Mar
14
Home Theater Calibration Discs
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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.
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Feb
22
Professional Home Theater Calibration
Filed Under Calibration | Leave a Comment
I’m often asked if it’s worth it to hire a professional to calibrate a systems audio and or video quality, many of those who ask assume their systems wouldn’t benefit from calibration because they don’t own the latest and greatest video gear, I tell them nothing could be farther from the truth. First off make no mistake professional calibration can and often does give a better end result than buying the next model or “spec” up in the product line. Simply put if the environment or the gear itself isn’t optimized to its fullest extent, you’ll never get the maximum return on your investment.
Now before I get any farther, know that you can perform calibration on your own (often with excellent results) for as little as the price of a few DVD’s and a sound meter from radio shack, but professional calibrators have the tools and training to take it to the next performance level. I’ve personally seen ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) calibrations that made night and day, jaw dropping differences over the original settings.
On the audio end of the spectrum the Home Acoustics Alliance (HAA for short) trains independent calibrators from all across the country to troubleshoot, diagnose and recommend the best course of action for ailing audio systems. An HAA certified calibrator can make your system sound better than you ever imagined without adding a single piece of new gear to the equation. Often times custom home theater specialty shops employ calibrators who are both ISF and HAA certified, this allows for a one stop source for all your calibration needs. In future tips we’ll explore how to get the most out of your own (end user) calibrations.
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