# ISF calibration?



## roger1014 (Oct 18, 2011)

I have a Mitsubishi WD-73838, which is a DLP rear projection. This display has the ISF calibration menu. I had local BM store calibrate my display and they never went into the ISF set up menu! I thought the ISF calibration was the way to go ... at that point 3 years ago. Did I get short changed on this calibration?


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

My ISF Calibrations took 3+ hours and he had his laptop and some very expensive light sensing equipment on a tripod. He showed me graphs with before and after, explained what he did and why and provided me with a calibration disk and explained how to use it if for some reason his settings were lost. A very informative session


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## mvision7m (Feb 9, 2013)

roger1014 said:


> I have a Mitsubishi WD-73838, which is a DLP rear projection. This display has the ISF calibration menu. I had local BM store calibrate my display and they never went into the ISF set up menu! I thought the ISF calibration was the way to go ... at that point 3 years ago. Did I get short changed on this calibration?


I don't know exactly what adjustments were made using what tools etc. on your set but making an educated guess based on what you say they did, you may have gotten a little short changed. 

I've had two plasma sets ISF pro calibrated by independent and highly regarded calibrators and each calibration took between three and fours hours. Each HDMI input was ISF calibrated with an ISF day mode/ISF night mode and an ISF 3D mode and the perceived PQ is simply fantastic. Each calibrator used a laptop connected to the TV, adjusted all kinds of picture parameters and used a high accurate light meter up against the screen to read/analyze results to bring everything into the rec. 709 specification. Highly detailed work. 

I don't know how much you paid for the service but, if you paid less than I did, then you may (or may not) have gotten what you paid for.


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## roger1014 (Oct 18, 2011)

I think at that time it was about $200 and the guy only took about 30 to 45 minutes.


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## mvision7m (Feb 9, 2013)

roger1014 said:


> I think at that time it was about $200 and the guy only took about 30 to 45 minutes.


I highly doubt that person did anywhere near the type of calibration you'd get from an independent, ISF certified calibrator with the proper equipment. 

For that money and time spent, your guy may have done a very basic calibration, similar to the results you might get using a calibration Blu-ray Disc such as the Spears&Munsil 2nd edition blu-ray calibration and set up disc. You can certainly get good results using that disc, results that'll be much better than any of the presets built into the TV but, in my experience, you cannot equal the results of a full ISF certified pro calibration.


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## roger1014 (Oct 18, 2011)

mvision7m said:


> I highly doubt that person did anywhere near the type of calibration you'd get from an independent, ISF certified calibrator with the proper equipment.
> 
> For that money and time spent, your guy may have done a very basic calibration, similar to the results you might get using a calibration Blu-ray Disc such as the Spears&Munsil 2nd edition blu-ray calibration and set up disc. You can certainly get good results using that disc, results that'll be much better than any of the presets built into the TV but, in my experience, you cannot equal the results of a full ISF certified pro calibration.







I just received the Spears&Munsil 2nd Edition blue ray the other day. Order it from Oppo. Have done a real quick calibration, using the HDMI output 1 and the video processing menu of the Oppo BPD-103, and have noticed a slight improvement! Will try more of the calibration later. Need to see if I can find a ISF certified tech in my area!


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

I had my PJ calibrated by Greg Ariane at http://www.allhighdef.com/ and he was at my house for 3.5 hours and had all sorts of measureing aquipment hooked up to my system and his laptop. He walked me through every step and when he was done there was no doubt that the pic was stunningly better. I would look into a company like who I used and have it done right. You just can't do the job correctly in 30 minutes.


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## michael tlv (Jun 23, 2009)

Greetings

One needs to remember that even the calibrations offered by Best Buy are also ISF calibrations and some of those take 20 minutes because corporate encourages that. Their level of training and equipment may be atrocious, but they are just as legit as anyone else because the ISF deems it so.  

As one finds out ... just taking a class and passing an open book exam does not make you or anyone a credible calibrator. It just says you kinda understood the material on the exam.

Unfortunately, Greg E. has joined the other 95%of calibrators and is no longer practicing.

regards


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## roger1014 (Oct 18, 2011)

funny as Best Buy did the calibration on my set when I first got! Maybe they are ISf certified but when they did mine, they did not get into the ISF menus of the TV and only did one input and no Day/night mode. I heard they calibrate 2 inputs now, . The first time BBY did my Mit they even had to use some of the video processing of the AVR! The first set was replaced under warranty due to a problem of , what I call, a green tint on screen, that could not be adjusted out! They even replaced the main board with no help. New replacement set does not have that problem.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

michael tlv said:


> Greetings
> 
> Unfortunately, Greg E. has joined the other 95%of calibrators and is no longer practicing.
> 
> regards


I didn't know that. Why do they still list his name on the website? He is a great guy to work with and knows his stuff.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

ISF does not keep up with who is actually doing the work or not. You take a class, pass a test and you are certified. I have not done calibration in three years but I still get calls from the ISF site.


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

Michael tlv (fellow shackster) did my calibration. He`s a wizard :T


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## michael tlv (Jun 23, 2009)

Greetings

Because the site does not constantly poll those on it to see who is still around. It is more of an indication of who took the class ... no longer who is still in business.

If you want to know what you are potentially getting from a BB calibration, you should give this article a read.

http://www.tlvexp.ca/2013/05/ravings-of-a-mad-man-inside-the-big-box-store/

Regards


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## htsirhc (Jul 21, 2012)

So,I just picked up the 65" Samsung 8000 TV about 2 months ago from best buy and had it calibrated a month ago. I had time to watch it before the calibration was preformed. I was hesitant at first to buy it. But the salesman did a good job of showing me (convincing)with the floor demonstration of the 2 tvs , one calibrated and not. I have to say I am impressed. I paid $200. They gave me a print out of the adjustments as well. I not sure I would do it on every tv but I'm glad I did on this one. A question, at what price point or quality does it not make sense to calibrate or not to. Great article,


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## mvision7m (Feb 9, 2013)

htsirhc said:


> So,I just picked up the 65" Samsung 8000 TV about 2 months ago from best buy and had it calibrated a month ago. I had time to watch it before the calibration was preformed. I was hesitant at first to buy it. But the salesman did a good job of showing me (convincing)with the floor demonstration of the 2 tvs , one calibrated and not. I have to say I am impressed. I paid $200. They gave me a print out of the adjustments as well. I not sure I would do it on every tv but I'm glad I did on this one. A question, at what price point or quality does it not make sense to calibrate or not to. Great article,


It's really personal preference whether or not to calibrate a particular tv. 

First thing to think about is how much calibration can actually be done to a particular set, does it have a color management system, can white balance be adjusted etc. Even sets without those features can be calibrated to a lesser degree than ones that have them and those simpler calibrations should cost less in those cases because it's less work and time.

Although I would recommend everyone have their sets calibrated, even less expensive ones, I'd make that recommendation simply because I think every TV sold today can benefit from a calibration. However, I know that I want my set's performing at their peak performance and I want to see as close a picture to "reference" as I can possibly get. So, when I watch blu-rays on my set, I know I'm seeing an image that's pretty close to what the mastering tech and director intended the audience to see. Regardless of what kind of set I may have, I want to know that the black level is set to be as dark and rich as possible without giving up too much shadow detail in the process and that whites are as bright and clean as can be with out losing detail in the whites either especially since the most important factor to great picture quality is very widely considered to be contrast. 

After typing all of that, it still comes down to personal preference more than what the TV costs in my opinion. I mean, I'm very likely not going to have a calibration performed on my 32 inch, $199 720p LCD TV that I have in my bedroom because the calibration would cost more than the set itself and I can perform a basic calibration on that set with my Spears & Munsil calibration blu-ray for free. How much does having a reference or near reference quality picture on your set(s) mean to you? No one else can answer that question for anyone but themselves.


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## michael tlv (Jun 23, 2009)

Greetings

http://www.tlvexp.ca/2011/12/is-calibration-worth-it-how-long-is-a-piece-of-string/

This one is on the worth of calibration ... and how completely subjective that part can be.

regards


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