Customer Reports About Their Professional Calibrations - Page 5

In that case...
It would be best to calibrate the custom. I've recently done a few Samsung LCDs with that menu, and I was able to make a big improvement by doing so.
The software the calibrator uses can play a role here. I've used Progressive Labs and Sencore software briefly (older versions), and Colorfacts and CalMAN (both latest versions) long term. The only software that really allowed me to make CMS adjustments like that without external help is CalMAN. The others just don't have tools for that, though I will not say it's impossible because you can still take the data and try to do some math on your own. It's just that if your software doesn't have tools to help you do a certain task, it's easier to genuinely think it's unimportant.
I've been doing this for 6 years, and if I would have run across your set back before I got CalMAN and knew proper luminance levels for the primaries and secondaries I would not have been able to do as good a job. Working with the filters, as one would tend to do with the other programs on sets that do not have color isolation, would have been very frustrating, inaccurate, and probably wouldn't have made much improvement.

Thanks, but I already paid for the calibration and I don't think I can afford a second one in the near future. I have to say the picture already improved significantly after the calibration.

Chad made a point.
CalMan and specrioradiometer - perfect team for calibration.
Picture already improved significantly after the calibration so he did a right job.

last week, mr bob came out to my place to calibrate my hitachi 43fdx01b. it was actually his second trip to work on my set. i had a good amount of work done. the convergence ics were done, so he took care of that repair. he also cleaned the optics, did an overscan reduction using shims, and did a basic calibration (focus adjustment, grayscale, convergence, geometry, color and tint adjustment). total amount of time to complete the work was 12+ hours.

the results are amazing. after more than 5 years, this was the first professional calibration of my set, so it looks better than it did on day one. everything's much better, but the biggest differences are in the contrast and convergence. there's more details in the darks and images are very sharp. high def sources look great. standard def looks much better too.

mr bob did a great job and was a pleasure to work with. highly recommended.

Congratulations on your calibration. It's incredible what your picture will look like afterwards with a great calibrator. Enjoy!

Thanks, Al, it was a pleasure.

At first I was not sure that Al was going to want to plunk down what it would take to do what he wanted to do - all we could - to get his set to its maximum potential, as it is one of the smaller sets.

But afterwards looking at his face with that bewildered look to it, like "God, why didn't I do this 5 years ago!", and that silly grin in his eyes as he stared at his "new" set, I knew we both had made the right choice. (I am very familiar with that grin, from looking in the mirror...)

Another CRT maxed out the nth degree of performance! And satisfaction!

Had a blast, Al, thanks!




Mr Bob

This weekend I had my Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR8 professionally calibrated by the awesome Kevin Miller. I have had this set since October and absolutely love it to death. The picture was great pretty much straight out of the box but now, after Kevin had gotten his hands on it, it is breathtaking. Simply amazing. The money spent on Kevin's services is money 100% well spent. Kevin worked on my set for over 2 hours. The man is the consummate professional and a real gentleman. He took the time to explain everything he did to me and then some. I learned a great deal about my set from him. I could not be happier. I have had several people over the house since Kevin did his magic and the jaw-dropping expressions on their faces when they sit in front of the TV is priceless. I can't recommend Kevin highly enough. If you live in the NYC area and are considering a pro-calibration consider yourself lucky to have one of the best at your disposal and take advantage of it. I did and I am thrilled with the results.

I just wanted to leave a reference for Tom Huffman. He did my 5020FD over the weekend using ControlCal to adjust the grayscale and man does it look sharp.

Don't pay BB or CC or anybody else to calibrate your XX20 series Pio unless they use ControlCal. To my knowledge, Tom is one of about three guys on the east coast who does it right.

Tom has a website called displaycalibrations.com he works out of Rockville, Md.

Thanks again, Tom!

Thanks for your report!

EDIT: Tom's website is: http://displaycalibrationonline.com/

I had my set calibrated by Chad Billheimer (HDTVbyChadB.com). He did an awesome job. I had attempted to calibrate a couple of the settings myself and only accomplished making things worse. Chad spent the entire day, took his time, and got everything looking perfect! I cannot give any higher recommendation. He beat all the local guys prices by a couple hundred bucks, and I honestly believe he did a more thorough job than any of the local shops ever would have.

Yesterday I had my 2 year old Samsung HPS5053 professionally calibrated by Gregg Loewen of Lion AV. WOW!!!! My plasma has almost 5000 hrs on it and it looks like he hung a brand new tv on my wall, well better than brand new because I have never seen picture detail like this anywhere. He was done around 5:30 and after he left I stayed up until 2am watching all of my favorites because it was like I was seeing them for the first time. No house is too far out of the way and no display is too far gone for him to work his magic on. The best part of it all is that it is like you are just hanging out with one of your good friends.He also explained everything he was doing to where one of my kids could understand. Great guy and awesome calibrator. I officially have the best looking display in Toney Alabama. Eight thumbs up from the Sipps family.

See post #1567 at this thread. Not specifically about calibration yet, it is about his thanking me for saving his Pioneer Elite from a situation many of those Elites are having right now, but also with an appeal for others to go in with him on having me out to his side of the country for a set of calibrations -

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post15296406


b

A couple of days ago Chad Billheimer was here to calibrate my modified Barco 808s. The projector has P16LNP tubes, mounted in Barco Liquid-Coupled housings (with Schliemphlug adjustments) HD-18 lenses and higher frequency amps and input board. I was running 1080i @ 60hz and felt like I had a pretty good picture but knew it wasn't quite as good as it could be. The results were amazing! After spending way more hours than he should have, Chad had the projector resolving 1080p @ 60hz with a near perfect Gray scale and the improvement in the picture is remarkable! I feel this was money well spent and would recommend Chad's services to anyone. Here is a link to a few pictures: http://www.berryhometheater.com/test...libration.html
Don Berry

Gregg Loewen of Lion AV just did a calibration on my year old Toshiba 57 LCD and all I can say is WOW.
The improvements in color, black level and sharpness exceeded my expectations. Its like getting a new TV.
Gregg took the time to explain everything to me and gave great directions and tips on how to keep the set looking good and what all the controls really do.
Call me a satisfied customer!

Dave Whipps

That is a CRT RPTV from a few years ago. Pioneer Elite 720. I don't believe there's an owner's thread.

hi guys

htw...it was a Toshiba 57LX177.....LCD panel.

Another repair report on the Pioneer Elite 510/610/710 line - and part of the 520/620/720 line - has just surfaced at the Problems With... thread here, post #1581 -

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...402397&page=53


Mr Bob

Pioneer 5020 Calibration

Let me start by saying that I am not a neophyte when it comes to Flat Panel Display devices. I bought my first Plasma in 2000 and since that time, I have had 4 more panels. I try to update to newer technology every 18 months. My first panel was a Fujitsu marketed under the Onkyo Integra brand name. I'll not bore you with what the unit cost in 2000.

I have used both Plasma and LCD technologies and always return to Plasma after judging picture quality. I still have one LCD in one of the guest bedrooms but that is another story.

As my 18 month upgrade pate came about, I made a decision to acquire a Pioneer 5020 to replace my Panasonic TH50PH9UK (Pro Series). What a great decision I made.

Once I received the unit, I set it up in a spare office and started the 200 hour preliminary break-in process (using BruZZI & Angelo2's Break-In DVD) running on my PS3 which I brought from home. The unit ran non-stop for over 200 hours.

Keeping a log of time, I reached the 200 hour mark and moved the unit to my home, set it up using D-Nice's post Break-In setting and sat back and enjoyed a truly great picture. At this point, I had no doubt that the unit was superior to the TH50PH9UK. Little did I know that the image I was so impressed with was only "Half Way There".

On December 20th, I had the pleasure of D-Nice visiting my home to perform a calibration. I had been in touch with him all day as he had multiple calibrations to perform in the Charlotte area before getting to me. He arrived at my home around 8:30 PM and started to perform his magic.

What an impressive young man. Well dressed, well spoken, confident and a true professional. After setting up his equipment (I1Pro & Calman) he took my unit to areas that I could only imagine. Tweeking every little control through the Service Menu, he set about to accomplish perfection. When he finished, we had an absolutely level grey scale and colors (99% color accuracy with the 1% being a slight cyan push) that simply pops off the screen. He worked non-stop for well over 2 hours until he was satisfied, and still had a 2 hour drive to return to his home. That is dedication and a perfectionist.

I noted earlier that I was not a neophyte when it comes to display panels. My business deals with these units every day for varied application, including TV studios which use monitors for background display during newscasts. I have seen what I thought was the best picture attainable but was not prepared for the results that D-Nice obtained for my unit.

This report is long enough already. Let me close by saying that if you are located in the Southeast and have a FPD, you are losing may hours of viewing pleasure by not contracting D-Nice to calibrate your panel. He truly is "The Magic Man".

Jack

Thanks for your report...

Last week, my 3 year old Sammy HLR6168w DLP blew a color wheel. Using these instructions http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post15344733, replacement was a breeze. I also dropped in a new lamp.

Yesterday, Bill Hergonson of Coast Calibration (I found Bill via an ISF link in AV Forums) calibrated my set and it has never looked better! The whites really "pop" and the colors are incredible. Thanks to Bill's work, the set is operating at very close to the theoretically perfect 6500k standard at nearly every applicable IRE level.

Bill was prompt, efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. He also took the time to explain the process in detail, answer my questions, as well as share some great "war stories" of his adventures over the years.

I highly recommend Bill for anyone in Southern California who wants to maximize their set's performance!!!!