does extended warranty usually cover calibrations?

You're right. Calibrations are not for you.


I don't care how much you paid for a unit - even if you got if free - every unit, OOB or years old, can be marvelously improved by calibrations. Without calibration, doesn't matter what you paid for something - you are not getting your money's worth out of it. If you paid a lot, you're REALLY not getting your money's worth. If you paid a little, you have a lot more to spend on calibrations than if you paid a lot.


Would you buy a Maserati or Lamborgini that you got an incredible deal on, like one fifth its value, and then not pay extra for the dealer prep and final tuneup once the unit arrived at the dealer, just because it was half the price of the incredibly marvelous deal you got? What kind of performance would you be settling for? Would it be worth even driving that kind of a car without having a high precision tuneup on it?


Without spending several hundred for a calibration on your several thousand dollar investment, if you are a videophile you are not getting your money's worth. Plain and simple.



Mr Bob

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Yeah but when you buy that Maserati or Lamborgini you don't have to pay extra for that "high precision tune-up". Why should we pay $2k and up for a TV and then pay $500+ extra to make it look it's best. It should look it's best OOB. If that is not possible calibration should be a service provided when we purchase. There shouldn't be an extra cost to make something perform the way it should. IMO anyway.

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Mr Bob is exactly right. I just had mine done last night for first time ever. I've been living with my Mitsubishi 65" RPTV for well over a year with just a Video Essentials Disc! My only regret is not doing it sooner. I'll put up a full review sometime tonight or tomorrow. I'd like to evaluate it further. I don't care how good you think your TV looks now, a calibration will make your jaw drop. Best $500 (could be less in your area) tweak you can do for improved video performance.

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Very true. Like I said if that is not possible than it should be a service to the customer so they are 100% happy and their set looks the best it can. Not 75% happy and looking the best it can after spending more money. I think the money spent on that (by the mf or store) would be worth more than the negative opinions people have about sets that look like crap and how those opinions affect future buying decisions of others. Remember not every consumer is a member of this or other forums. So there are many potential buyers that don't know about professional calibration and make their decision based on the so-so pq of their neighbors set or the one on display at their local store.


Like I said this is just MHO. I think spending extra money to get something that cost me a nice sum of money to work it's best is a crock of you-know-what. Of course I guess it keeps the pros in business huh???

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Just remember, it was Joe Sixpack - who wouldn't know a calibration if it came up and bit him - who is DIRECTLY responsible for bringng the price down IMMENSELY in the past few years. He uses his set for a baby sitter, not a home theater. This is the kind of price you are talking about.


The manufacturers can only price these things low like they have come to be doing if they MASS PRODUCE them.


You won't get the extra care and attention you need to have a stunning picture out of thousands of mass produced units at a time. To keep the prices the way they have come to be, they HAVE to simply pump them out.


You got to accept one or the other - low prices or built-in calibration quality. The marketplace simply doesn't support both.


You like the price? You got it.


You want the quality? You got to keep paying, either up front or after the sale.


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Mr Bob

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Who'll pay for this calibration? We will, one way or the other. Either in the price of the TV, or after the fact (like currently). Hey, I agree with you 100% that a TV should be perfect OOB, but what can we do? It's not a perfect world. I bought the top-of-the-line Mitsubishi RPTV, and it looked great - or so I thought, until I had it dialed-in. MAN, was I wrong! Please read my review in the next day or so, for all the details. I was present the entire time to help out (yes, by HIS request ). And you're right about the small percentage of people who even care about the best PQ possible. That's a factor to consider as well when the factory is calibrating your TV.


PS - There are some very subtle tweaks done by ISF Techs, which would NEVER be done by the factories, but they do make a very noticable difference.

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I have the Mitsubishi Diamond, and every setting that you or I can adjust, is simply inadequate. You HAVE to get inside the Service Menu, cover those lenses, and work away, if you really want great - - outstanding results. Trust me, I was just with ya 2 days ago. Seeing the tech change some settings (some fairly dramatically) from where the factory placed them, was mind-boggling.


PS - Since you have a Misu TV...Do you have a Canary Yellow or a Mustard Yellow in the color/tint test patterns of your test disc?

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The best way to split the difference on this issue is to have a calibration included in the extended warranty that you buy (if you buy it, which is an entirely different story). The buyer would have to call in and schedule the annual calibration, and most users (joe six pack) wouldn't, so I doubt the warranty issuer would lose any money on the deal. And those of us who wouldn't NORMALLY buy an extended warranty WOULD buy one if it included yearly ISF calibration. And it would subsidize the calibrations of those who DO care about PQ. The warranty issuer would just subcontract out the calibrations to ISFers anyway, so they'd get more work...everyone wins!


No I'm not a communist