ISF Calibration - Panasonic Plasma

StevenACNJ · « **on:** 16 May 2006, 10:10 pm »

Today I had my Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY 50" plasma ISF calibrated and the result is just stunning.

I have had the plasma for a bit over a year now. The picture has been excellent. However, was not totally happy with the blacks & gray scale. Also, sometimes there was a bit of a green tint to certain scenes. Don't get me wrong, the picture was great. Nephew once said, "You can see the hair on the beaver's balls".

We were watching IMAX beavers movie on INHD TV.

I had previously run DVE to calibrate. Also tried some settings (never in the service menu

) which I read on the Internet. Picture quality was very good.

I run either my Motorola digital cable box or DVD player (one at a time) directly to the Panny via DVI input.

I have read over at AVS Forums about ISF calibration and finally decided to give it a shot.

I contacted:

Chad Billheimer
www.HDTVbyChadB.com

Chad is supposed to be one of the best ISF Techs around.

I emailed Chad and we discussed things a bit. His price was reasonable (flat fee - no travel charges). He said he would be making his way to South Jersey, so I said what the heck, let's do it.

Chad arrived at my house about 9:15am and left about 1:30pm. He is very professional and thoroughly went through the calibration of my Plasma, DVD player, & digital cable box. He was at it for hours - non stop.

End result is just spectacular. Blacks are black. Gray scale knocks your socks off. The picture is much sharper, vivid, 3 dimensional. Colors are all now spot on.

Its really like seeing the set for the first time. Very nice, way better than any plasma I have ever seen.

Money well spent & highly recommended!

CornellAlum · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 May 2006, 10:22 pm »

What did he possibly do to the digital cable box that was outside of plugging it in at curiosity?

Thanks!

StevenACNJ · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 May 2006, 10:43 pm »

After he ran through an extensive calibration with his test equipment connected through the Panny DVI input & sensor device directly attached to the screen. Screen sensor was, at other end, connected to laptop running some type of highly specialized calibration software.

He then went on to both my DVD player and digital cable box. One at a time connecting them to the Panny DVI input & still had his sensor attached to the screen. He would then go back into the service menus of the Panny & make tiny adjustments to the picture, until he got the result he was looking for on both sources.

He also, doubled checked to make sure all the user settings for both devices were correctly set for my plasma.

Chad was extremely thorough.

Eric5676 · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 May 2006, 11:20 pm »

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=20375

My boy, Chad.

Another in an ever growing sea of very satisifed customers.

zybar · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 May 2006, 12:09 am »

I had a couple of old school (aka crt) rear projection tv's tuned by an ISF tech and the improvement was quite remarkable!

I haven't had a plasma professionally calibrated, but have heard enough positive testimonies (like this one) to believe that there is a very good return on investment for that type of device as well.

George

CornellAlum · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 May 2006, 12:26 am »

How much are we talking here, couple hundred bucks or so?

Levi · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 May 2006, 12:34 am »

I just checked his website. It looks like a winner!

Anyone interested?

Quote

Get together with your Home Theater buddies and save! If you let someone in your area know about ISF calibrations by Chad B and schedule your appointments together, you and your friends will all receive $50 off per ISF calibration! Just have them mention your referral and contact me to schedule your appointments. The referral special applies to Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Indiana, West Virginia, and Virginia!

zybar · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 May 2006, 12:43 am »

Quote from: CornellAlum

How much are we talking here, couple hundred bucks or so?

I don't know the specific charges for the services listed above, but generally prices range from $250-450 depending on the type of device and the number devices.

George

Levi · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 May 2006, 01:00 am »

It's $95 for basic and $295 for ISF calibration. IT's all in the website.

StevenACNJ · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 May 2006, 09:58 am »

Yes, Levi is correct - $295 flat fee for ISF calibration.

I really wasnt sure what to expect from a calibration. I had a very good picture.

Again, Chad spent hours - non stop - calibrating, checking, & re-checking.
I was a bit embarassed, after all the time he spent, to only pay him this amount.

Spent a full night of TV watching last night, was a very significant improvement in picture quality, all channels, across the board.

Q-BanditZ

Your post is why I contacted Chad. Thanks!

Eric5676 · « **Reply #10 on:** 17 May 2006, 02:38 pm »

I'm convinced Chad may be an android or something along those lines.

This guy has seemingly limitless endurance and concentration. I had to finally practically FORCE him to take a bathroom break and a meal/drink break.

Truly incredible.

Levi · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Jul 2006, 06:39 pm »

I contacted Chad and his is book until next month or so. So I contacted Kevin Miller of ISFTV dot com. He is a little expensive but his equipment is more advanced than Chad. He has a Minolta CS-200 Colorimeter and other goodies. Kevin also is in my neighborhood in Queens.

Stereo Exchange and other local Audio shop recommended Kevin Miller so I guess it is worth a try.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Jul 2006, 07:14 pm »

Levi...how much does Kevin charge?

Levi · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Jul 2006, 07:27 pm »

He charges $350 but he calibrates all input sources in your plasma screen.

Quote

My fee for plasmas is $350 and that includes calibration of all inputs/sources

PhilNYC · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 04:19 pm »

Having just spend a week with my new Panasonic plasma, I'm quite blown away at what the default settings are from the factory. When I first set everything up, the picture was absolutely horrible. Who made the decision to make the default setting "Vivid"??? After a couple of days, I spent 10 minutes making adjustments using the Avia calibration DVD, and the difference was nothing short of astonishing.

Levi · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 06:18 pm »

While waiting for Chad, I orderd Ideal-Lume Panelight from CinemaQuest dot com. Has anyone used this product? I think HP started adding this with their LCD/Plasma display. Ambient light. Anyway, it supposted to give comfort while watching in the dark.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 06:24 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 12 Jul 2006, 06:18 pm

While waiting for Chad, I orderd Ideal-Lume Panelight from CinemaQuest dot com. Has anyone used this product? I think HP started adding this with their LCD/Plasma display. Ambient light. Anyway, it supposted to give comfort while watching in the dark.

Dunno, but if its flourescent, isn't going to screw with your sound-quality?

Levi · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 06:32 pm »

I thought about the noise. If it is noisy...the light gets chunked...or probably get installed inside a closet.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 08:46 pm »

Did a little research on this CinemaQuest thing...apparently it's pretty similar to getting a fish tank fluorescent light fixture (same bulbs)....

Levi · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Jul 2006, 02:27 am »

Cinema Quest inc Lume-Lights are custom made for them. You read up more about them Here at Cinema Quest inc website I bought two of them so I can give you more information when I get them next week.