Spears & Munsil calibration BD disk............

[fayeanddavid]

How good a tool is this disk?

My 52W5500 is set up pretty good to the naked eye, but there is always a nagging doubt as to whether it is at it's optimum.

I've run the THX test that feature on some DVDs, and apart from blue still being a slight challenge everything else seems to fit.

Will the S&M (Spears and Munsil that is) disk give me the extra edge on picture calibration?

Your opinions welcome please

 

[bigboss]

THX calibration is fine. You don't need to calibrate your TV anymore unless you're unhappy with it.

 

[TKratz]

Sorry to be a bit pedantic here Bigboss, but what exactly do you mean by: "You don't need to calibrate your TV anymore unless you're unhappy with it"?
Do you mean calibration in general is unnecessary? Or do you mean that no further calibration than the THX one is needed?

In either case I disagree. I used the THX optimiser on my TV, and even though I got nice improvements, I was unable to get a really good colour balance. This probably depends a lot on the TV you have, but on the Panasonic PZ800 you cannot adjust the colours separately unless you enter the service menu. I didn't wan't to mess with that, as it requires specific skills I do not have. Instead I got a profesional to calibrate it, and that is the best money I ever spent on a TV! What an improvement it was.

As he also expressed it often pays of buying a model lower than intended and instead use the savings for a calibration. I believe he is right!

 

[bigboss]

TKratz:

Sorry to be a bit pedantic here Bigboss, but what exactly do you mean by: "You don't need to calibrate your TV anymore unless you're unhappy with it"?
Do you mean calibration in general is unnecessary? Or do you mean that no further calibration than the THX one is needed?

In either case I disagree. I used the THX optimiser on my TV, and even though I got nice improvements, I was unable to get a really good colour balance. This probably depends a lot on the TV you have, but on the Panasonic PZ800 you cannot adjust the colours separately unless you enter the service menu. I didn't wan't to mess with that, as it requires specific skills I do not have. Instead I got a profesional to calibrate it, and that is the best money I ever spent on a TV! What an improvement it was.

As he also expressed I often pays of buying a model lower than intended and instead use the savings for a calibration. I believe he is right!

I meant no further calibration than the THX one is needed if the OP is happy with the results. You weren't happy with the results of THX calibration, & so you got the TV professionally calibrated. Either case, Spears & Munsil calibration BD disk is not necessary. I don't believe it can offer improvements over THX calibration. If you're not happy with THX optimiser results, then get it professionally calibrated.

 

[AEJim]

Using on-screen calibrators by eye will only get you so far, it's unlikely that one type will greatly outdo another as they all work on the same principals - You need a light/colour meter to do it properly and even then it's best left to the experts unless you really want to spend some time learning all the ins and outs of it. An experienced ISF calibrator takes 3-4 hours to do a good gob on one screen - it's possible to read up on it and learn but it'll take quite some time to get it right.

 

[DJEPSON]

TKratz - how much it cost for the calibration ?

Thanks

 

[AEJim]

DJEPSON:
TKratz - how much it cost for the calibration ?

Thanks

Quite a lot for ISF Certified and not that many people who can do it - £200-300 normally, thing is that's either great value or a total rip off depending on your view point. If you want the best out of your screen and you've spent over a grand on it then it's definitely worthwhile. If you have a cheap screen it can also make the world of difference as long as the panel is good enough to get the benefits... Do some research and you can see it makes a major difference - even top notch gear rarely comes with accurate gamma and colour temp out of the box.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

IMHO any picture adjustments made by eye using test paterns on any disc if it be THX,S&M or the DVE disc will only help you improve the TV slightly at best and results are very dependant upon your own eyes! The only way to properly calibrate a TV is by using a meter/PC combo and a test disc containing the required test paterns.

There are 2 options here, one the Professinal claibrator who will charge £200+ to calibrate 1 TV or you can invest in a meter and do it yourself thus meaning not only can you calibrate unlimited TVs for your investment but you can also re-calibrate your TV periodicaly as all TVs picture drift over time as the TV ages.

Have a read HERE as it's a fantastic guide into the importance of propper calibration and it's not as complicated or as expensive as you may think with about £100-£150 for your meter and you can even use colorHCFR software which is FREE! so IMHO after spending say a grand on a TV a extra £100 to get it looking right is money well spent.

There are other software options such as Chromapure or calMAN which both make it much easier but will cost about $350 including a meter.

 

[fayeanddavid]

AEJim:DJEPSON:
TKratz - how much it cost for the calibration ?

Thanks

Quite a lot for ISF Certified and not that many people who can do it - £200-300 normally, thing is that's either great value or a total rip off depending on your view point. If you want the best out of your screen and you've spent over a grand on it then it's definitely worthwhile. If you have a cheap screen it can also make the world of difference as long as the panel is good enough to get the benefits... Do some research and you can see it makes a major difference - even top notch gear rarely comes with accurate gamma and colour temp out of the box.

Thinking AE Jim and DJ Krime have a point.

My Sony has the sub menus for Gain and Bias, as well as all the other enhancements so I'll take a further look at all the suggestions

Essentially I want the satisfaction of having the very best set up from the screen that I can have and I am sure there is room for improvement...............?

 

[TKratz]

fayeanddavid:AEJim:DJEPSON:

TKratz - how much it cost for the calibration ?

Thanks

Quite a lot for ISF Certified and not that many people who can do it - £200-300 normally, thing is that's either great value or a total rip off depending on your view point. If you want the best out of your screen and you've spent over a grand on it then it's definitely worthwhile. If you have a cheap screen it can also make the world of difference as long as the panel is good enough to get the benefits... Do some research and you can see it makes a major difference - even top notch gear rarely comes with accurate gamma and colour temp out of the box.

Thinking AE Jim and DJ Krime have a point.

My Sony has the sub menus for Gain and Bias, as well as all the other enhancements so I'll take a further look at all the suggestions

Essentially I want the satisfaction of having the very best set up from the screen that I can have and I am sure there is room for improvement...............?

I paid 2.800 DKr (around 300£) for the calibration, which is arguably not cheap. If I had waited a while it is now down to 2.000 DKr (campaign price), but this is never easy to predict...
As said I still believe it is money well spent. I fully agree with AEJim. Proper calibration is no easy task. It requires education and professional equipment.

What I don't get is why some people happily pay 200 - 300£ more for a premium TV, but hesitate to pay the same amount for a calibration although the improvements gained for the latter is usually greater in my opinion.

 

[nws56]

Consider this : when the Nikon Corporation of Japan were finalising the colour balance of their latest pro - spec SLR camera [ D3 I think ] , they used machines only up to a point . Beyond this they adjusted - by eye ! - to four things seen in real life . With real eyes . These four things were

1. The colour of grass in springtime

2. Ripe banana skins

3. Sky colour on a cloudless day

4. European [ not Asian or Oriental ! ] skin tone

They reasoned that everyone knows instinctively when these colours are ' right ' . Or wrong . This requires confidence of course , something they figured pro photographers would have .

I would counsel you to do the same ; THX or DVE disc to establish a base , then finally tweak by eye . Yours .

I only have one disc in my collection that contains all four of the above list , but the bananas are unripe .......

 

[bigboss]

TKratz:
What I don't get is why some people happily pay 200 - 300£ more for a premium TV, but hesitate to pay the same amount for a calibration although the improvements gained for the latter is usually greater in my opinion.

That's because:

1) Not many people know calibration existed.

2) The improvements are not always guaranteed & may not be significant. I got my KRP 500A professionally calibrated. But despite that, the improvement was only marginal. That's how accurate out of the box the Kuro was. I couldn't have dreamt of saving £300 on a lesser TV & get it calibrated. It still wouldn't match the Kuro.

 

[TKratz]

You of course have a point Bigboss.

Certain TVs have so good out of the box settings, that a calibration will not improve the picture very much. The Pioneer KRPs are an excellent example, but also the newer Panasonic and LG top range plasmas comes with THX settings. With a TV like that I wouldn't personally calibrate.

 

[GSB]

hi guys,i'd like to resurect this thread becouse i would be very interested to know if as advised on the whfi video my gt30 would benefit from me using a callibration disk.....i use the thx setting on the set.