Arguments for and against calibration

[BenLaw]

It wasn't the best, was it. Disappointing. Threatened to burst into life towards the end of the first set but no sustained excellence. Novak could have that title sewn up for the next few years. I ended up putting some music on instead in the second set....

 

[Oldboy]

That goes on the list to see then.

what did you think of the film? (Have read some very mixed reviews).

You know what I thought it was really good BUT...definately leave your brain at the door as there simply is no plot what so ever. It's a full on popcorn movie with excellent special FX and a real spectacle to watch that is a really good 3D movie, it's obviously made in 3D so that's the way to watch it and on my calibrated 55F8000 it looked stunning.

I know the reviews have been mixed but on the sort of system most of us own on here and on a calibrated TV it's a real spectacle, crank the sound up, sit back and relax and switch off...then it's really enjoyable (but completely silly too). Makes a good test disc as picture quality is excellent and the sound will test any system.

 

[strapped for cash]

It wasn't the best, was it. Disappointing. Threatened to burst into life towards the end of the first set but no sustained excellence. Novak could have that title sewn up for the next few years. I ended up putting some music on instead in the second set....

Hmmm, I'm still a bit gutted. I expected more.

I hadn't seen Rafa live before; I wasn't convinced I'd seen Rafa live after the match. There was a player on court who looked very much like Nadal, but the similarity ended there.

The atmosphere was a little flat, too. It was much better last year, in terms of atmosphere and competition. The crowd was willing Rafa to make a match of it, but there was grumbling all round as fans wandered out.

Oh well, I guess that's how it goes with live sport. You're never guaranteed a close or exciting match. Hopefully it'll be better next year.

 

[BenLaw]

Not sure why it was on a Monday. I would have thought a five set match starting around 5pm on a Sunday would make for a better atmosphere and match.

 

[strapped for cash]

Not sure why it was on a Monday. I would have thought a five set match starting around 5pm on a Sunday would make for a better atmosphere and match.

The final is on a Monday because the tennis calendar has been condensed since 2011. The Paris Masters ends on the first Sunday in November, forcing the ATP World Tour Finals to start and end on a Monday.

From next year, there'll be a week off between these events, with the World Tour Finals starting and ending on a Sunday. I agree that this works better. It'll probably make for more competitive tennis, too, since players will have a week to recharge.

Either way, it's perhaps unfair to ask players to fight through five sets at the end of the season, even though I'd prefer that as a spectator.

 

[theflyingwasp]

Yeah I agree with oldboy just turn the brain off before watching .i enjoyed it .i love all the cheesy rubbish films like pacific rim ,transformers and man of steel (quite grainy by the way |() that's what home cinema should be for,the shawshank redemption is great on blu ray but I would enjoy it just as much on VHS

I just tend to rebuy big action blockbusters on blu ray .they are the films that benifet the most from hi def.

 

[mr malarky]

Worth paying a bit extra for the 3d BluRay then?

 

[theflyingwasp]

I haven't watched it in 3d yet ,this is where most people draw the line .the blu ray is £13 on amazon the 3d version is £15 the 3d steelbook is £20 and the deluxe edition robot steelbook is £31 now eh.............I bought all off them plus 2 more steelbooks as I am a film nut as I sell quite a bit online and at comic con etc

but with a 3d calibration it should look great ,avatar 3d was mind blowing after calibration (my settings were pants before calibration)

i will give it a few days then watch it in 3d.

im off to watch the great gatsby just now on blu ray I got the 3d steelbook aswell but I will watch in 2d first.i saw it at the cinema it is a beautiful looking film can't wait to watch it on blu ray on the ZT plus it's full screen Same as pacific rim .

tomorrow it's the hobbit extended version on blu ray ....... Oh what a life

I'm working my way through my films since I got my set calibrated everything looks great! Superbad was like a new film it was far to bright before.

 

[BenLaw]

Not sure why it was on a Monday. I would have thought a five set match starting around 5pm on a Sunday would make for a better atmosphere and match.

The final is on a Monday because the tennis calendar has been condensed since 2011. The Paris Masters ends on the first Sunday in November, forcing the ATP World Tour Finals to start and end on a Monday.

From next year, there'll be a week off between these events, with the World Tour Finals starting and ending on a Sunday. I agree that this works better. It'll probably make for more competitive tennis, too, since players will have a week to recharge.

Either way, it's perhaps unfair to ask players to fight through five sets at the end of the season, even though I'd prefer that as a spectator.

Ok, that makes sense. I thought I remembered the season finishing later than this before, although I certainly don't begrudge them a few weeks off when they play with such intensity. A five set final (only) makes sense to me, like in the masters series I think? It's also fairer on the finalists as it gives time for a comeback and the better player to triumph. Probably wouldn't have made a difference yesterday, but you never know with Nadal.

 

[mr malarky]

Just ordered the 3d BluRay off amazon, for an extra £2 its a no-brainer (much like the film??).

Something to look forward to when I get back off hols.

 

[mr malarky]

Just ordered the 3d BluRay off amazon, for an extra £2 its a no-brainer (much like the film??).

Something to look forward to when I get back off hols.

Just told Mrs M the good news that when we get back to the UK we're going to sit in a darkened room and watch giant robots punch seven bells out of giant monsters for two & half hours, in 3d.

Bless her, she was so excited she couldn't say a word (she just cried a little bit, which I think means she's really looking forward to it??).

 

[jog3004]

Bought Pacific Rim 3d & wow! The visuals & effects are stunning & well worth watching in 3d, this was on my uncalibrated f8500, can't wait to see it after 7th December when Julian comes to calibrate my set.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Have been following the thread, taken the plunge and have arranged for Julian to calibrate my TV next Wed. I am a liitle aprehensive as i have been using the settings from the HDTV test and the picture is great, however i would probably always wonder if i did not get it done. ray:

We still haven'e heard back from gingersmarty after his calibration on Wednesday 13th November ...? Remind us of exactly which model number of TV was due to be calibrated??

 

[theflyingwasp]

If you think pacific rim looked good stick on the great gatsby!

 

[theflyingwasp]

Also full screen makes such a massive difference.

 

[gingersmarty]

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay, i dont know where the time goes.

Update following my calibration Panny 50GT60. Firstly i was reasonable satisfied with the picture following my tinkering, I had raised my apprehension with Jules around whether i would notice an improvement as i had entered the Steve Withers settings shortly after buying the TV, he seemed confident i would.

Jules arrived bright and early and after a brew and chat Jules explained the plan ahead. Jules explained that THX view it important that the client is involved in the process and that time is taken to explain what is going on and what is being attempted, i do have a very brief understanding of some of the issues however following the day my understanding is greatly improved.

First off an initial "snapshot" was taken and again Jules explained what we were seeing on his laptop, in my case a reasonable set of results. However there was a push to the red and gamma was quite low, Jules suggested resetting the set to default and.........an immediate improvement!!! Goes to show all TV's and settings are not the same and while it is initially satisfying to input exact settings they are pointless and a very poor attempt at the real thing.

There was still plent of room for improvement and over the course of the next 5/6 hours Jules provided Day/Night and 3D settings. Having lived with the set for a week, my initial impressions have been confirmed, first thing i noticed was improved contrast, Blacks are very black and detail within the black is improved, at first sight the picture does appear darker, however this is probably due to a life time of generally brighter settings. I cannot say the detail within the general image has changed much and if present improvement is minor, however another noticable improvement is the colour pallete, again compared to my previous settings the colours at first glance appear a little more subdued, however over time it is easier to live with and a more natural view on the world, ( Jules calibrated to 75% rather than 100% on the graph).

Although i dont use it much the 3D image has greatly improved, probably mainly due to the improvement to the contrast and general brightness,

A special mention to Jules, an interesting guy with the patience of a saint and the attention to detail required to get the best for that set each time, at times it was obvious to me that it must have been like trying to nail custard to the ceiling, making one change having an unexpected effect somewhere else however i am completely happy with the outcome.

I only have 2 sources, not being a gamer. I watch mainly SKY HD with the odd Blu ray, if someone produced a product(cable or little black box) that would noticable improve an image and it cost just over £100.00 for each source most, on these forums would spend the cash without hesitation. Does it transform an image? No. Does it wring absolutely every last once of quality out of the set? Yes and i would reccomenbd the process and Jules without reservation.

:cheers:

 

[Son_of_SJ]

So, yet another happy calibrated chappie! However, we are still waiting for Gel, the unbeliever.

 

[Skiman]

Hi all,

Plus 1 for the calibration club.

Dr. Julian Scott was over yesterday to calibrate my Samsung PS51E6500 Plasma scree for Day, Night and 3D veiwing.

First thing to note was that I had copied some settings onto my TV from the web which, in some areas, were pretty good but rubbish in others. He took readings from the existing set up and then altered settings in the Denon Blu-ray player and AVR to ensure that only the TV was doing the processing.

All the way through he explained what he was doing, why he was doing it and the expected results - a total of 6.5 hours!

He set up the night veiwing mode on the movie mode (most of my viewing is in the dark) and managed to acheive reference staus with the most neglible errors (not visible to the human eye). To give you an idea the contast performance improved by 100%. The picture is absolutely gorgeous, especially with Blu-ray discs, with no black crush, fantastic skin tones and shadow detail that I did'nt know existed.

The day viewing was set on standard mode but threw up a few strange characteristics of the Samsung design - the 10 point White Balance is disabled in standard mode and the colour space is shared with movie mode so no changes could be made without ruining the night veiwing mode. Also the green was off hue and the adjustment had run out - to be honest the colours look absolutely fine to me and again the picture showed the same improvements as prevoiusly described.

The 3D calibration proved to be the most eye catching. After calibration Julian played Life of Pi (3D) and at the start there is a scene where a probiscus monkey is just sitting there and I swear that I could reach and touch him. The scenes with the leaping whale and the flying fish literally coming out of the screen and the tails actually overlay the lower black border - I was distinctly unimpressed with 3D prior to calibration but am now a big fan (ordered 4 3D films already).

Julian even measured my bias lighting (way off 6500k) and proved that the picture was perceptibly better with the lights off. A few words of advice were also imparted and gratefully received with my sound calibration.

So, if you're dithering about whether calibration is worth it, dither no more - calibration is probably the most cost effective " upgrade" you can invest in. Remember my screen is a cheaper TV than the Panasonic 50/60 series and is let down by poorer black levels that they can provide but I think mine looks absolutely superb.

Thanks to all the members in this thread who advocated the merits of calibration and persuaded me to go down this path.

Go on do it - you know you want to!

Regards and many thanks

Stefan

 

[strapped for cash]

Glad that worked out for you, Stefan. Enjoy your newly-calibrated TV.

The pressure on Gel mounts further!

 

[Son_of_SJ]

It's probably time for a recount of those who have seen the Calibrated light, now that there are two new additions. Therefore:

Ellisdj, Strapped for Cash, Voodoo Doctor, Son_of_SJ, Mr Malarky, Oldboy, Theflyingwasp, Gingersmarty, Skiman.

All are highly delighted with the calibration process and results.

Somewhere in the Bible Jesus says something like "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than there is over a dozen righteous men." I think that Gel is trying to be the sinner, whose eventual repentance (and conversion to calibration) will cause more joy than the (currently) nine righteous men!

 

[Son_of_SJ]

So, if you're dithering about whether calibration is worth it, dither no more - calibration is probably the most cost effective " upgrade" you can invest in. Remember my screen is a cheaper TV than the Panasonic 50/60 series and is let down by poorer black levels that they can provide but I think mine looks absolutely superb.

Agreed, black levels are very important, but a good black level is not the only criterion of picture performance, otherwise I wouldn't be so pleased with my much-maligned (because of its mediocre black levels) LG 60PZ950T in the kitchen since it was calibrated!

 

[strapped for cash]

Somewhere in the Bible Jesus says something like "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than there is over a dozen righteous men." I think that Gel is trying to be the sinner, whose eventual repentance (and conversion to calibration) will cause more joy than the (currently) nine righteous men!

There's a touch of Jules Winfield to the above.

 

[mr malarky]

Somewhere in the Bible Jesus says something like "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than there is over a dozen righteous men." I think that Gel is trying to be the sinner, whose eventual repentance (and conversion to calibration) will cause more joy than the (currently) nine righteous men!

Its reaching the point where I think we should have a whip-round, and buy it for him the Christmas!!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

 

[strapped for cash]

Its reaching the point where I think we should have a whip-round, and buy it for him the Christmas!!

He'd ask for the money instead, before spending it on another Blu-ray player.