ISF Calibration of HDTV's - Recommendation

nature boy · « **on:** 19 Nov 2009, 07:20 pm »

Greetings Fellow AC'ers,

After recently purchasing a Panasonic TC-P54V10 plasma TV, I decided to get it professionally calibrated by Chad Billheimer - known as Chad B on the AVS forum. Chad is a traveling ISF callibrator who lives in Ohio, but also does calibrations in the Mid-Atlantic states.

The calibration was worth every penny IMHO and my new Panny looks great. Here is a link to Chad's website http://www.hdtvbychadb.com/. He's very knowledgable, works on everything from RPT's, LCD's, plasma, etc. and spends time reviewing his work with you.

He's an awful good resource, so if your considering a purchase or just want to bring your HDTV up to snuff, give Chad a shout - you won't be sorry.

Regards,

NB

murphy11 · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 08:39 pm »

I bought the same model 6 weeks ago and am very pleased with the uncalibrated picture. Do you have before and after photos or graphs that you can share? I've been toying with the idea of getting a calibration and am 20 mins outside of Philly.

djbnh · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 08:53 pm »

I feel professional calibration can be a great thing, and have read of numerous satisfied customers who utilized professionals to calibrate their respective sets. I'm glad you found someone who worked for you.

However, if persons want to go a different route, one could try an AV forum such as www.avsforum.com, and search for calibration specs for your LCD or plasma TV. I did this for my LG LCD; it worked wonders, got raves from the spouse and guests, and $aved ca$h. YMMV.

satfrat · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 11:10 pm »

Quote from: djbnh on 19 Nov 2009, 08:53 pm

I feel professional calibration can be a great thing, and have read of numerous satisfied customers who utilized professionals to calibrate their respective sets. I'm glad you found someone who worked for you.

However, if persons want to go a different route, one could try an AV forum such as www.avsforum.com, and search for calibration specs for your LCD or plasma TV. I did this for my LG LCD; it worked wonders, got raves from the spouse and guests, and $aved ca$h. YMMV.

There's a lot of methods out there to improve one's picture very close to an actual ISF-calibration Dave but an ISF-calibration is the only way to guarantee an accurately calibrated gray scale & color bar. I've had my Sony XBR done twice, once after a 4 month burn-in and then 1 more time after 3 years. I had Jim Doolittle of Boston(very highly recommended & who has been featured in a Sound&Vision article on ISF-Calibration) drive up to Vermont to calibrate mine,,, not cheap but imho worth every penny. In many ways(mainly sports), I value my Sony picture more than I do my audio system. Hell even with 2 ISF calibrations, it's like 1% of what I've spent on audio.

Cheers,
Robin

nature boy · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 02:04 am »

Quote

There's a lot of methods out there to improve one's picture very close to an actual ISF-calibration Dave but an ISF-calibration is the only way to guarantee an accurately calibrated gray scale & color bar.

Exactly! And with many/most displays this means accessing and adjusting using the service menu. You have to have the right equipment too!

NB

konut · « **Reply #5 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 02:54 am »

I will not disagree that the ISF calibration is the most accurate way to correct a TV to its optimum potential. For those who can not afford, or are cheapskates like me, an ISF calibration, I can recommend the 3M Vikuiti setup DVD. Its under $10 and is the most accurate way of setting up your display short of ISF calibration.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/VikuitiBrand/ConsumerHome/Consumer/VikuitiExtras/LCD-TV-Setup-Guide-DVD/
I got mine in 2007 to adjust my 32" Vizio. Prior to receiving it, I tried a variety of settings. I tried the settings recommended by CNET in their review for my model. I used settings recommended by people who used the DVE DVD and posted their results, in a thread devoted to my model, at AVS forums. There were other recommendations using other calibration DVDs that escape me right now. They were all reasonably good but did not blow me away. It was only after using the Vikuiti DVD did I feel that the results were truly outstanding. In addition the results were by far the least "hot" of any of the sets of settings I tried. This has a marked effect on energy usage, as can be seen here.
http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/?tag=nl.e404
On a side note, I would put in a word recommending the Vizio brand. To my knowledge, and please correct me if I'm wrong, it is the only brand that allows separate adjustment of red, green and blue independently, without going into the service menu, which is key to getting a great picture.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #6 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 03:24 am »

Anytime I hear of someone having their display unit calibrated, the only name that comes to mind is "Chad". He is The Man on every website I'm a member of when it comes to ISF calibration.

Bob

sillysally · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Nov 2009, 10:35 am »

Hello to all.
I am from AVS and other forums dealing with audio and video.
I joined this forum because of Jason-Nuforce and my incoming BDP-83SE NE.

I use the same software and hardware except for CB's pattern generator.. However I don't do ISF calibrations for profit and only on Pioneer Kuro 141 and 101s. I have a 141.
Anyway if you are looking for ISF settings for a 141 you will find them in the first post in the 141 thread at AVS. Or for a more complete list of calibrations they are posted in my thread on Controlcal's forum.

Also I can recommend D-Nice and UMR as two of the best there is.

ss