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  1. #1
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    Best Video Calibration DVD

    I just purchsed a new Hitachi 50 LCD, and this is my first HDTV experience. My next purchase is going to be a video calibration DVD to fine tune the picture. From the looks of things "Digital Video Essentials" and "Avia Video Calibration" are the two biggest titles. From what I have heard the Video Essentials dvd is a little better, but hard to use for someone who hasn't done calibrations before. I consider myself to be very tech savvy, so don't think this would be an issue, but who knows.

    Can anyone recommend one of these programs over the other, or doesn't it make a difference. I can get Video Essentials for 1/2 the price of the Avia.

    Thanks in advance, want to make sure I get my new TV running the best I can.

  2. #2
    Forum Regular edtyct's Avatar
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    Zep,

    They both do the job, and both are comprehensive. DVE may be a little harder to navigate, and though some people think it slightly more demanding in a technical sense than AVIA, it isn't likely to confound any motivated user. At half the price of AVIA, it's a no-brainer. Once you've mastered it, subsequent calibrations will be a snap. Go for it.

    Ed

  3. #3
    Feel the Tempo eisforelectronic's Avatar
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    anything with a color bar generator.

  4. #4
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    I would go with DVE because it has more up to date audio tests than Avia. The Avia DVD has not been updated since 1999. DVE was last updated just over a year ago, and the price got lowered to $25 in the process.

    If you've never used a calibration DVD before, you might want to also consider the Sound & Vision Home Theater Setup DVD. It's made by the same people who put together the Avia DVD, but it's much simpler to use, costs only $20, and has the DTS and 6.1 audio tests that are missing with the Avia disc.

  5. #5
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    I heard the "Sound and Vision" DVD was a little bit elementary and was not a true "calibration disc" like DVE and Avia. I guess I'd rather have something that's more complicated but gives the best results.

    Looks like I will be going with the DVE disc. I'm not familiar with video calibration at all, but don't expect to have any problems. If I do I guess I will just have to take the time to work through them.

    On a side note, how often do people re-calibrate their TV's? I knwo this is more important with CRT projection than LCD projection. After doing it once, I should be all set since my TV is LCD right?

  6. #6
    Forum Regular edtyct's Avatar
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    Unless you plan on hauling the RPTV around, changing DVD players, or adding another component with its own calibration tool (like D-VHS), your DVE settings via DVD should suffice for most of your viewing for a good long time. If you have the kind of TV that doesn't have a memory for each input but only for each video mode (like Sony's Vivid, Standard, and Pro), and, say, you want your STB w/HD to share the same mode, you may find it necessary to toggle color and luminance settings if you're really finicky. But Hitachis are more user-friendly than Sonys in that regard, if I recall. On the whole, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but you could certainly check from time to time to get a sense of how your monitor behaves over time.

  7. #7
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zepman1
    I heard the "Sound and Vision" DVD was a little bit elementary and was not a true "calibration disc" like DVE and Avia. I guess I'd rather have something that's more complicated but gives the best results.

    Looks like I will be going with the DVE disc. I'm not familiar with video calibration at all, but don't expect to have any problems. If I do I guess I will just have to take the time to work through them.
    I recommend the S&V DVD for people who have never used a calibration disc before. Even at its more simplistic level, it will make a huge improvement over the factory defaults (just simple stuff like dialing down the brightness and sharpness, and getting the color balance right using just the blue filter help a lot). Indeed, DVE is a more serious calibration disc, but it's also more of a pain to navigate, the tutorials aren't very good, and there's a lot of stuff on there that you might never use. If you're willing to take the time, and especially if you're using a projection TV, it might be better to go with the DVE. With three color filters, it allows for a lot more flexibility, especially if your TV has more adjustments available aside from the typical "Hue" control.

    Quote Originally Posted by zepman1
    On a side note, how often do people re-calibrate their TV's? I knwo this is more important with CRT projection than LCD projection. After doing it once, I should be all set since my TV is LCD right?
    I recalibrated my TV when I switched rooms because the light conditions are somewhat different. But, all in all, I've only done the video calibration a few times. The audio tests however, I do much more often because the acoustical conditions in the room change whenever you move furniture around or change the speaker location. In a multichannel setup, it's vital that you level match all of the speakers, and you should use the audio tests with a SPL meter because you ear alone cannot establish the reference point as precisely and reliably as a proper setup needs. Even small level differences can skew the imaging.

  8. #8
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    I'd go with AVIA. It's much easier to work with than DVE. I bought it, and even found an article that explains how to use it: http://www.techlore.com/article/10095/

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