[chris_saunders]

Ok so I have been sold on calibration for awhile. I have never had one done, but now that I own my own home and am getting a new plasma, I want it done. Along with this I want all of my cables run thru the wall, plasma mounted, etc... So I go into a "specialty store" this is not one of the big box stores. This is a supposed mom and pop. I actually meet with a very friendly salesman/president of the company. He is great to talk too, seems to know his stuff, etc.. Ok then we get to the tv's, first thing I ask


me:so are these tv's calibrated


him:no, I dont believe in it


me:really?


him:these tv's they are best set at factory settings, trust me, I have been to the factories in korea and japan, you cant get better then these. Best buy will send a kid with a dvd for $300(this i agree with him, but hmmm), cmon factory settings are the way to go.




ok so now after this conversation, im really doubting if I should do any work from him.. I mean is there any relevancy to what he is saying? Again he was a really nice guy and wasnt pushy or anything and I respect that. But I also wanted him to do audio calibration on my surround system, so do you guys think I should be wary of this shop?

 

[GeorgeAB]

Big red flag! Nice doesn't equate with competent.

 

[angryht]

It's unfortunate that he doesn't recognize the benefits of an accurate display. I'd say move on.

 

[angryht]

So, he believes in audio calibration, or are you just assuming he does it? Seems like he's contradicting his beliefs. I'd ask him about that - if for nothing else than to get a good laugh!

 

[sotti]

There could be a ton of factors there, going anywhere from he just doesn't understand what he's talking about or he could be trying to say that if he can't provide the service it's not worth having.


He sells the complete package. It's complete.

But he doesn't do video calibration.

Therefore a complete package doesn't require video calibration.


Salesman 101.

 

[Victor]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chris_saunders /forum/post/18197961


Ok then we get to the tv's, first thing I ask


me:so are these tv's calibrated

...

Unfortunately from my own experience, 80% guys in sales either in large retail stores or small mom and pop companies know only things like plugging display into mains, connecting HDMI cable and turning them on. Sometimes they like to mention some unrelated urban legends from 20+ years ago (like super-duper HDMI cables for better picture quality). So yeah, factory settings are working best for them.

 

[GeorgeAB]

"Trust me," indeed! Nice also doesn't equate with honest. How does a factory know what your viewing environment and associated signal source equipment characteristics will be? The opening post in this 'sticky' thread is also illustrative of inconsistent performance from one sample of an uncalibrated display to the next: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1055906 .


Do current stock HD displays look pleasing and impressive out of the box to most people? Yes, in most samples. Are they accurate within accepted tolerances to display industry standards and recommended practices? Usually not. Image fidelity is not a leading priority for most consumers, nor for most TV sales people. "Looks good enough to me," is fine for most folks.


Far too many AV retailers don't even understand the real purpose of display calibration: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1021933 . You should look for a better informed AV service provider.


Best regards and beautiful pictures,

G. Alan Brown, President

CinemaQuest, Inc.

A Lion AV Consultants Affiliate


"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"

 

[chris_saunders]



Quote:
Originally Posted by angryht /forum/post/18198085


So, he believes in audio calibration, or are you just assuming he does it? Seems like he's contradicting his beliefs. I'd ask him about that - if for nothing else than to get a good laugh!

well I asked him about audio calibration, and he asked if my denon had the mini mic/speaker that comes with it that can supposedly help to calibrate the stereo, and I said yes, so he assumend his installers would use that... im not sure that is really full audio calibration...


He also had no idea about bias lighting...... which again, worries me.. oh and he wanted to use monster cable at 40 cents a foot, which again worried me, LOL

 

[PlasmaPZ80U]

I would look elsewhere for both calibrations. Before buying my last TV, I wanted to confirm whether it had the night and day calibration modes and so I contacted Samsung. The CSR had no awareness on this feature that exists on the 650 and higher up models and went out of their way to say the TV is 'calibrated' at the factory and so it doesn't need to be calibrated again. Of course, this is to be expected of a CSR and especially from Samsung.


However, I wouldn't do business with someone who doesn't believe in video calibration and likely will just do an auto-cal with the mic that connects to your AV Receiver. It seems like this guy is just an installer and nothing more.

 

[ChrisWiggles]



Quote:
It seems like this guy is just an installer and nothing more.

QFT. It's not to knock him, but it sounds like you are searching for services that he doesn't offer. You should look elsewhere for those services. That shouldn't necessarily cause you to doubt the services that he does offer though.


There is something to be said about specialization. The guys installing the gear, pulling the wire etc are most likely going to have (and should have) very different skill sets and experience than a video or audio calibrator.


You hire a plumber to do plumbing, and an electrician to do electrical. There are some common skills involved, but there are some very very big differences.

 

[djpj]

So he seen the factories in Korea and Japan, and those factories are always calibrating one television out of the production line and then apply all those calibrated settings on all tvs on that production line. Every tv is different.