[TF1216]

I went to http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm to see who offered the ISF calibration service in my area (NH).

It seems to me that my initial thinking that ISF calibrators were supplied to tv consumers through a large business was wrong.  I am getting the feeling that these ISF pros are individuals who took up the job to make extra cash.  Is this true?

Should I call around to try for the best deal?  Do you think they will bargain if a family member of mine wanted the service as well on the same day?

I got one quote for a $400 package to calibrate a DLP.  Is that a good deal in peoples' experience?

Any suggestions for me?

Sorry all the questions, I have one more.  Should I only consider calibrators who have both the ISF optical comparator and the color analyzer?  Some have one or the other says the website's database.

Thank you guys!

[ctviggen]

I went to http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm to see who offered the ISF calibration service in my area (NH).

It seems to me that my initial thinking that ISF calibrators were supplied to tv consumers through a large business was wrong.  I am getting the feeling that these ISF pros are individuals who took up the job to make extra cash.  Is this true?

Typically, yes.

Should I call around to try for the best deal?  Do you think they will bargain if a family member of mine wanted the service as well on the same day?

I've heard of this working for some people.

I got one quote for a $400 package to calibrate a DLP.  Is that a good deal in peoples' experience?

I paid $700 many moons ago to have my RPTV calibrated, but that also included installation of material inside the RPTV cavity.

Any suggestions for me?

Sorry all the questions, I have one more.  Should I only consider calibrators who have both the ISF optical comparator and the color analyzer?  Some have one or the other says the website's database.

Thank you guys!

I have a color analyzer.  This is used to set greyscale (grey/white is the combination of all colors).  It appears that these are the same.  (I.e., optical comparitor = color analyzer)  However, perhaps one has features the other does not.

[PaulHilgeman]

Hey,

I am ISF Certified, and the company that I used to work for did it on most TV's that we sold, but we would charge around that price to do it.

Do not have someone do it without a color analyzer.  I can do pretty well by eye, but it still helps.  Also, there are several different types of color analyzers, I usually double checked with two different ones.

What TV is it?

Make sure that they copy the settings to each input you use and do sanity checks on all of your inputs to the best of their ability. 

When complete, you should notice a pretty big difference.

-Paul

[TF1216]

I am choosing between a Samsung HL-S6187W 61" or JVC HD-ILA HD61FN97 61".

[pilot232]

I just had a Pioneer plasma calibrated by an ISF certified technician and it made a very substantial improvement in color accuracy and image sharpness. 

I looked at the list of folks offering ISF calibrations on the ISF website and it appears to be a mixture of folks who do this on the side and av/home theater businesses offering additional services.

My tech who did my TV does this on the side.  He said that the most important thing is looking for someone who has a fair bit of experience doing calibrations as the training is fairly basic and you only get good with practice.

ISF has a suggested price range for various services.  $400 sounds a little high to me but it could be that DLPs are more of a challenge.  Also, the more inputs that are calibrated, the more it costs.  I paid $300 for two inputs on my plasma.

You might want to take a look on the AVS forum where there is a sub-forum devoted to display calibration and many of the posts come from certified technicians. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php Lots of good information, but the discussions can get pretty technical at times.  As I recall, there is one thread where one or more posters named who they thought were good in the N.H./Maine area.  That could just be mutual backscratching but it could  be useful also.

Let us know how it comes out if you decide to go ahead and have your set calibrated.

Cheers.
David

[gstraley]

I had Chad from http://www.hdtvbychadb.com/ calibrate a small 26" Toshiba widescreen HDTV. I did not mention to the wife that I was having it done. She made a comment that evening that the picture looked much better. I told her then that I had the TV set ISF calibrated. I guess Chad did a good enough job to justify the $295.00 that I paid to have it done in her mind. You really notice the improvement mostly on High Definition signals. The picture is just clearer and more defined. On some of the shows that PBS broadcasts in High Def. you can get the feeling that you are viewing it right in front of you. The bigger sized screens do a better job of giving you that sense that you are almost seeing it in person. I recently picked up a Sony 34"  CRT widescreen HDTV that I will have him calibrate the next time he comes to the Chicago area. I am not sure if I would spend the money if I only had an older TV that was not HD and / or was only going to use a standard cable signal. Through a standard cable signal you probably will not notice a lot of difference. The colors might look better. You might tho, if you play a lot of DVD's and your DVD player has a real good picture notice an improvement.

[PaulHilgeman]

Make sure that they have experience,  My first 20 TV's took me about 3 hours apiece and I didn't feel comfortable doing it until I had done the same TV about 3 times.

Dont ever try to calibrate a Loewe RPDLP, it was the worst ISF experience that I had.

The sony RPLCDs ending in A10 were a dream, as were the pioneer Elite plasmas.

Also see if he can do two 'modes' for you, one for daytime viewing and one for nighttime viewing with the lights dimmed.

-Paul

[zybar]

I went to http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm to see who offered the ISF calibration service in my area (NH).

It seems to me that my initial thinking that ISF calibrators were supplied to tv consumers through a large business was wrong.  I am getting the feeling that these ISF pros are individuals who took up the job to make extra cash.  Is this true?

Should I call around to try for the best deal?  Do you think they will bargain if a family member of mine wanted the service as well on the same day?

I got one quote for a $400 package to calibrate a DLP.  Is that a good deal in peoples' experience?

Any suggestions for me?

Sorry all the questions, I have one more.  Should I only consider calibrators who have both the ISF optical comparator and the color analyzer?  Some have one or the other says the website's database.

Thank you guys!

You have an excellent person in your area (Jim Doolittle) who has the right tools and skills.  He calibrated my SONY SXRD tv and did an awesome job!!

Only consider an ISF tec who has ALL of the right tools to do the job. 

Here are the tools that Jim uses:

Equipment: Philips PM5639 color analyzer. Sencore 5000 color analyzer. Sencore VP300 NTSC & HDTV test signal generator. Sencore SC3100 100Mhz waveform monitor. Sencore CVA 94 vectorscope. ISF optical comparator. TVS Pro optical comparator.

In terms of price, $400 is a fair price for a good calibration.  You can get a lower price if you can bundle a few calibrations together.

George

[senad]

It makes a big difference. Just make sure who ever is doing it is good at it. I've heard more than one complaint that an incompetent technican made things worse than they were out of factory. Check around, ask for referrences and make sure you are dealing with a reputable shop.