TV & Home Theater

[Brewtoomany]

The TV I bought at Best buy, Samsung 46" LED, is awesomoe. However I let them talk me into a TV calibration. Waited two months, and after it was calibrated, my picture was worse. So much that after the guy left, I changed the setting back to the original settings and to the best picture I have ever seen.

It's just not worth the money or the wait! 

[DarkWingDUCK]

Calibration benefits a TV greatly, Just ask any senior member of the AVS Forum website or check this article from Cnet.com:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20074546-1/what-is-hdtv-calibration/

In your case one of two things have occurred:

1.  Your eyes have not adjusted to the calibrated picture because you are so used to watching it on its "vivid" picture setting.  Preset modes like this are only designed to sell the TV set, and oversaturate your colors and crush black levels and shadow detail.

2.  There is human error involved during some calibrations.  If you are unhappy with your calibration results (make sure you give your eyes a few days to adjust) then you can request a new calibration appointment, you can also request a different technician as well.  Usually each large city has 2 ISF certified calibration technicians.

The example I give many of my customers regarding what I call "calibration disappointment" is that they are simply under-educated about calibration and what it does.  They may think that those bright, poppy, oversaturated images are actually great picture quality. 

Think of it this way:  Before you go to sleep you turn out the lights in your bedroom and you find it difficult to navigate the darkness of the room.  If you give your eyes a few minutes to adjust, you will be able to see many details about the room that you did not notice before.  The same rule applies to a calibrated TV. 

On a bright showroom floor a calibrated TV looks dimmer and flatter than an uncalibrated set.  Watch the calibrated set for a few minutes, notice the natural colors and fleshy skin surfaces of actors on screen.  Then look at an uncalibrated set after your eyes have adjusted.  Notice how every color is being oversaturated with the color blue (tricking the eye into perceiving a brighter picture).  Skin tones no longer look fleshy, but plastic-like.  This also introduces much more video noise (grain) into the picture.

Give yourself a few days to adjust, don't be tempted to switch back to the Vivid setting on the TV.  If calibration is done correctly, you'll switch back to Vivid after a few days and be shocked at how you even watched the TV with those settings.  If you do not think it was done correctly then you can call the store and request a different technician and a follow-up appointment to correct any errors.

[Jimmienomam]

Great assessment dark.

I will say however though that some customers just like the over saturated views. My wife being one. I self tweaked a dt30 with d-nice settings after aging and the skin tones were almost dead on with deep blacks. My wife still likes the vivid mode even after she got used to it. Luckily for me she is not picky and we just use the custom settings.

[DarkWingDUCK]

I used this test of my wife as well LOL, I had my Panasonic 65S1 calibrated without her knowing on one of my days off.  She asked "why is the TV darker", I shrugged and told her I didn't know what she was talking about.  A month later after she'd gotten used to it I switched the picture mode back to Vivid before she got home from work.  She asked me while watching TV:  "What is wrong with this TV!  Its too bright and everything looks weird and grainy!"

I fessed up, and of coarse she didn't like being the guinnea pig, but it was worth it to put the value in her eyes.  She literally could care less about any technology but is convinced that we have to calibrate every TV we own.

[grif32]

I think you should have said, not to get one done by Best Buy!! If you get one done by people who know what they are doing will benefit the TV in a big way!

[APR28]

Depends what type of calibration you received.

Did BB send someone who stuck a dvd in the player and looked through some colored film to adjust the tv?

[DarkWingDUCK]

If they did that would be completely against policy.  GeekSquas calibrators have to be ISF certified and use a colorameter with Cal Man software.

[rwillen]

---

DarkWingDUCK wrote:

If they did that would be completely against policy.  GeekSquas calibrators have to be ISF certified and use a colorameter with Cal Man software.

---

Are they still limited to 90 minutes in the home, including setup time?

[DarkWingDUCK]

It is subjective to the calibrator.  The computer allocates 90 minutes, but some do take longer than others.  Most calibrations cost more than $600 and can take 10 hours or more, for a $200 calibration, you do get an exceptional value as far as calibrations go.  I'd love to be able to afford to have Robert Heron or D-Nice calibrate my TV for hours on end for an ungodly price LOL, but its a good value for the $200 you're spending.

[jack58]

---

grif32 wrote:

I think you should have said, not to get one done by Best Buy!! If you get one done by people who know what they are doing will benefit the TV in a big way!

---

Exactly... I've heard on other calibration forums that Best Buy is not well trained for that and to do it properly takes more than the two hours BB allots for their service.

The Real Pros will take longer than two hours to do it right.

Google "Calibration forums" and you will see I didn't make this up.