Anybody with experience using tv calibration discs?

Discussion in 'New Roundtable' started by islstl, Aug 22, 2013.

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  1. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    Just got my 60" Vizio in today and want to calibrate it. Supposedly makes a huge difference if you use the right discs.

    I am currently looking at Disney World of Wonder. It has great reviews for being a tv calibrator.
     
    islstl, Aug 22, 2013
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  2. fanatic

    fanatic Habitual Line Stepper

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    Never heard of having to calibrate a TV to get a clearer picture. Isn't that done automatically with newer devices?
     
    fanatic, Aug 22, 2013
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  3. bhelmLSU

    bhelmLSU Founding Member Staff Member

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    Calibrating gives the best picture and also protects the life of the TV. Anything you see at a store or buy is usually set at the brightest picture settings. Doesn't account for specific room conditions in your home with the right shadow detail and the color balance is usually too blue.
     
    bhelmLSU, Aug 22, 2013
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  4. fanatic

    fanatic Habitual Line Stepper

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    I guess I don't know enough to notice. Mine looks fine to me. That said, knowing my luck, I'll probably be buying another one in a year or two because I didn't calibrate my current set and it will die.
     
    fanatic, Aug 23, 2013
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  5. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    Well I don't know about it shortening the life of your tv (I highly doubt it), but supposedly to get the optimum picture, you should calibrate it.

    I googled the optimal settings for my tv and of course I was able to find something very useful (on some forum regarding such things). So I basically calibrated it from someone else's experience.
     
    islstl, Aug 24, 2013
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  6. bhelmLSU

    bhelmLSU Founding Member Staff Member

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    My dad bought 2 TVs over a 5 year span. When you do the calibration pixel test you could see pixels that lost the luster and ones completely out. Had a friend come by with all the tools and it was very comprehensive. They aren't cheap however so I usually just set optimal settings for CNet on the ones not used as much and total calibration on the nicer TVs like Samsung. LG now has an auto calibration that is very simple and user-friendly and achieves much of what a full calibration entails.
     
    bhelmLSU, Aug 24, 2013
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  7. Cajun Sensation

    Cajun Sensation I'm kind of a big deal Staff Member

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    Wait, I have 2 big ass Samsungs. Are you telling me that I have to calibrate it? Never heard of it.

    How do I do it?
     
    Cajun Sensation, Aug 26, 2013
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  8. fanatic

    fanatic Habitual Line Stepper

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    Same here. They didn't come with any calibration discs and the Best Buy people sure as hell didn't say anything about it. Then again, the picture looks great to me, so I'm not sure what I need to do, if anything.
     
    fanatic, Aug 26, 2013
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  9. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    Professional calibration costs a lot of money and requires special instruments. But guys who calibrate them all the time have established video settings that are optimum for most situations and for almost all HDTV's. Find them free at . . .

    http://www.tweaktv.com
     
    red55, Aug 26, 2013
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  10. mancha

    mancha Alabama morghulis

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    I have the Disney WOW calibration disk. It has simple calilbrations to more complex calibration steps. I'm not sure how it compares with any other method but the picture is better than all of the preset picture modes.
     
    mancha, Aug 26, 2013
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