Mar
14
Home Theater Calibration Discs
Filed Under Calibration
Earlier when I spoke about having a professional calibrate your home theater system I promised I’d get into the various methods of calibrating your own system with calibration discs. There are several of these discs on the market and while they all present the data and tests differently from one another the end goal of these discs is the same, to allow you calibrate your home theater system without the expensive, specialized testing equipment the pros use.
One of the better known calibration discs would be ‘Digital Video Essentials’ (available in several formats and editions). DVE has been around in one form or another since the laserdisc days. You’ll find that each of the various calibration discs have their own personality as it were, by this I mean one may be more comprehensive than another and some may be easier to navigate while offering less overall test material. DVE certainly falls in the comprehensive category. You’ll probably find it too comprehensive if you’re just looking to run a few quick tests, the upside to this however is that you can grow into the disc as you gain knowledge.
From there, we get into the AVIA test discs and newcomers like the Monster ISF calibration disc. The AVIA series of calibration discs from Ovation are widely recognized as easy to use and comprehensive enough to handle all but the most stringent of requirements. I haven’t had a chance to use the Pro-Series AVIA discs but I hear they’re quite nice. That newcomer I mentioned is the ‘Monster ISF Calibration Wizard’, its lean (in a good way) and to the point, you pop the disc in and after a brief intro you’re calibrating. The Monster disc certainly isn’t a bad choice especially if you find one on sale, last I checked they could be found for as little as $29.99.
Now about the types of tests found on these discs, you’ll find the usual contrast, brightness and sharpness tests, as well as tint setting exercises. Although many displays have their individual RGB adjustments locked out you can still get a reference for where you’re at should you decide you need professional calibration. With the various video tests these calibration discs offer you’ll also find a wide range of surround sound tests as well.
One last disc to consider is one that you may already own. Several Disney discs and almost all of the newer THX certified discs have a “THX Optimizer” either on the main feature or in a separate disc inside the jacket. The Optimizer discs have all the basic functions you’d need and will certainly suffice as a stop-gap measure until you can get one of the other discs mentioned above.
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