Customer Reports About Their Professional Calibrations - Page 20

Thanks for your Reports

"Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for my own education is what Jeff did with the sharpness of the set".

Darthkringle, I could not agree more with your post and especially this quote. Jeff's Texas tour came east of you and my way Saturday evening, Jan. 29. I live in the middle of nowhere (as Jeff noted!) so it is great to have a pro around who enjoys touring and can actually get to where you are located. I'm always a day behind in my life and thought he was suppose to show up Sunday but when I double checked the appointment email I was mistaken and he got here right when he said he would on Saturday. First thing you notice is his enthusiasm for his work. The second is the quality of his equipment. I mean this guy carries over $40,000 worth of equipment with him! The third is the professionalism. Even his pre/post-calibration spec sheet looks like an engineer's report (then again, he IS an engineer).

The sharpness improvement you noted was also very noticeable with my display. I have an Epson 1080p projector shooting on a Carada BW 106" screen. My Dishtv box (1080i) and my blu-ray player go through a Yamaha A/V receiver via hdmi to my projector via hdmi. I thought I had it close by using Avia and "WOW" disks. And, indeed the specs did not seem that far off. However, Jeff was able to tweak much further and by making small but precise adjustments, he created a picture that makes me think I am watching a projector costing twice as much - or more. The sharpness especially was seen in the pure white shirt Daniel Craig was wearing during the initial Casino scene in "Quantum of Solace". The snow white shirt was so vivid that the actual stitching could be seen, as well as the white on white pattern on the shirt. There was no "whiteout" whatsoever.

Colors were lifelike, much more than before. This was especially noticeable with my greens. Try as I might, I was never happy with my greens no matter if I was watching golf, football, foliage scenes, etc. My greens had a gray tint but now I have true green. All this just in time for my super bowl party! I have a fairly good audio set up and like imdocjoe a few posts up, I also own really good Jim Salk custom speakers. I'm sure Jeff could have worked some magic with my audio system too but when you start receiving Social Security checks, very few of us can detect the subtleties such audio adjustments achieve, and mine is worse than most. So, I did not have that done but for a young man's ears, I would highly recommend you have Jeff do the whole thing - and you'll be happy you did.

Although I thought my PQ was very good to begin with, I couldn't pass up Don's good price and have my set professionally calibrated. Don is a THX trained calibrator. He was very professional and answered all questions asked. Overall, I'd say that both color and depth of picture were improved over my combination eye-ball/settings from net calibrations (without going into the SM). But, be aware that because the TV doesn't have CMS, we had to sacrifice getting the best values for green and cyan in order to get the best values for all the other colors. Nonetheless, to my eye (which is pretty good, but not picky obsessive), my colors and skin tints are very good. I am very happy with the job that Don had done.

Thanks Adam. it was a pleasure working with you. Enjoy!

I'm very happy you are so impressed, Tom! It was a pleasure working with you that evening. I'll see you again very shortly once the Ideal-Lume lights arrive. Until then, enjoy!

jb socal in Simi Valley just sent in a report on the phone coaching I did with him yesterday on cleaning the optics on his Pioneer Elite CRT RPTV.

It's post #7991 at this thread -

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post19959832


Here it is -

b


Mr. Bob struck again. I have a Pioneer Elite 610, it is only 11 years old and it has never been cleaned. So I decided to get a consultation from Mr. Bob. The dust on all surfaces was extreme. I was looking at new sets because the picture wasn't as good as other tv's I see (I wonder why). I already have a top rated Panasonic 50" plasma in the bedroom where the colors and picture is great. After all 10 surfaces were cleaned guess what. The color and detail are better than the plasma. I guess "new' isn't always better. Bob's knowledge and helpful hints make the job go easy it was actually fun. Thanks to Bob for resurrecting the big box. It is a shame how many of these sets have been thrown out over the years.

I had the pleasure of having my Panasonic 58VT25 calibrated by Lee Gallagher (Advanced Audio Visual in Arizona) this weekend. Lee calibrated THX, ISF Night, and ISF day modes for me and the results are surprisingly noticeable. The best way for me to describe the improvement is like a haze has been removed from the screen - everything is just crisper and cleaner. Lee indicated that THX is normally hard ot beat in terms of color accuracy, but he was able to get my ISF modes nearly as accurate as THX. ISF Day proved great for SuperBowl before the sun went and then we switched over to THX. Later in the evening, watched a Blu-Ray using ISF Night. All proved to be useful for the situation and content and I am so happy to have them all at my disposal. Lee not only did a great job with the calibration, he took the time to educate me on everything he was doing. Anyone looking for calibration serivces in Arizona should definitely give Lee a call as his services are highly recommended and worth every penny.

Steve B in Fremont CA just commented on my help in saving his cherished Pioneer Elite CRT:

From sbernste post #2521 at this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post19990842

Just saying 'Thank you!' to Mr. Bob! I love my Pioneer Elite PRO-720HD, and when it wouldn't power-on 2 weeks before superbowl I was trouble. When turning it on it would just "click" and then immediately go into standby mode with no picture. I found Mr. Bob here in this forum, who not only helped me remotely diagnose the issue, but also promptly performed the repair for a reasonable price. My TV is working again and all looks excellent! Many thanks for this forum and to those who participate here for your expertise, advice, and guidance. I am a loyal fan.

sbernste

My thanks to Steve for this report -

b

I also had my 65VT25 calibrated by Mike. He initially calibrated ISF Day and Night modes, then, following the installation of firmware 3.5, came back and also did THX mode. We generally only watch movies and TV shows at night, so we really only use the THX mode now. Having owned the display since November, I can really say that the set looks fantastic now. The colors are bang on and there is a noticeable depth to the overall picture.

I echo the comments above regarding Mike's professionalism and skills, and would certainly highly recommend him.

Thanks, Mike!

Wayne

Thanks Wayne

It was great meeting you and I'm glad you hung out with me during the calibration. I'm very happy you are enjoying your television!

For those looking at these posts, I service southern Ontario from Windsor to Kingston, to North Bay. Other locations may be available by request.

Hi Mike, (Michael Osadciw)

Thanks for making the trip to Whitby for the 151fd calibration. I was impressed by your professionalism. The tv looks great now, with a noticeable increase in depth, and a substantial difference in my blues, and greens brightness. The colour pops like crazy, yet is not over saturated. (has a wet look to colour at times now, due to the contrast detail showing all the hidden detail)

My room is main floor, with light paint. Having a bright room to deal with, where I am never completely in the dark, Mike went 44.5FL for dark settings in isf.

Shooting for 35, would have left us crushed in the bright room. His experience was bang on, since after 1 week of viewing, the results are perfect. Even GT5 looks better. LOL. Oasis HD is much improved, and low light scenes in bluray look very nice.

No rush job here, the time was taken for trial and error combinations, until the best comprimise for my room was found. This is where experience can really make a difference. My set can not reach an exact level, but making the right choices of where to give and take, made for great results. Pioneer could use half increments at time, vs a full increment.

My initial seetings for isf night were very dim....27ish FL...so you can imagine the pop from 44 in a bright room...even in the dark. My day settings are even brighter, and really only do justice if a huge ammount of light is streaming in. I use night mode for 90% viewing.

I'll have Mike back to tweak my settings once the basements finished and a controlled light room is built. For now, it is just perfect.

Thanks Mike.

Lou

I apologize for perhaps being late to post this, but Jeff was at my house last month to do an audio calibration and I wanted to post my results for all the work he has done for me.

As the title indicates, Jeff has calibrated my Pioneer PRO-150FD in the family room (5/08), and the Samsung PN58A760 in the basement (3/09). Both still look awesome and I couldn't be happier with the results. However, the real endorsement comes from my wife, who brags to friends and family about the PQ on both.

I have posted the calibration reports in the respective thread for each display.

As I mentioned earlier, Jeff was out in March to dial-in my audio for my basement system. This was the final piece to a puzzle I had been working on for about 6 months. With his help (and patience in answering a lot of questions from me), I put together my "dream system" and am very happy with the results! The audio is so crisp, clear, and detailed, I am amazed at how good he made it sound. Audyssey did a good job to hold me until his March tour arrived, but with Jeff's calibration, he made my good sounding system sound AWESOME.

Due to work and family commitments, I don't have as much time as I'd like to enjoy my system, but when I do have a few hours to watch a BD or listen to music, it is perfect.

Had the pleasure of meeting and having both my Pioneer 151 and audio system calibrated by Jeff Meier (UMR) this past Thursday. He was very punctual, professional, knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor! We chatted for a bit and then he got right to it and started of on calibrating ISF Day on the Pioneer. Already had ISF Day unlocked and using settings from another well respected calibrator on this forum. After Jeff was finished we popped in a couple of movies and all I remember after watching Casino Royale and Kick Ass was holy c**p coming out of my mouth over and over again! I'm sure Jeff gets that a lot! Picture was much more vibrant, colorful, and just popped off the screen. Or as Jeff put it "it was glorious!"

Afterward it was on to my audio setup. I had some concerns as I have 2 DefTech STSs for fronts with built in subs. I was over a friends house a couple of days before Jeff came over and was just blown away with the HSU VTF-2 MK 3 he had in his setup. He actually let me take the sub home to demo it and there is just no substitute for the real thing. Another concern was where to place my 2 surrounds for optimal sound, Jeff did recommend a spot I hadn't even thought off. Since I did not have a real sub yet and needed to move my surrounds a bit Jeff recommended calibrating the audio on his next trip when I would have had a sub and change the positioning of the surrounds. I asked if he could do a basic audio calibration and stop by next year to work on my audio again. True to his nature he had no issues with that at all. He disengaged Audussey and manually calibrated the EQ and also had me position my 2 fronts further apart for a more open sound stage.

Audio sounds fantastic and cant wait for next year to come and get Jeff back calibrating my audio again when I finally get my sub. Cannot speak highly enough of the 'magic' Jeff performed on my Kuro display and the excellent work on my audio setup. Highly recommended to anyone who are still on the fence about a professional calibration!

+1

Just picked up my new Sony HX55929. After looking at how good (relatively speaking) the out-of-the-box PQ on this set was, I knew I wanted to call in the pros in order to get everything out of it.
Called Lee Gallagher with Advanced Audio Visual (I'm in Tempe, AZ BTW) based on a lot of very good reviews here on AVS and other forums. Lee was prompt, professional and more than helpful. He was very communicative during the process, making sure I understood every step he was taking and what the intended results were to be.
After calibration, my set looks absolutely fantastic. The colors are rich, the image sharp, the blacks deep. Small annoyances like minor blooming are virtually gone. I really couldn't be more happy thanks to Lee.

As a testament to ChadB's work ethic and approach, let me fill you in on how I came upon him first:

I'm in Central Florida; close to Tampa.

Last year (Mar. 2010), my M8500 was professionally calibrated by a great calibrator (Craig @ CIR) and looked STUNNING! But I caught an upgrade bug, & acquired some HD145 color-corrected lenses & Joustmods for it in Jan/Feb 2011 .

Unfortunately, Craig wasn't available to do a lense install & full re-calibration @ this time because of previous engagements.

So I'd been looking for an alternative calibrator for months, literally.

Then I came across ChadB's name on CurtPalme's Referral list (I think). Chad's listing didn't mention that he even covered FL, but I figured what did I have to lose by asking him if he knew of someone he could refer me to?

Chad responded in an email saying "Hey, I'll be in Florida around Jun 16-19; will that work for you?

Do pigs oinK?!

So besides driving approx. 1400 miles (he had @ leat one other Riverview FL customer on his trip here) from his native state, Chad did a state of the art ISF calibration on my Marquee. Admittedly, I'd seen what my 8500 looked like when it was calibrated by Craig, but after Chad installed my upgraded lenses, which required him to think outside the box as a result of diferent throw distances and such, he coaxed an image from my 8500 that I dare say surpasses to some degree my initial calibration (which was something to behold from Craig in and of itself!).

I really appreciate Chad's work ethic, sacrificing nature, & dilligence to keep going until he's given 110%. He simply refused to stop until he was satisfied it wouldn't get any better; but it looked good to me the 1st time! Thought I was gonna have to prepare the guest room since he was still going very late ...aiming for PERFECTION.

As long as men like Chad are around, CRT Front Projectors will be providing jaw-dropping, film-like picture quality for quite a while. Thanks Chad. I truly appreciate what you did.

I just watched more blu-ray today, and with the detail (shadow as well) and color gradations they kep catching my attention....all I keep saying is oh....my....god!

here are the links for the before and after charts for the Pro calibration performed on my 63C550 Samsung Plasma last November by Chad Billheimer....

Before

http://forum.blu-ray.com/picture.php...pictureid=8767
http://forum.blu-ray.com/picture.php...pictureid=8768

and After.....awesome difference....

http://forum.blu-ray.com/picture.php...pictureid=8769
http://forum.blu-ray.com/picture.php...pictureid=8770

Night and day difference in the picture quality.....amazing job.....props to MR. Chad.....again...

can;t see anything

Same here. Links just go to a blank page.

Okay lets try these

before



After

page 1 before and after transposed for sure

I live in the Oakland Hills of the Bay Area, CA. I engaged Robert Jones of Image Perfection to calibrate my Panasonic Viera TH-50PX600U (May 2006), based on references here in the forum. Based on work schedules, Bob and I picked yesterday, the summer solstice, to calibrate my set. My room has a lot of light, so we had to wait to get started until after 9:00pm. Bob showed up promptly, was very engaging and informative. He explained every step of his work, and double-checked his observations and adjustments with me. Bob spent over three hours on my set, and the resuts are excellent. For now, he has my set looking good enough to delay for a little while longer that VT30 I have been looking at. Highly recommended!

Bob can be found here:
510-278-4247
bob@imageperfection.com
http://www.imageperfection.com/