Arguments for and against calibration

[strapped for cash]

I aimed that comment at Razer - you have a samsung, I have not calibrated a Samsung before so you should get the pro in

You could always give a Samsung TV a go.

Samsung TVs have easily accessible 10 pt. white balance and colour management controls; and based on what I've read, they're no trouble to calibrate.

Not that I'm trying to commit you to anything!

 

[rocketrazor]

I aimed that comment at Razer - you have a samsung, I have not calibrated a Samsung before so you should get the pro in

cheers for the offer ellisdj, that's very generous of you

my tv is the gt50. Ill let you know what happens if I decide to send it off for yet another repair or not. I don't think the better half is keen on that idea, in which case if I'm still not happy with it I might look to change it in a year or two's time so might not worry about calibration.

if I keep it and am happy I might take you up on the offer

ill keep you posted

cheers

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Did you have also have any conversations about the future of Panasonic plasma TVs and what he thought or heard would happen in the next few years? Cheers.

Not really gel, he had his hands full with doing four televisions and there really wasn't too much time left for conversation! Plus, I wouldn't have thought to ask Stephen Withers that particular question, but I'd hazard a guess at there being no more big developments for Panasonic plasma TVs.

I did. I was really arguing against copying settings. As you'll perhaps concur, you'd need to watch a TV being professionally calibrated, or calibrate using a meter yourself, to appreciate how copying settings cannot lead to accurate results. In all likelihood, you'll do more harm than good.

I do concur! One of the reasons for the Samsung being so far out in its initial measurements is that I may have copied some settings from another forum!

When he did his red. blue and green colour measurements, I was surprised to see that on the Samsung, the blue reading was was stronger than the others, despite my having set up all my televisions as best as I could using the Spears and Munsil disc.

Samsung TVs are typically pushed toward blue out of the box. Viewers often prefer this, because CRT TVs were generally set up to push blue. This is perhaps why Samsung sets greyscale and colour balance up this way. It's often commented In WHF reviews of Panasonic plasma TVs that the Normal preset gives the most pleasing out of the box picture. Yet this preset also pushes blue and is less accurate than the THX and ISF modes.

I think that I should distinguish between when the televisions are being used to watch Blu-Rays and when they are being used to watch ordinary television programmes. For watching Blu-Rays, I am very happy with what Stephen did and indeed I can say that the previous settings now have that over-processed, over-colourful LED look that you see in most shops. However, for watching ordinary television programmes, I am less certain of the calibrated settings, for the Samsung and LG, though I'd happy with the calibrated settings for watching ordinary television programmes on the Pioneers. That may because the Samsung and LG are physically bigger than the Pioneers? Anyway give me until the end of the week and I might well be happy with the calibrated settings for watching ordinary television programmes on the Samsung and LG also.

That's interesting. The benefits for Blu-ray and HD broadcast viewing should be the same (i.e. the Rec.709 standard calibrated to is used for both Blu-ray mastering and HD broadcast content creation). As you say, maybe you need some time to adjust, having become accustomed to the inaccurate settings.

I had to get used to the post-calibration picture, but I could clearly see improvement in key areas by switching from the THX preset "optimsed" using test patterns to the professionally calibrated ISF modes.

Indeed Strapped for Cash, I had indeed become accustomed to the inaccurate settings, though in fact I don't watch the Samsung all that much.

Well the best option for me by some way is Jules who is the guy strapped got to calibrate his tv which is displaycalibration.co.uk, he will travel for the day and do a full calibration of all sources and 3D for £205 plus £20 for petrol so £225 in total which is really reasonable I thought especially when compared to the other figures I got quoted today.

I'm booking up tomorrow once we can get a mutually agreeable date so will let you know the magic date once I've got it, really looking forward to seeing how much difference it makes now.

Sounds great, Oldboy. Jules is extremely thorough and his price is very reasonable, especially when you appreciate that many professionals still don't offer 3D calibration. Jules is a nice guy, too, which helps, as you'll be spending several hours in his company.

Mr Stephen Withers does do 3D also, and is also a nice guy, he even put up with me for nine hours!

I aimed that comment at Razer - you have a samsung, I have not calibrated a Samsung before so you should get the pro in

You could always give a Samsung TV a go.

Samsung TVs have easily accessible 10 pt. white balance and colour management controls; and based on what I've read, they're no trouble to calibrate.

Not that I'm trying to commit you to anything!

I think that Stephen said that the Samsung was the easiest to calibrate of my televisions, and it is now the most perfectly set up of my four. It does have easily accessible 10-point white balance and colour management controls.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

One Of Two[/b] Summary Reports of Mr Stephen Withers’s calibration on Saturday 27th July 2013

As well as actually doing the calibrations, Stephen has sent me detailed reports on each television. I’ll HEAVILY edit the first set of reports and show only the Gamut CIE charts and RGB balances for all four televisions, pre-calibration, and then show a post-calibration balance for only one[/b] television (because post-calibration, they all look very similar).

The axes on the Gamut CIE (International Commission on Illumination) charts are the responses of the short-wavelength (letter s ), middle-wavelength (M) and long-wavelength (L) cones in the human eye. (Anyone wanting a simple but sufficient explanation of cones and rods photoreceptors can check this link http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/retina.html .) You will see that the Gamut CIE graph has seven small squares and seven small circles. If I’ve understood that nice Mr Withers correctly, the seven squares are where the seven colours (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow - and White?) of the television being tested SHOULD measure on the chart. The seven circles are where the colours, pre-calibration, in fact measure on the chart. One purpose of calibration is to bring the circles inside the squares, so that the seven colours do in fact measure where they should.

In the RGB balances, the vertical axis is just percentage and the horizontal axis uses a unit called IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) which measures from black (zero) to white (100). The idea is that the Red, Green and Blue responses should all measure 100% at all values of IRE. Clearly, pre-calibration, none of the televisions are 100% for the three primary colours at various values of IRE.

Enough explanation already! This is the PRE-calibration Gamut CIE chart and RGB balance for the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 in the second bedroom. http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3967/8een.jpg

See how green is pretty close to 100% at all values of IRE, red is consistent at about 110% and blue is about 87%. This is the Pioneer Kuro, and I mention this because we’ll see that other televisions are not nearly as consistent in going across various values of IRE. Oh, in the Gamut CIE chart, the circles are pretty close to the target squares.

And now the Pre-calibration graphs for the Pioneer PDP-428XD in my bedroom http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/74/49jw.jpg

This is also pretty consistent as we go from 10 to 100 IRE, but blue is well above 110% throughout, and red is around 93% and green is around 90%. On the Gamut CIE chart, the circles are a bit further away from the target squares than on the 50” Pioneer.

Now for the Samsung PS64D8000 in the parlour http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9443/fl76.jpg

This is even more blue-biased than the Pioneer PDP-428XD! In fact, the vertical scale goes up to only 120%, and the Samsung’s blue response is measuring off the scale! Also green at 20 and 30 IRE are struggling to show above 80%. The circles on the Gamut CIE are slightly closer to the target squares than on the 42” Pioneer.

Lastly, the Pre-calibration graphs for my much-maligned LG 60PZ950T in the kitchen http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/204/i2bs.jpg

Annoyingly, although the strengths of the RGB components vary relative to each other across various IRE values, overall all the components are the consistently closest to 100% of all the televisions, even better than the Pioneer PDP-LX5090. And the Gamut CIE graph shows that the circles are at least as close to the target squares as those of the 50” Pioneer, which is still regarded as a reference device. How can the much-maligned LG 60PZ950T be measuring at least as well, on the pre-calibration RGB graphs and the Gamut CIE chart, as the revered Pioneer PDP- LX5090??? Damn!!

And now a Post[/b]-calibration graph. As the Post-calibration graphs are all very similar for all the televisions, there is no point in showing four graphs, so I give only one, that of the much-maligned LG 60PZ950T television. It can be easily compared to its pre-calibration version immediately above: http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4163/qcrb.jpg

On the Gamut CIE chart, the circles are now all inside their target squares, and on the RGB balance, the RGB components are now very close to 100% for all values of IRE from 20% to 100%. Well done, Mr Stephen Withers!

I had meant to do both reports tonight, but this one has taken me 90 minutes, and I’ve had enough! I’m out tomorrow night, so I’ll do the second and last report on Friday night. Now I’m off to the kitchen to play my Blu-Ray of either The Grey or Argo on the 8.1 speaker system based on the Eltax Shine speakers, Calvados finish http://www.eltax.com/en/model/222_Shine-5-pack.html and that much-maligned LG 60PZ950T television (which looks better, especially for Blu-Ray playback, than pre-calibration, thanks to Stephen!)

 

[strapped for cash]

Blimey, Son_of_SJ, errors on all four televisions were significant, pre-calibration. I'd imagine the improvement on each set is marked. How do you feel about the results a few days further on? More importantly for those considering calibration, do you think the results justify the outlay?

For what it's worth, my VT65's ISF modes were pretty accurate out of the box, though this probably has much to do with the TV being only six weeks old when calibrated. Nevertheless, the improvements calibration brought were substantial enough for me to consider the expense worthwhile. All four of your televisions had a fair time to drift, though I suspect the (newish) Samsung pushed blue out of the box anyway

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hello Strapped for Cash - yes, the pre-calibration data for all four televisions do look pretty bad! And remember, I had, within the previous three weeks, set them all up as best I could using the Spears and Munsil Blu-Ray disc, so it wasn't as if they were all on out-of-the-box settings. Regarding drift with age - the Pioneer PDP-428XD in my bedroom is from August 2008, the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 in the front bedroom from (I think) September 2009, the Samsung PS64D8000 in the parlour from March 2012, and the LG 60PZ950T in the kitchen is from August 2012. It's sobering for all my televisions to have been so far out from the Rec709 standard, especially when you consider that I think that many other peoples' televisions look too garish! I wonder how other peoples' televisions, which are often on Vivid or Dynamic settings, would measure??

I write this at 09:25am, and I'm watching the Samsung (my desktop PC is in the same room as the Samsung) and the new setting is definitely growing on me, as has the LG in the kitchen, which in fact I watch the most of all my televisions. (Ever since I had as many as two televisions - parlour and kitchen - I have watched whichever one happens to be in the kitchen the most, because I like eating!) And the slight hesitation has been only with watching broadcast television - there is no doubt about the improvement that calibration has brought when watching Blu-Rays. So yes, I'm glad I had the sets calibrated, and it's given me all these technical graphs that I can bore my enemies with!

 

[strapped for cash]

Cheers Son_of_SJ.

Out of curiosity, what is it about watching broadcast content using the calibrated settings that's left you a little underwhelmed? If 1080p Blu-ray performance is great, can the problems be traced back to the source?

 

[Son_of_SJ]

I'm not sure quite what my slight problem with broadcast, as opposed to Blu-Ray, content has been with the new calibrated settings. It's taken me until today to get used to TV on the Samsung, and until yesterday on the LG. Maybe the broadcast source is the problem, but in that case, why have the (smaller) Pioneers seemed fine to me with broadcast TV immmediately after calibration?? Anyway, they all seem fine to me now, so that's good.

By the way, I'm a wee bit disappointed not to have heard from Oldboy, ellisdj, bigboss and most of all Mr Malarky about my first lengthy post-calibration report above. I mention Mr Malarky because he'll be getting this Panasonic 60ZT65 calibrated tomorrow, by the same Mr Stephen Withers! :dance: So I thought he might have wanted to hear how I got on with my calibration.

This afternoon I watched my Blu-Ray of Skyfall, sending the picture to all four televisions simultaneously. Even in daylight albeit with the curtains drawn, it looked pretty damn good on all of them, thanks Stephen!

 

[Son_of_SJ]

TWO Of Two[/b] Summary Reports of Mr Stephen Withers’s calibrations on Saturday 27th July 2013

Again, this is severely edited, with the only the minimum data that is sufficient to illustrate various points being discussed. I’ll do this in three sections: (A) Pre and Post-calibration snapshots; (B) one picture showing Gamma Point Pre-calibration and Post-calibration; (C) three pictures giving the final calibration settings for all four televisions.

(A) Pre- and Post-calibration snapshots of one television, chosen pretty much at random. I chose the Samsung PS64D8000. This is the Pre-calibration snapshot, which shows five sub-graphs: a different display of RGB balance; Gamma Luminance; Colour Temperature, all at values of IRE from 20 to 100; Gamut CIE as previously; and Gamut Luminance.

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/65/995c.jpg

Notice in the RGB balance graph, the blue trace is missing; that’s because, as I said in the first report, the Samsung’s blue response was measuring off the scale, beyond 120%! I’m not quite sure what the Gamma Luminance signifies, so I’ll say no more about it! In the Colour Temperature chart, see that at all values of IRE the temperature is well above the desired temperature of 6500K. In the Gamut CIE chart which we’ve seen previously, the measured circles for the various colours are not within their target squares. In the Gamut Luminance chart, data for the six colours and white is shown, with double columns for each colour. The target luminance for each colour is shown in the grey column, and the actual measurement is shown in the various coloured columns.

Here follows the Post-calibration snapshot for the Samsung. The RGB balance now shows the three primary colours all very close to 100%, the colour temperature is now extremely close to 6500K, the circles have moved within their desired squares, and the Gamut Luminance columns now have the same value as their grey targets.

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/9011/wdku.jpg

(B) This single figure shows the Pre- and Post-Calibration Gamma Point data for the best television, the Pioneer PDP-LX5090:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4486/qhkd.jpg

(C) Now for the Post-Calibration settings that Mr Withers arrived at, for all the televisions, but again, I endorse Strapped for Cash’s feeling that simply copying these, to even the identical make and model of television, will almost certainly not be what works best for another television. First, the two Pioneers:

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/4176/5eps.jpg

Note that the Colour Management is set at 0, switched off! This is because it is known in the industry that the Colour Management Systems on Pioneer televisions were added as an afterthought very late on in development mainly as a marketing ploy, and in fact they are not very good!

Now the settings for the Samsung, for both 2D and 3D:

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/9038/c50g.jpg

Note that the sharpness is set to zero! The 10-Point White Balance shows the red, green and blue measurements (which range from -10 to +10) for each of the ten intervals in order to produce white within that interval. The Colour Space values at the foot of the page show the red, green and blue saturation levels for the three primary and three secondary colours. The Colour Management System on most Samsung televisions is excellent.

And the last of all data in these two reports shows the 2D and 3D settings for my much-maligned LG 60PZ950T television in the kitchen:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9702/hewb.jpg

The White Balance and colour settings range from ±30 and from ±50 respectively. Just two points to highlight here. One, in the 2D settings see that the Black Level is set at High (the choices are High and Low). I had previously set it at Low, but Stephen told me that I was losing shadow detail, so he set it at High and made other adjustments to compensate. Two, the LG offers a two-point and a rather unnecessary 20-point (not the usual 10-point) white balance facility, but Stephen said that the LG was accurate enough with the two-point adjustment not to need the 20-point balance corrections.

So. That’s it. I’m glad I had the televisions calibrated, even if it has taken me until today to get used to normal TV viewing on the post-calibrated settings for the Samsung (I was happy with the LG by yesterday for broadcast TV, the smaller TVs were fine for normal TV straight after calibration, and Blu-Ray playback was fine on all TVs immediately post-calibration.) Compared to the prices that other professionals charge, I think that I got excellent value for the price that I paid to have all four televisions calibrated, including two 3D calibrations for the Samsung and the LG. Big love to Mr Stephen Withers! :dance:

 

[bigboss]

By the way, I'm a wee bit disappointed not to have heard from Oldboy, ellisdj, bigboss and most of all Mr Malarky about my first lengthy post-calibration report above.

Sorry, Son_of_SJ, I'm holidaying in sunny Italy at the moment! 8)

So, I'm rarely on the forum, although I have read your posts with great interest. You have spent a considerable amount calibrating so many TVs, it does appear well worth it. :clap:

 

[mr malarky]

I'm not sure quite what my slight problem with broadcast, as opposed to Blu-Ray, content has been with the new calibrated settings. It's taken me until today to get used to TV on the Samsung, and until yesterday on the LG. Maybe the broadcast source is the problem, but in that case, why have the (smaller) Pioneers seemed fine to me with broadcast TV immmediately after calibration?? Anyway, they all seem fine to me now, so that's good.

By the way, I'm a wee bit disappointed not to have heard from Oldboy, ellisdj, bigboss and most of all Mr Malarky about my first lengthy post-calibration report above. I mention Mr Malarky because he'll be getting this Panasonic 60ZT65 calibrated tomorrow, by the same Mr Stephen Withers! :dance: So I thought he might have wanted to hear how I got on with my calibration.

This afternoon I watched my Blu-Ray of Skyfall, sending the picture to all four televisions simultaneously. Even in daylight albeit with the curtains drawn, it looked pretty damn good on all of them, thanks Stephen!

Hi SoSJ, apologies, did read your posts and had a look at the charts, but have to be honest and say a lot of it went slightly over my head as don't pretend to fully understand the technical aspects of calibration (suffice to say if someone asked me to explain the difference between gamma & luminescence I'd get my coat and quietly make an exit!), so decided to wait until I'd seen steve go through the process first hand so I understood it a little more before commenting.

Did post after your initial thoughts as like strapped am interested to hear why the broadcast picture isn't quite ticking the box for you? It's interesting that your not noticing the same thing on the pioneers, are they all running off the same source for broadcast content?

How much difference would you say its made for BluRay watching? I've held off watching any blurays on the ZT until its been calibrated (which has been a mammoth exercise in patience!).

 

[bigboss]

No, you should continue watching blu rays. Only then will you appreciate the improvement after calibration.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hi SoSJ, apologies, did read your posts and had a look at the charts, but have to be honest and say a lot of it went slightly over my head as don't pretend to fully understand the technical aspects of calibration (suffice to say if someone asked me to explain the difference between gamma & luminescence I'd get my coat and quietly make an exit!), so decided to wait until I'd seen steve go through the process first hand so I understood it a little more before commenting.

Did post after your initial thoughts as like strapped am interested to hear why the broadcast picture isn't quite ticking the box for you? It's interesting that your not noticing the same thing on the pioneers, are they all running off the same source for broadcast content?

How much difference would you say its made for BluRay watching? I've held off watching any blurays on the ZT until its been calibrated (which has been a mammoth exercise in patience!).

Hello Mr Malarky, glad you're still with us! Yes, I realise that all the graphs that I gave might have been a bit much, I guess I'm a bit like Oldboy and his review of his Samsung 55F8000! I struggle to explain why I've had reservations, until today as I said about the broadcast picture on the Samsung and the LG, when I had no such difficulty with Blu-Ray performance. All the televisions are running off the same source, the roof antenna signal goes into a powered 8-way splitter from Maplin, and all the televisions are fed from the powered splitter. As I said once before, it might be just a size thing, the Pioneers are smaller than the LG and the Samsung so perhaps the change after calibration was less? But still I can't explain why the reservations didn't apply to Blu-Ray playback? The last thing that I can think of is that the Samsung especially was so strongly biased towards blue that it shows the biggest difference from pre-to post-calibration of all the televisions? Anyway, I seem to be used to the Samsung's broadcast TV picture now.in fact as I write this I'm watching Folk America on BBC4 on the Samsung, and it really does look pretty damn good. Shame it's not HD though!

I'm emailed Stephen - does your Denon Blu-Ray player go into a dimmer Screen Save mode if you pause play for about three minutes? Mine does, the dimmer mode is quite revealing of the low-light performance of my televisions, and highlights the differences between them, with the much-malingned LG not being placed last! Try the Blu-Ray player in Screen Save mode tomorrow.

It's difficult to say how much difference there has been for Blu-Ray viewing. I feel that the improvement that calibration has brought is maybe a bit less for Blu-Rays than for broadcast TV? That is not necessarily my final opinion though, it's been only a week so far since calibration!

I'm suprised that you've not played any Blu-Rays so far. I salute your patience, but I do urge you to at least play part of one Blu-Ray before Stephen arrives tomorrow, so you have a Before and After comparison, no? And if possible, do the comparison under the same light conditions.

I'm sure you'll be very satisfied with your calibration. Your television gives simply the best Blu-Ray picture in town, and the calibration will make it even better. Perhaps it might help if you have the page of this thread open on your computer when Stephen arrives, so that you can refer to some of my graphs maybe? Sorry to appear conceited and rain on your parade! :wave:

 

[Son_of_SJ]

No, you should continue watching blu rays. Only then will you appreciate the improvement after calibration.

Continue? He's deliberately refrained from even starting! That's pretty much what I said in my previous posting, which I suspect crossed with yours.

 

[strapped for cash]

No, you should continue watching blu rays. Only then will you appreciate the improvement after calibration.

Well, there's something to be said for delayed gratification, especially in a culture so obsessed with immediacy. Comparing pre-and-post calibration performance is easy. Simply switch between the THX preset and ISF calibrated modes and you'll clearly appreciate the difference.

That said, if you're itching to watch a particular Blu-ray, you can always re-view it once the TV has been calibrated. I've a stack of BDs I'm yet to watch, but this has much to do with being busy.

 

[mr malarky]

I'm emailed Stephen - does your Denon Blu-Ray player go into a dimmer Screen Save mode if you pause play for about three minutes? Mine does, the dimmer mode is quite revealing of the low-light performance of my televisions, and highlights the differences between them, with the much-malingned LG not being placed last! Try the Blu-Ray player in Screen Save mode tomorrow.

It's difficult to say how much difference there has been for Blu-Ray viewing. I feel that the improvement that calibration has brought is maybe a bit less for Blu-Rays than for broadcast TV? That is not necessarily my final opinion though, it's been only a week so far since calibration!

I'm suprised that you've not played any Blu-Rays so far. I salute your patience, but I do urge you to at least play part of one Blu-Ray before Stephen arrives tomorrow, so you have a Before and After comparison, no? And if possible, do the comparison under the same light conditions.

[/quote]

Well it looks like my mammoth patience is going to be tested yet further. Steve's just called to say his car's broken down and he can't now make it today.

NOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!..........

(cue scene from Platoon, as Mr Malarky drops to his knees and raises his fists in defiant frustration while 'Adagio For Strings' plays in the background...).

Rescheduled for next Saturday, so I now have another week to decide wether to hold out or jump in.

Paet of the reason for holding out is that the four discs in the collection I haven't watched yet are all ones that I want to see at the best possible PQ (Skyfall, Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises and Django Unchained), so I could watch an older disc without sacrificing that principal (as in truth I have already skipped through selected scenes of some discs when I posted some shots of the ZT shortly after getting it).

SoSJ, from memory the denon does dim the screen after 3-4 minutes on pause so I'll keep a look out for that as well.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hello Mr Malarky, not a good afternoon at all, and I can see that you are so upset that you've not quoted from my previous posting correctly, looks like a missing / symbol maybe! Gee, that's tough luck with Stephen's car breaking down. Last weekend he flew up to me, you see, so easyJet did the business! I hope that the extra week is not too difficult for you. I'm watching the swimming on BBC1 HD on Freeview HD on my newly appreciated Samsung for broadcast TV and I'm liking it more and more, after an uncertain four or five days with broadcast TV on the Samsung.

I think that maybe the extra week is maybe a blessing in disguise, after your revelation that you have not been playing your Blu-Rays while you wait for your glorious 60ZT65 to be calibrated. Pffft, I say! Play your Blu-Rays and get to know them so that you will be able to make an immediate comparison next weekend after Stephen's car repair.

Lastly, do try to read my two reports about my calibrations. Try to understand no more than three graphs at a time, I tried to write the brief discussion as simply as possible, as though I were making a Powerpoint presentation, so it should be possible to follow. Then you'll be able to understand what Stephen will be saying more quickly than I could a week ago.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hello Mr Malarky, not a good afternoon at all, and I can see that you are so upset that you've not quoted from my previous posting correctly, looks like a missing / symbol maybe! Gee, that's tough luck with Stephen's car breaking down. Last weekend he flew up to me, you see, so easyJet did the business! I hope that the extra week is not too difficult for you. I'm watching the swimming on BBC1 HD on Freeview HD on my newly appreciated Samsung for broadcast TV and I'm liking it more and more, after an uncertain four or five days with broadcast TV on the Samsung.

I think that maybe the extra week is maybe a blessing in disguise, after your revelation that you have not been playing your Blu-Rays while you wait for your glorious 60ZT65 to be calibrated. Pffft, I say! Play your Blu-Rays and get to know them so that you will be able to make an immediate comparison next weekend after Stephen's car repair.

Lastly, do try to read my two reports about my calibrations. Try to understand no more than three graphs at a time, I tried to write the brief discussion as simply as possible, as though I were making a Powerpoint presentation, so it should be possible to follow. Then you'll be able to understand what Stephen will be saying more quickly than I could a week ago.

Agreed, I would say play your Blu-rays. I can't see anything against not playing them.

 

[mr malarky]

The reason for not watching those four that I haven't watched yet is that I know how my head works, and if I watch them now I won't really enjoy them because part of my brain will constantly be thinking "I wonder how much better this scene would look if the TV had been calibrated?", so I'd rather wait till I know I'm viewing them with the best possible PQ.

Guess I could watch a view discs I've already seen, though as strapped says its easy enough to get a 'before & after' comparison post calibration anyway, just by switching between different picture settings.

Have still been watching films, just ones that are streamed off sky box office or Apple TV (tend to find I buy fewer BluRay discs these days, as in all honesty not that many films are worth watching more than once).

 

[pioneer7]

Oldboy thats intersting I tried this company as well, got no answer / reply, and when I did they said they could not do anything for 3months, there loss.

 

[Oldboy]

By the way, I'm a wee bit disappointed not to have heard from Oldboy, ellisdj, bigboss and most of all Mr Malarky about my first lengthy post-calibration report above. I mention Mr Malarky because he'll be getting this Panasonic 60ZT65 calibrated tomorrow, by the same Mr Stephen Withers! :dance: So I thought he might have wanted to hear how I got on with my calibration.

I did comment Son_of_SJ and have read all your posts on calibration with interest in fact as I stated earlier the experiences of yourself and strapped have spurred me on to get a calibration carried out on my Samsung UE55F8000. I struggled much like Mr Malarky with a lot of the terminology and what it all means but I got to grips with it (I think) but then there is nothing quite like having someone to guide you through it in person rather than looking at forum posts however helpful your pre and post calibration graphs and explanations have been so I'm looking forward to gaining a greater understanding myself.

Talking of which I have an appointment tomorrow myself with Jules so my TV will receive a full calibration and I'm really looking forward to it so will report back with how it goes and I'm sure I will have a much better understanding of your posts by then, fingers crossed.

It's nice to see someone else get carried away with a post though and made me feel far better about my essay of a review

What I'm wondering now though is if I will have a similar experience as yourself with my Samsung TV in that broadcast TV may take a bit acclimatising to get used to the picture post calibration? I guess I will find out tomorrow and let you know how my set fares in this regard.

Keep up the good work as your posts were certainly appreciated by myself and make for an interesting read :clap:

 

[Oldboy]

Oldboy thats intersting I tried this company as well, got no answer / reply, and when I did they said they could not do anything for 3months, there loss.

Count yourself lucky you even got a reply pioneer7!

I gave them one last try and took my business elsewhere and as you say it's their loss but why on earth someone would think that's an acceptable way to do business is anyones guess and at that rate I can see Kalibrate going out of business, I would not recommend them to anyone that's for sure.

Anyone interested in a calibration should avoid these jokers as they simply instill no confidence when they dont reply to customers queries, I mean seriously how hard is it to answer the phone or reply to an email? Avoid.

In stark contrast Jules at displaycalibration.co.uk has been simply superb and easy to deal with and will travel across the country so give him a call or email pioneer7 and indeed anyone else considering calibration

 

[Son_of_SJ]

So, from the link of about 10 calibrators that Strapped for Cash gave on page two of this thread, we seem to be down to only three whom we know definitely to be active; Stephen Withers, Mark Hodgkinson and Julian at.DisplayCalibration in Leicester.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I would have to own a TV I thought worthy of calibration. Not being able to see calibration work and the benefits. Scared the TV would go wrong. Money a big cost. Saving up for next TV purchase TVs don't last forever. I have the upgrade bug.

 

[Oldboy]

I would have to own a TV I thought worthy of calibration. Not being able to see calibration work and the benefits. Scared the TV would go wrong. Money a big cost. Saving up for next TV purchase TVs don't last forever. I have the upgrade bug.

All valid points gel and there is no doubt the cost is considerable.

Of course I am as sceptical as you but I've decided to give it a go even if it's just this once simply to see if the process really is worth the money in terms of picture quality gains.

I wonder if you might change your mind if you get a GT60 or better still a VT65?