One of the most important The most important thing that a person can do is properly calibrate their HDTV. It is absolutely imperative that it is done to get the best picture. One of our readers, Kyle Thibaut, is as concerned as we are and wants to make sure that everyones HDTV is properly done. There are more then a few ways to have this done, with options in every budget. The best way is to have a professional do it, but there are some good do-it-yourself options out there too.
AVS Forums does have
a very good thread with tons of info for the do-it-yourselver. But in all honesty, a professional can do it best. Contact a
local high-end audio/video store and they should be able to provide you with someone who can calibrate your HDTV. Just a warning though, it isn't cheap and don't be afraid to call around for the best price.
Do you have your HDTV calibrated? How did you do it. 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thomas Werewolf @ Jun 23rd 2006 1:01PM
I got my HDTV two months ago and calibrated with Digital Video Essentials. Apart from research done in preparation for buying my TV, I was pretty green coming into it, so a lot of stuff covered on the DVD I had to watch a couple times to understand it. But my TV looks noticeably better after calibrating. I'm sure a pro could have done a better job, but for $16 (buy.com), I think it's one of the best purchases you can make for a new HDTV.
James @ Jun 23rd 2006 1:04PM
A lot of folks may balk at the high price of ISF calibration - but mine was worth every penny. My TV looked good before, how could it look 400 dollars better? Amazingly it's more lifelike and 3d than I ever thought possible. Well worth it.
Buzzcut @ Jun 23rd 2006 2:19PM
Do you guys think that professional calibration is only worth it on more high end sets, and that for a less expensive set doing it yourself makes more sense?
I've got a 32" 4:3 CRT based HDTV. I'm wondering if I would notice the difference between doing it myself and the full ISF monty?
Kevin M. @ Jun 23rd 2006 7:36PM
I have an LCD RPTV, so there's not much you can do with it, but I did play around with HDNet test patterns.
Neal Saferstein @ Jun 23rd 2006 9:02PM
Is there any guide available online?
Neal Saferstein
Kyle @ Jun 23rd 2006 10:31PM
We used Digital Video Essentials
Deathwish238 @ Jun 23rd 2006 10:38PM
I used DVE. Very easy to use...atleast once you learn the menu.
I can't agree more about how important calibration is. Makes a night and day difference. I absolutely hate how many people go to stores and base their decision to buy a display soley off of what they seen in stores. Seeing how virtually no display is correct in store...you might as well pick blindly.
GhostDoggy @ Jun 24th 2006 10:46AM
Why would anyone want to calibrate using a disk designed, edited, and authored for NTSC for your ATSC display? Why work with reduced color space and reduce resolution as a basis for your efforts?
Steve Soricelli @ Jun 24th 2006 11:38AM
I used the Monster Claibration Wizard. The most noticible difference I found after calibrating was that the blacks are better & the SD picture improved dramatically. I have a Sony KDL-VDX40BR1 LCD tv. The dvd was real easy to use & I feel it was well worth it.
rocko @ Jun 24th 2006 6:37PM
cough
http://tinyurl.com/eya9f
cough
Erik Hanson @ Jun 26th 2006 2:45PM
rocko is right, HDB already covered this on how to calibrate using the THX Optimizer, which is fairly decent, although you need the THX colored glasses to do the color calibration (and they never tell you where you can actually GET those, hehe)
GhostDoggy is also correct, these methods all use an NTSC DVD, which won't give you the best calibration for your ATSC set, but hey, it's all we've got until someone comes up with the HD-DVD or Blu-ray version!
Also, I personally own the Avia disc, and it's very good and recommended as well. You can find it online or used for a pretty good deal, much less than the asking retail of $40.
rocko @ Jul 1st 2006 10:10PM
damn straight im right