Jeff Meier (UMR) calibrated my Pro-151 a few days ago as well as my audio system. My doorbell rang at exactly 9 am as scheduled. Jeff introduced himself, came in and promptly started to set up his gear. Only about 10 minutes passed and suddenly all the power in the neighborhood went off
! I could hardly believe it! There was some strong wind storms in our area the day before but that day all was fine. Jeff said they are probably working on the lines and said he would wait to see if the power would come back on soon.
Jeff sat patiently and waited. I had several questions for him about my system and the calibration process. Jeff answered them all very thoroughly. He was chatting very calmly not upset at all about the current circumstances. I was not so calm as I thought my opportunity to get my 151 calibrated was slipping away. Jeff had another client scheduled later that day a state away and would have to leave by 2 pm to be on time.
Almost 2 hours later, just 20 minutes before the time he set to have enough time to do the job right, the power came back on and Jeff went to work! He started with the 151. I asked him to calibrate the ISF day and night modes. He asked me some questions about my viewing habits and preferences as he worked and made a few recommendations. Again he answered all my questions in a way I could understand without making me feel like any of my questions were dumb.
My wife was skeptical that calibration could improve the picture on this TV. Out of the box I did the break in procedure suggested by D-Nice to the letter and then used his pure mode settings - we loved the picture (thanks D-Nice
!) But after Jeff finished calibrating the ISF day and night modes - it made a night and day difference in picture quality
! The improved brightness and color accuracy was not hard to see. I feel like I have a new TV!
Then Jeff went to work on my audio setup. I almost didn't request the audio calibration because I don't have a high end audio system (Denon AVR-2802 and small Polk Audio speakers) and I didn't think it would make that big of a difference - I was WRONG!! Jeff used special audio test equipment and found that my sub was out of phase and several other "game over" errors as he called them. All I know is that when he was done - and he spent a lot of time on the audio part - the sound from my audio has NEVER been better. He played the "House of Flying Daggers" BD (which I also own) after he was done. Amazing! I heard so many things that I didn't hear before.
Jeff went through the setup menus of ALL my components: Directv HD receiver, Dish VIP-622, Pioneer BDP-05FD and Denon 2802 to make sure they were set up properly - he did find several settings that needed to be changed - such attention to detail!
I decided to ask Jeff to calibrate my system after reading all the reviews for all the calibrators that have done 151's listed
HERE (thanks htwaits
!). Jeff seems to have some of the best, if not the best calibration equipment available. I asked him when he was here how many 151's he has calibrated, he answered "hundreds" - but then added he didn't think it was that experience that was his advantage as much as his attention to what can't entirely be measured by his instruments. He said the instruments measure only a relatively small number of data points. Then he has to make sure "the numbers" truly are giving the desired result. He used 3 different DVD's to look for color and black level accuracy to confirm what the numbers were telling him. ISF calibration is certainly based on science but I felt this calibrator was bringing the "art" needed to give the best result.
But finally what really sold me on Jeff was the reports of his friendly yet professional manner. I've had other HDTV's calibrated by 2 other ISF calibrators, one who ended up having a very negative and really strange personality.
! But Jeff was a pleasure to work with! The fact that he was so patient and calm when the power went out and was willing to just sit and wait with me impressed me greatly. But today what impresses me is how happy I am with what I am seeing and hearing! I spent a lot on this TV and now I feel that it is performing at the top of its potential.
If you have a Pro-151 then IMHO Jeff (UMR) is who you should hire to make it the best 151 it can be. Jeff obviously thinks a lot of the 151 - he owns one himself.
Rick
