Customer Reports About Their Professional Calibrations - Page 13

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I don't know what you are getting for a $99 calibration.

Mike

According to one of my clients who got such calibration, the "Calibrator" used remote control and his eyes only. No equipment.

I know someone locally who's eye is extremely good for picking up things.
That and test patterns are certainly one level of calibration.
And arguably the most important (subjective eye response) rather than just measurements, but it depends on what the calibrator is advertising and what the end user thinks they are getting.


Mike

Who do you know locally that can be that good?

...

crauen just wrote a great review on my work on his Hitachi CRT in Chico. It's post #5889 at

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post17160958

Mr Bob

Ha!

You.

Not joking.
SOWK's eyes (and ears for that matter) are incredible at picking up things.

Mike

I just had my Pioneer 5020 calibrated today. Cody Gullickson was the local calibrator and did an excellent job. He spent about 2.5 hours calibrating it. What a difference a professional calibration makes.

Hey all....new here. I'm currently deciding between the LG 55LH90 and the Samsung PN58B860. Once I've decided and have used for a couple hundred hours, I'd like to have a pro come in to calibrate it.

Any suggestions for calibrators close to Huntington Beach, CA 92646?

Thanks in advance.

solid calibration detail...............

I purchased a Samsung PN63B590 from Cleveland Plasma a few months ago, and Chad B stopped by this week to work his magic. I discovered CP and Chad B on these forums, and can't say enough great things about either of them.

Chad B arrived exactly on time and stayed for almost 7 hours doing the video and audio calibration. This was my first calibration, and after having it done, I wonder why I didn't make the leap of faith years ago. I was worried that not being able to do an A/B comparison, I wouldn't really be able to tell a difference pre/post calibration, but boy was I wrong. I self calibrated the set on purchase using the AVIA and DVE discs, and was shocked at how much better Chad B was able to make the set look. Chad set up 2 modes, a true 'Movie' mode, and a daytime 'Standard' mode, with the standard mode being very close to accurate, just brighter for my sunlight filled room. The movie mode he set up was actually brighter than I had calibrated it using AVIA/DVE, and the color accuracy and clarity was astonishing. I sampled the usual Blu Ray discs (Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wall-E) and was in love all over again with my Sammy plasma. The picture had taken on an almost 3D effect, with far superior colors.

Then I was blown away again when Chad took charge of my Pioneer SC-07. He started pressing buttons and flipping through menu screens faster than I could follow, and began a 4 hour odyssey that ended with my 7.1 speaker set up sounding cleaner, clearer, and far more spatially accurate than I thought was possible in my rather large/open family room.

I could go on and on about how impressed I am with my newly calibrated home theater, but suffice to say, Chad B is a true professional. He really did go the extra mile to get everything set as close as humanly possible to perfection. If you are looking for an ISF calibration, and you live in Chad's travel area (seems to be most of the NE part of the country), then I can't recommend Chad B enough. Check him out @ http://hdtvbychadb.com/index.html

Hello all,

I'm looking to get my Sony 36XS955 CRT ISF calibrated. I'm in Southern California. Any recommendations? Chad B has a great reputation but doesn't come out this far.

One thing: I need someone who isn't afraid to move magnets. My televisions tube was replaced and I'm doubtful the service company knew what they were doing in this regard. Thanks in advance.

I work with all CRT tech, be it DV or RPTV, inlcuding regunning and complete setup/calibration from scratch. I fly to SoCal out of OAK.


b

Thanks, htwaits.

Hi, Mr. Bob. So I assume "from scratch" includes adjusting magnets? Also, have you calibrated the SFP CRTs before? Let me know, thanks.

Yes it includes magnets, tho I have not yet played extensively with magnets that stick directly onto the CRT back yet. How is your white field uniformity? If off, I am sure I can correct that.

If you want someone already experienced at that, I am not your guy. If you want someone who has been playing in most facets this field for over 20 years and has extensive experience in the many different facets of calibration - and loves CRTs to death - then maybe I am.

I have not knowingly worked on the SFP CRTs yet, tho I don't keep track of what each abbreviation means, I just work on the sets as they "come across my desk". What does SFP refer to?


b

Hello s.lang,

Our corporate offices are located in Los Angeles and we regularly service the Huntington Beach area. Please feel free to email me directly at dave@avical.com or visit our website at www.avical.com for more details.

Good Pictures!

Dave

Before you buy TV, please read article written by Dr. Raymond Soneira: "LCD-Plasma Display technology Shoot-Out" in Widescreen Review #142.

Regards

Hi, Mr. Bob. SFP = Super Fine Pitch.

I'm not sure which way I'm going to go yet. But I appreciate your candor as far as your areas of expertise and specific experience.

Thanks. We all have a first unit or model we work on, only AFTER which we can declare ourselves "experienced" at it. I have had, maybe, over 100 by now?



Good luck, let us know how it turns out -


b

I have had my 151 since the end of May 2009 and have been enjoying it immensely. I performed the whole D-Nice break in procedure and used Control Cal (thanks Turbe!!) to activate the ISF Day, Night and Auto modes. I used D-Nice's settings initially and proceeded to tweak them to my liking. I was pretty happy with the results but couldn't resist the urge to constantly adjust settings in search of the perfect picture for all types of signals. Since my 151 is a March 2009 panel, I decided to get an official ISF calibration done for my own peace of mind. I contacted Chad Billheimer and he was able to schedule me in within two weeks. He arrived this past Friday evening with all of his equipment in tow and proceeded to work his magic. After three and a half hours of meticulous work he had calibrated Pure, ISF Day, ISF Night, and ISF Auto for each input and also for the Antenna input and checked all of the video settings on each of my players. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to see much of a difference as the picture quality was already stunning. But after Chad's work, the picture is even better. The biggest difference I notice is my whites are now WHITE instead of grayish white and the shadow detail is much improved and colors are spot on. Chad also found a couple of settings that I had set incorrectly on both the 151 and PS3.

It was a real pleasure to have Chad calibrate my set and he is a great guy and a real perfectionist as many others have noted. He takes his time to get everything right while still answering all of your pesky questions. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and are thinking of getting an ISF calibration done, I would definitely recommend contacting Chad. Oh, and his rates are extremely reasonable for the quality of work that he performs. Thanks Chad!

Tim

Chad B stopped out last Thursday evening to give my 110FD a fine tuning. I had him out last year to calibrate my Pioneer when I had it in a light controlled finished basement. I moved a few months ago and lost the controlled lighting. The picture still looked good, but I knew I needed it tweaked for my new home.

Chad came out and calibrated my ISF Night and Day mode as well as Pure. He spend about three hours fine tuning my set and as great as my 110FD looked before, it was jaw dropping this time after he was finished. Colors pop without being oversaturated and I now have more of that three dimensional look then before. The night mode is so much better then Pure when looking at blu-ray or hd-dvd. Chad also mentioned he liked how the Pioneer ISF modes calibrate as opposed to the user modes.

This was the second set Chad has calibrated for me in the past two years. Chad gets my highest recommendation if you're looking to get the most out of your investment. If you're outside of Chad's service area, I'm confident that contacting one of the other forum calibrators will be money well spent.

My neighbor got his set calibrated professionally and he swears he was ripped off. I guess it just depends on the person.

Almost forgot... I know with standard PC LCD screens calibration can make a HUGE difference. I use one of those Spyder devices. I wonder if you could use them on a regular LCD or Plasma TV.

Yeah, I've seen bad calibrations where, if I were the owner, I would feel ripped off. As with other service oriented fields, there are calibrators who do good work and those who, because of inexperience, laziness, ignorance, or lack of adaptability, do a poor job. I've seen poor calibrations that actually degrade the picture.
You can use the Spyder to calibrate TVs, but you'll need another software program to do it. There are other threads in this calibration forum that describe HCFR and CalMAN, either of which would do it.

Just to add what Chad mentioned, it is highly recommended to interview your potential calibrator. Ask questions about experience, equipment used and your particular display. A true professional will have no problem being subjected to this process.

He should ask for money back.
Did he receive report from his calibrator?

UMR recently calibrated my Pioneer Elite Pro 141 and the results were spectacular! He arrived right on time and started on the video calibrations getting them perfect. He also calibrated my audio and when he was done I liked his audio calibrations better than my audyssey calibrations! If you're looking for the best calibrator look no further than Jeff. He has the knowledge, credentials and the latest up to date equipment to get your tv set up correctly. He previously calibrated my pro 150FD and I will keep choosing him for my calibrations.

If you want to find out when he'll be in your area you can contact him or check his website for prices/availability. Thanks again Jeff!