... to others it is not. Neither carries more weight than the other in a world of subjectivity.

If the goal is image accuracy ... then you have to take this step or another equivalent kind. Teach yourself how to do it all and get the equipment yourself to do it. But if your time is worth more to you than doing it yourself ... then you need to hire a professional to do it.

Although I can do an oil change for my car myself ... I still have to take the time to do it and then dispose of the oil and clean up the mess. Or else I value my time more and I take the car to the local Jiffy Lube and pay them to do it. 15 minutes ... and done. Cost of the work versus cost of your time to learn to do it yourself.

Going the BB route ... just make sure the guy doing the work knows his stuff. Like every other service out there.

Regards

Greetings

Worth is subjective. To some it is ... to others it is not. Neither carries more weight than the other in a world of subjectivity.

If the goal is image accuracy ... then you have to take this step or another equivalent kind. Teach yourself how to do it all and get the equipment yourself to do it. But if your time is worth more to you than doing it yourself ... then you need to hire a professional to do it.

Although I can do an oil change for my car myself ... I still have to take the time to do it and then dispose of the oil and clean up the mess. Or else I value my time more and I take the car to the local Jiffy Lube and pay them to do it. 15 minutes ... and done. Cost of the work versus cost of your time to learn to do it yourself.

Going the BB route ... just make sure the guy doing the work knows his stuff. Like every other service out there.

Regards

To add to what Michael said, you may want to entertain the idea of scheduling one of the traveling calibrators that hang out on the forum. It may take a little longer for one to come your way, but you absolutely know the quality of their work before you pay them. With BB, it seems like you have a lot more guessing to do as to the quality before they come out. That isn't to say you can't get a good calibration from BB; I suspect that the quality varies largely with the invdividual calibrator and how seriously they take it.

Most of the calibrators on this forum are in the same neighborhood as Best Buy, and a lot of them specialize in certain technologies or have a lot of experience with certain technologies. If you go with one of them, you have the piece of mind that you KNOW it will be done right, the first time, with plenty of explanation.

Outside of an ISF calibrator, you have two other choices. 1) Use Avia or DVE, both give some explanation, are cheap, and get you a lot closer than most TVs out of the box. They are worth the $25 in tutorials alone. 2) Buy some decent equipment and learn to calibrate yourself. This requires that you really like this stuff as a hobby. If you don't like it as a hobby, then like Michael said, it is worth your time to hire someone else if you want to go beyond Avia and DVE. There is a decent learning curve to all of this, and you will spend at least a third of what a calibrator would cost on decent equipment.