Calibration disc (Video Essentials/Avia) vs. Professional Calibration?

[tor_greg]

Is a calibration disc a suitable substitute for professional video calibration? How much does it usually cost to have a tech do it?

[KPlummer]

A professional can never be replaced by a simple disc, but you have to be weary of certain people's definition of "professional". I work for a high end audio/video company and while we have some guys who are extremely good at their job, we still subcontracted a Sony tech to calibrate one of our theatre rooms. It all depends on truly how far you want to take it, how deep your wallet is and just exactly how much will truly make a differance in what you yourself see and hear.

[BEC]

A calibration disc is probably good enough for most people.
It lets you standardize the accessible TV controls.

Professional (say, ISF) calibration is for the very fussy
or if you have more serious issues, generally reserved for above average equipment. Convegence errors, geometric distortion, gray scales, HDTV test signals, ...
things you can't (normally) do from the front panel.
Sometimes service menu information surfaces on various websites for the more DIY inclined.

Prices vary according to the skill of the tech, region and the job. For example, its about $75 - $150 /hr for a good ISF tech in N. Cal.

avsforum is good place to ask for regional recommendations, if you're interested.

From my experience, it made a huge difference on my wega and sony projector. I learned alot from the guy too. The projector really needed it. I probably won't get my wife's 19" Konka professionally calibrated. :)



[Edited by BEC on 04-26-01 at 04:56 PM]

[David From NY]

If you have a HD RPTV, ISF calibration is a must. When I brought my Toshiba TW40X81 I called an ISF tech and he told me the set need to be "broken in" (about 100 hours of use) first. He recommended I use Avia to do the inital setup.

I got the Avia disk and went through all the setup and I thought I did a decent job until it was calibrated by the ISF tech. I will say I was about only within 60% of spec (YMMV). It cost me about $380 here in NYC. The guy spent about an hour and a half with my set and I must say it is money well spent.

If you are interested, go to the ISF web site and you can search for certified tech in your area.

Regards,
David

[Orlando]

David,
Who did you use in NY? And sorry for asking, but what is the ISF web-site address?

O