How DO You Calibrate a New TV?

Benedict_Arnold

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Back when there were only three channels on the telly (and one of those only started at 6 pm), my dad bought a brand new Saba 26-inch (whoo-hoo) colour CRT television in a (very 1970s) white melamine casing the size of a small Wimpey house. It weas snazzy. No remote ("that's what you boys are for") but it had eight preset channels with touch (not push) buttons to select them with. And a volume knob, a knob marked "colour" which meant you could choose between good old fashioned black and white through to acid-rock inspired super-technicolor, and a knob marked "contrast" which made the picture go from completely black to blinding white.

Two men in brown coats delivered it from House of Frasier in Bournemouth in a nice box van and spent all morning twddling about two dozen other knobs with things like "vertical hold" on them behind the single speaker to get the test card picture on the screen to try to match it as closely as possible to the printed one they brought with them.

Claire said she's just bought a new TV and had it calibrated.

In the absence of a speaker to remove, and no knobs to twiddle that I can see, just how do you go about calibrating a new-fangled LED / LCD / plasma / OLED / whatever-will-they-think-of-next TV? (Apart, that is, from handing over small bundles of tenners to a bloke with a feng shui t-shirt, some oddly shaped crystals and a goatee to dance round it naked [so that's what you were really paying for, right Claire?] doing "native American" chants at three in the morning during a lunar eclipse?)
 

Son_of_SJ

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Make that large bundles of tenners.

I'm not sure what the situation is in America, but in the UK a calibration (using a colour meter, calibration software etc) costs about £200 to £250 for a single machine. There are six calibrators, I think, who are active in the UK, here https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zxflzInT4l5Y.kpaE91nvptUY&hl=en_US.

Peter Tyson may not be correct. Maybe one of the others can point you to an American calibrator.
 

Son_of_SJ

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You can go some way by using things like the set-up procedures in some Blu-ray discs, such as Terminator 1 (I think). That will get you roughly, but only roughly, the right brightness and contrast. However, modern televisions have controls like White Balance and Colour Management Systems, and to set things like those, and to check the preset that gives the most accurate colour preset you do need specialist test equipment.
 

Tonya

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I've always found the Andoid app from THX (available from the PlayStore) a useful tool in a pinch when no measuring equipment is close at hand.
You do need a decent Android phone to use it properly, but it is fast and free . . . .
 

Benedict_Arnold

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All sounds like utter ball-cocks to me.

TVs should work properly straight out of the box, and unless you have a proper reference (like the old fashioned test card) or a gazillion quids' worth of meters, what's the point?

Not to mention all the other variables like sunny day vs cloudy day, curtain drawn vs curtains not drawn, day vs night, lights on vs ligths off, 40 watt bulb vs 60 watt bulb, incandescent bulb vs fluorescent vs halogen vs LED, Mercury in Saggitarius with Jupiter rising....

I think I'll get the local priest to come round and bless my TVs with holy water while I'm at it. That'll sort out the blackness of the blacks, give me some great fireworks effect, surround sound (fire engines coming down the street), and the new smellivision app of burnt house...

Now. Where did I put those rubbber bands to go round the edges of my CDs....
 

Series1boy

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It's not bollxxxx . I've noticed a significant difference when had my VT plasma calibrated. It was calibrated to my viewing environment, I.e. Very bright room and near dark conditions. It is impossible at this point in time for manufactures to produce a tv that is calibrated to every environment out of the box. It's also down to personal taste as well in terms of how dark you want it calibrating or how bright.

the thx mode on my VT is terrible and un watchable in my opinion.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Series1boy said:
It's not bollxxxx . I've noticed a significant difference when had my VT plasma calibrated. It was calibrated to my viewing environment, I.e. Very bright room and near dark conditions. It is impossible at this point in time for manufactures to produce a tv that is calibrated to every environment out of the box. It's also down to personal taste as well in terms of how dark you want it calibrating or how bright.

the thx mode on my VT is terrible and un watchable in my opinion.

If you spent, say, twenty thousand on a new car and then had to spend another couple of grand having the engine "calibrated" to suit the particular road you drive to work down every day, I think you'd be a bit miffed. I know I certainly would.

And if some joker came to your door and told you your car needed "calibrating" you'd probably tell him to eff off. I know I certainly would. Servicing, yes, every 12,000 miles. Brand new just got home from the showroom, still knobbly bits on the tyres and it needs calibrating?? Calibrating???

And if some clown came round and told you your new stereo speakers needed "calibrating", likewise. You'd, perhaps, experiment ON YOUR OWN with moving the speakers closer or further apart, nearer or further from the wall, heck even shell out on some new speaker cables. You might even ask your better half what he / she thinks. But have them calibrated???

So why the heck are people falling for this cobblers?

Just twiddle the knobs (or whatever the 21st century bluetooth-linked equivalent is) until you get a picture that YOU like and that suits YOUR sitting room and send the 300 quid to the Lifeboats or the Guide Dogs (the latter seeming more appropriate, somehow).
 

Series1boy

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IT is not cobblers and I can see significant differences between all the modes and my calibrated isf modes.

for the general public who don't care about having their tv calibrated, then they are not enthusiasts like us are they? There is room for improvement in anything you can buy if you are an enthusiast.. BUT nobody is saying YOU have to have your Tv calibrated are they.

Using your analogy of having a car engine calibrated for general use, then this is flawed, and no I wouldnt have my car tuned for certain roads to work, this is just a redicoulous point. However, if you were an enthusiast, then You would have the engine tuned to squeeze that bit of extra performance out of it to out perform the others cars in the race.

i don't know what your problem is having a go at me because I have had my VT calibrated because you have obviously not seen a calibrated screen, and I welcome you to pop over the pond and see for your self. Who are you to tell me what I can see or not, not you or your stupid blind dog, car or whatever anologies!

there are plenty of people on here that have had their TVs calibrated by a calibrator with the proper equipment, and they will confirm it is not a figment of there imagination.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Series1boy said:
I also have the graphs for pre and post calibration I can send you if you have the technical experience to understand them...

Sadly, my paternal grandfather, who was a pioneer era (1936-1968) Chief Engineer at the BBC, passed away in 1976. However, I suspect HE, whilst perfectly able to read the graphs and tell which knob to twiddle next and why, would have told you to stick your graphs somewhere rather unpleasant and tell you to look at the ****ing picture instead. *biggrin*

Oh yeah, my degree is in mechanical engineering, so I figure I can read a graph.
 

Series1boy

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Benedict_Arnold said:
Series1boy said:
I also have the graphs for pre and post calibration I can send you if you have the technical experience to understand them...

Sadly, my paternal grandfather, who was a pioneer era (1936-1968) Chief Engineer at the BBC, passed away in 1976. However, I suspect HE, whilst perfectly able to read the graphs and tell which knob to twiddle next and why, would have told you to stick your graphs somewhere rather unpleasant and tell you to look at the ****ing picture instead. *biggrin*

Oh yeah, my degree is in mechanical engineering, so I figure I can read a graph.

there is only 1 knob you know how to twiddle *biggrin*
 
Calibration certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea. Not everyone buys a Skoda and ditches the Audi just because they share the same engine. There are people who like to squeeze that last bit of performance and would happily pay for it. There's at least a science to it, unlike HDMI cables...
 
D

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Benedict_Arnold said:
All sounds like utter ball-cocks to me.

TVs should work properly straight out of the box, and unless you have a proper reference (like the old fashioned test card) or a gazillion quids' worth of meters, what's the point?

Not to mention all the other variables like sunny day vs cloudy day, curtain drawn vs curtains not drawn, day vs night, lights on vs ligths off, 40 watt bulb vs 60 watt bulb, incandescent bulb vs fluorescent vs halogen vs LED, Mercury in Saggitarius with Jupiter rising....

I think I'll get the local priest to come round and bless my TVs with holy water while I'm at it. That'll sort out the blackness of the blacks, give me some great fireworks effect, surround sound (fire engines coming down the street), and the new smellivision app of burnt house...

Now. Where did I put those rubbber bands to go round the edges of my CDs....
*biggrin*
 

strapped for cash

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Benedict_Arnold said:
All sounds like utter ball-cocks to me.

I don't understand. If you're utterly dismissive, why start a thread about the subject?

It helps to know what professional television calibration does, which is different from, say, individual preferences with regard to audio reproduction (do you prefer a "warm" or "bright" sound, etc.).

Television calibration uses a specific broadcasting and hard media mastering standard as a profile. This standard (BT.709 or Rec.709 for HD broadcasting and Blu-ray discs) is used industry-wide and determines everything, including the colour temperature at which primaries track, to gamma profile and colour spacing.

Out of the box, no mass produced television can perfectly replicate this standard. The variables, with redard to both the manufacturing process and the specifics of individual environments, are too great to accomodate.

This is where professional calibration comes in. In fine tuning your television to the industry standard, it is set up to reproduce content in the same way it is mastered (within the limitations of a particular model; not all mass produced televisions can achieve a reference performance post-calibration). This has discernable advantages -- from aiding naturalism, if content is mastered in this way, to increasing sharpness and detail, to enhancing monocular depth cues to give images greater dimensionality and "pop."

In short, television calibration is not about the kind of images you might "prefer," or someone turning dials because they're "experts." Rather, it's a process informed entirely by a specific, measurable and universal standard. If that all sounds like "ball-cocks" to you, then nobody's forcing you to have your television professionally calibrated.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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strapped for cash said:
Benedict_Arnold said:
All sounds like utter ball-cocks to me.

I don't understand. If you're utterly dismissive, why start a thread about the subject?

It helps to know what professional television calibration does, which is different from, say, individual preferences with regard to audio reproduction (do you prefer a "warm" or "bright" sound, etc.).

Television calibration uses a specific broadcasting and hard media mastering standard as a profile. This standard (BT.709 or Rec.709 for HD broadcasting and Blu-ray discs) is used industry-wide and determines everything, including the colour temperature at which primaries track, to gamma profile and colour spacing.

Out of the box, no mass produced television can perfectly replicate this standard. The variables, with redard to both the manufacturing process and the specifics of individual environments, are too great to accomodate.

This is where professional calibration comes in. In fine tuning your television to the industry standard, it is set up to reproduce content in the same way it is mastered (within the limitations of a particular model; not all mass produced televisions can achieve a reference performance post-calibration). This has discernable advantages -- from aiding naturalism, if content is mastered in this way, to increasing sharpness and detail, to enhancing monocular depth cues to give images greater dimensionality and "pop."

In short, television calibration is not about the kind of images you might "prefer," or someone turning dials because they're "experts." Rather, it's a process informed entirely by a specific, measurable and universal standard. If that all sounds like "ball-cocks" to you, then nobody's forcing you to have your television professionally calibrated.

Not every Mondeo that comes "out of the box" is the same as the next one. Differences in critical engine component dimensions such as piston / bore diameter matches will be within a tolerance of the ideal. Having your engine rebuilt or "blueprinted" or, dare I say it "calibrated" so that pistons and bores are the ideal dimensions is so exhorbitantly expensive that no right minded person (unless named Hamilton or Button or...) would entertain it.

Same deal with TVs, although I expect the mass manufacture of micro-electronics is down to such a fine tolerance (for example - do you have your PC "calibrated"?) that there really isn't any point.

Still. Fools and their money are easily parted, I suppose.

Now. Does anyone want to invest in my South Pole emu farm.....
 

strapped for cash

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Benedict_Arnold said:
Not every Mondeo that comes "out of the box" is the same as the next one. Differences in critical engine component dimensions such as piston / bore diameter matches will be within a tolerance of the ideal. Having your engine rebuilt or "blueprinted" or, dare I say it "calibrated" so that pistons and bores are the ideal dimensions is so exhorbitantly expensive that no right minded person (unless named Hamilton or Button or...) would entertain it.

Same deal with TVs, although I expect the mass manufacture of micro-electronics is down to such a fine tolerance (for example - do you have your PC "calibrated"?) that there really isn't any point.

Still. Fools and their money are easily parted, I suppose.

Now. Does anyone want to invest in my South Pole emu farm.....

Those are bizarre and invalid comments and comparisons. Thanks for the insulting me.

Incidentally, tolerances with regard to television mass production really aren't that narrow.

Most consumers aren't particularly interested in how the technology works. The TV produces a picture. They can watch assorted shows, DVDs, and Blu-rays. They can play games. That's fine. I wouldn't criticise anyone who isn't as invested in the technology as your average videophile. But enthusiasts seek optimum performance and are willing to invest to achieve this goal, just as some people invest considerable time and money on car modification, or fishing equipment, or whatever.

As I say, why start a thread about calibration when you have an unshakably negative view of the process? If it's simply to point out how stupid you think anyone who invests in calibration must be, then well done, what a waste of everyone's time.
 

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