Testimonials
I’d spent several months on the fence wondering if a professional calibration would make any discernable improvement to my projectors picture.
Ok I say to myself, it’s time to find out. Craig is starting a calibration tour. I decided I need to try this once or I’ll always wonder if I have the best picture possible from my projector.
When Craig arrived at my house I was excited at the possibility that my projector was going to have a picture that would take our HT experience to a new level. But I also thought what if this turns out to be a waste of time and money? I calmed myself by thinking I must do this full blown calibration just once to see what it’s all about.
I remember thinking that once he sees the picture coming from my projector that he was probably going to say “well, there’s not much I can do, I’ll tweak this one knob here and be on my way”.
He didn’t say that, in fact he said “whoa, that’s a terrible picture”. That was like music to my ears. I’m thinking now ok; let’s see what you can do!
To make this long story just a little longer let me tell you how the time went. He invited me to stay close by his equipment to see what the calibration equipment sees and how it will lead to a fully calibrated picture after he is done.
He adjusted grey scale but didn’t stop there. He found improper color and contrast settings that when corrected I was amazed the picture could become so dramatically better than it was.
I’m now a firm believer in calibration. But I would be concerned to buy any calibration that didn’t have all the same type of equipment and skill to use it that Craig has. It’s good science and the evidence is in the picture as well as the calibration print-out he left me showing the before and after calibration points.
Thank you Craig for calibrating such a great picture the whole family is amazed with.
Brian F.
It (calibration was) just finished. He started at around 9AM and finished after 3. It looks amazing… DTV HD looked great but the real showstopper was Gears2. My son and I were blown away.
I had Craig calibrate for a dark room as we seldom turn the TV on during the day with the exception of Football season so I am really pumped to check it out tonight!
I can honestly say everyone was right, this (calibration) was way worth it…
Tony P.
Just had Craig calibrate my PRO-1150HD this weekend and I must say it’s looking pretty sweet. It didn’t look like it could be done at first but Craig managed to work through the unique issues posed by this Pioneer Elite and as I sit here watching this set now, I can definitely say that it is sexy time. I popped in Transformers HD-DVD afterwards and the set almost made it a good movie. Megan Fox helped, too.
Sam M.
Had Craig do a calibration on my Mits DLP (65732) during his western tour. I am very pleased with the results.
There really is a 3-D quality to some of the video images after the calibration. Of course for the image to “pop” it requires good quality video recording to begin with. There is a noticeable difference in everything we watch from “black and white” movies to movies produced with all the latest technologies.
Craig was on-time, maintained good communication both prior to and during the calibration, and was very pleasant to deal with.
Thanks Craig!
Dennis C.
I think it is worth calibrating your TV if you want the best picture possible. I am the owner of the two Samsungs that Craig calibrated last week. I can’t even explain how beautiful and amazing it is to watch HD and BluRay movies on this TV. Before we had it calibrated, we fiddled around with the controls and the picture seemed to be decent, but not quite the picture we were looking for. Once we had Craig calibrate it, I couldn’t believe the clarity of the picture even my decent DVD player played movies like the BluRay did. I spent a great deal of money on both TVs and I definitely wanted the best picture out of it. So why not have it calibrated…it’s worth the investment.
Glen S.
Craig came by to calibrate my Sony 34XBR970 this past Saturday and the man might as well have parted the Red Sea because he performed a miracle on my set. I recently picked up this set because I wanted a quality CRT primarily for gaming but also because it’s a set I’ve long coveted but could not afford.
Unfortunately I soon learned of its severe overscan issues making widescreen gaming and viewing next to intolerable. I’m new to calibration but I am somewhat aware of the unique difficulties posed by a CRT set so I wasn’t expecting a miracle worker, but that’s apparently what I got.
Post-calibration, Craig and I hooked up the PS3 and fired up Casino Royale and The Fifth Element (Remastered edition) on Blu-ray. I was blown away. I’ve previously seen these on a 4-year old Panasonic Viera and a Pioneer Kuro 4280HD – both uncalibrated – and I’ve never seen these Blu-rays look so good. I’d already received a sufficient return on my investment just minutes after the calibration. Naturally I ran out and bought a few more Blu-rays and video games and now think I may have a spending problem, but definitely no buyers remorse because of the set I’m viewing these on.
I’m a believer in calibration now and actually went looking for a set that would be conducive to professional calibration and not being at all concerned with the out-of-the-box PQ.
I’m trying to get Craig to come back and calibrate a Pioneer PRO-1150 for me after I break it in…
Sam M.
Just wanted to post a shout out to Craig Rounds of CIR-Engineering. He stopped by my place on his Calibration tour on July 14 and did his magic on my LN-T4671F. Absolutely awesome picture. Craig was right on time. Very professional and answered all of my questions. Even helped me out with a PC issue which is all taken care of now, thanks Craig.
So I highly recommend Craig for anyone considering a professional calibration. You will not regret it!
Bruce R.
Craig came out last night and calibrated my Mits DLP and I couldn’t be happier with his professionalism and the outcome.
He did a great job and recommend everyone get in his cue to have him come visit…
Thanks again Craig!!
David M.
Kirkland, WA
I just want to say publically “Kudos and accolades to Craig for his FINE work on my 62525 this weekend.”
I don’t believe I’ve ever been any more professionally impressed with anyone when it comes to one’s (Craig’s) ability and WILLINGNESS to:
1) Communicate tech things to a consumer in terms he could understand
2) Check and RE-CHECK his work until he was COMPLETELY satisfied with his results
3) Knowing his stuff. This guy knows his stuff DEAD-ON. Best I’ve ever seen bar none.
I cannot express how pleased I am with the results! The guy is top-drawer…
…My wife never came in the room while “we” were working (about 5-6 hours) and I must say that she was BLOWN AWAY when she saw the results. That alone speaks volumes since she never really understood why I wanted it done to begin with though she tends to humor my “ridiculous” standards and spending on most things. Yes. I am lucky.
I can’t say it enough – Thank you Craig. I look forward to continuing a dialog with you and I also look forward to seeing you next time when I get my tune-up.
Thanks my friend!
Bob B.
Wilson, NC
Well, CraigR came to Tucson and performed his magic on my TV. Before he came the TV looked good. After he left it looked great. He even didn’t seem to mind my constant questions. He was on time, dedicated to making the TV the best it could be, personable, and a real professional. He even tests the DVD player for color accuracy. The only thing he didn’t do was get rid of the FOX NEWS burn in (lol).
Thanks Craig. Next time you find yourself in the Old Pueblo drop by for some good TV watching and perhaps some vintage Chilean or South African wine.
Don F.
Tucson, AZ
In a word – outstanding!
Let me also say up front that Craig is very personable and it was a pleasure to finally meet him. I did spend most of the time with him as he performed the calibration.
On my two year old Mits 55413 CRT, I had performed my own tweaks such as geometry, convergence, electrostatic focus, and the standard contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness adjustments as best I could to both 480i and 1080i. The results were good, much better than what was originally shipped, but I knew there were lingering issues with gray-scale, color accuracy, and overall detail and sharpness.
The intent for this unit is HD, primarily live sports such as football and NASCAR. We have DirecTV as the source for our signal, using an LG HDTV receiver connected to the Mits via component cables. We intend to install one of the new game units outputting 1080i in the near future.
Craig arrived on schedule, loaded to bear with an arsenal including scope, pattern generator…
… A “tweaker” at heart with a strong interest in audio/video, I appreciated Craig’s openness and descriptions of the various tests and interpretations of readings from the equipment he uses during the calibration process. If you have an interest in electronics, computers and the like, you’ll find various aspects of the calibration intriguing.
After several hours of effort, checking and rechecking his work, the calibration was over. Craig provided a calibration report which included final service menu settings, gray-scale tracking, color temperature, and luminance/gamma…
Was it worth it? Absolutely! The picture has what I would describe as consistency throughout – basically an extremely natural and realistic image. The entire picture has more depth and clarity to it; the colors are rich and much more accurate. Reds now look dead on and the push is gone. HD graphics are sharper with less blooming and softness at the edges (and this is without any EE at all after reprogramming).
If you have a CRT that hasn’t been calibrated, you just might consider taking that next step. I for one am glad to know that my set is now displaying the best image it can – and it’s awesome.
Thanks Craig.
Keith S.
Evergreen, CO
…Craig did my Mits 65909… here in St Louis and I had a good picture before he came but now it is unbelievable. I wouldn’t trade my Mits for a plasma, Dlp, or LCD. If you consider the price and size, It can’t be beat.
Clifford G.
Wildwood, MO
Craig was at my home in Minnesota yesterday to cal my Mits 65909. Let me preface by saying that I am a compulsive tweaker, and have done just about every tweak by myself via service menu, duvetyne, and even the PCB mod for ringing. I was curious how far off I was and how much better an instrument cal’ed set could look.
The improvements to HD were fabulous, it is amazing how much a proper grayscale, gamma, and color decoder adjustment can do for the 3-dimensionality of the image. Watching letterman last night, it was like I was watching a moving Kodachrome slideshow. Craig was also able to tame edge ringing even further with an I2C tweak.
I wholeheartedly recommend Craig to all HT hobbyists. Thanks Craig, for a job well done!
Kris S.
Maple Grove, MN
…I am currently watching the World Series in a suburb of Chicago on a set that was expertly calibrated by CraigR one week ago today.
I used to dread watching HD on my basement set because of the horrible PQ. Now that Craig has been here, this is my preferred set. Others have described the beautiful picture Craig produces and I can not emphasize enough how beneficial Craig’s expertise is. My only comment is that when my wife found out how much I was spending, she was not happy. In fact everytime I saw or spoke to one of my wife’s girlfriends, they also asked me how much I was spending and what exactly I was doing.
After Craig worked his mojo on my set, my wife saw the picture and said “wow, that really does look great”. Enough said.
I also was lucky enough to enjoy a couple drinks with Craig before his departure.
I can’t wait for Craig’s next tour so that I can have him comeback to calibrate the Mits in my family room.
If you use Craig, you will not be disappointed.
John M.
Highland Park, IL
I too am incredibly pleased with how my 46809 turned out. Craig was quite happy with his Geometry calibration, and it definitely showed during some hi-def viewing while he was still there.
Thanks for the great work Craig, this set kicks [censored] even more now!!!!
Glenn P.
Marshfield, WI
I just wanted to add myself to the long list of satisfied customers on Craig’s calibration tour. I’ve been waiting to get my 73713 calibrated for a LONG time… I can finally say that I’m getting the full potential out of the set — the improvements have definitely been worth the wait.
I used to be impressed by the fact that in 480p, the guns were sharp enough to produce visible scan lines all the way to the edges of the ‘middle’ of the screen. What I never realized was that with proper calibration, I would be able to see the scan lines across the ENTIRE screen — even in the corners which were previously too blurry to discern this level of detail. The calibrated set is simply incredibly sharp and detailed — even into the corners which previously had a noticeable fall-off in detail with program material. Craig really did an outstanding job on getting the full potential out of the 9″ guns in this set — his attention to detail really pays off in the end result.
I’d also like to recommend the extra mods that Craig does… With Craig’s ringing mod, as well as properly calibrated focus and the lack of Edge Enhancements, the 1080i image simply no longer needs SVM to look FULLY sharp, and the ringing is drastically reduced even at sharpness settings that USED to cause incredibly obnoxious levels of ringing. The image is now noticeably sharper across the ENTIRE screen while at the same time having fewer artifacts.
My advice is that if you’re going to take the time and spend the money to get a calibration, take advantage of the extra mods that Craig offers and really let the set perform to it’s FULL potential.
Thanks again Craig.
Larry L.
Woodland Hills, CA
…I would like to add my glowing review to those already on this thread. I was somewhat skeptical, but within an hour Craig made me a believer.
Ian B.
Morris, IL
Well CraigR was at my house this afternoon and at my friend Mike’s house this morning.
We both have Mits WS-65813’s.
Craig is an amazing calibrator, and knows this set like the back of his hand. I think he could do it with his eyes closed.
He was able to get 2 of these babies done in one day. He worked very hard on it and got it done.
We are both are very very impressed with the detail and clearity that we now see from our Mits TV’s.
DVD’s look HD quality now. Now, blacks are really black instead of a dark blue. Colors are popping out of the screen.
HD material is now so razor sharp, it scares me.
This is really worth the cost people. You should really have it done. Your set will look better than anything…anything you will see in a store.
Thank You very much Craig Rounds.
I enjoyed watching you work.
Steven P.
Portsmouth, VA
Well, he was here and now he’s gone with the wind…
He did an outstanding job. He was right on time and was a pleasure to talk with. TV looks better than ever. He took care of the ringing…
All in all, I’m one happy camper. It was a real headache to get up and go to work today knowing that I have all my DVD’s to re-watch, now that my TV has been “CRAIG-R-BRATED!!!”
Thanks Craig for an enjoyable day and enjoy your tour making smiley faces wherever you go…HAPPY IN SO CAL!!!
John S.
Placentia, CA
Craig paid me and my 65813 a “visit” last Friday morning. In addition to the calibration, I had him do the ringing mod and the 2% overscan fix. It was a lot to do… but he finished in 6 hours, as he estimated.
Wow. Huge difference all around. I had tweaked the color with Avia and thought it looked pretty good, but it looks much richer now. The 2% overscan fix only affects non-HD material and makes a huge difference on 480i. The ringing mod has taken a little getting used to but I am likeing it more and more. It’s interesting to watch the baseball playoffs and be able to tell from time to time when a camera is not properly focused (which used to be glossed over with the EE). Movies really do have that “3-D” effect that people talk about on a calibrated Mits.
As many have said before, Craig is great. Called the day before, arrived on time, an absolute demon with the Mits SM remote and a really nice guy, to boot. And I don’t think he’d mind me saying, he is an engineer, through and through; right down to having specific places in the trunk of his car for each case to make sure he has everything. He gave me a lot of confidence as he worked on the set and of course was a wealth of knowledge and opinions as well.
Mark M.
Barrington, IL
CraigR calibrated my Mits 62725 yesterday. He was on time and very professional. Once the screen was removed I was amazed how dirty it was inside! He cleaned it up and sealed around the bulb. He then placed a ND filter over the bulb and went to work on the cal. At first he was concerned that the set wouldn’t be bright enough to hold the ND filter, but he continued to tweak and work his magic and low and behold he got enough light out for him to be satisfied. He went back and forth with and without the filter to make sure I saw the difference and would be happy with it…
Next up was the colors which he nailed pretty quicky. Then, after some DVD’s and HD channels it was complete.
WOW – what a difference. The picture really comes alive (I was already impressed with this tv, now it’s over the top!). Much better blacks and grey scale and even the SD channels from TWC look better!
Overall, I’m very impressed with Craig and the calibration. Can’t wait to watch a few DVD’s this weekend.
If anyone is on the fence with getting a cal, I’d say without a doubt, get off the fence and take the plunge! It’s well worth it.
… next time we’ll have to make it an afternoon appt so we can indulge in some of the local microbrews!
Brian W.
San Diego, CA
As I have a DLP set, I knew Craig had his work cut out for him. In short: Craig delivered. I know it will not technically match a quality CRT, but you’d be hard pressed to see the difference. The picture on this thing is gorgeous now. I have a Denon 3910 and was getting some macro blocking on this set that was driving me nuts (I was beginning to regret buying this player). It is virtually gone now. We watched Star Wars Episode III last night and noticed no macro blocking.
If you really want your video system to give you the performance you deserve for all that money you spent on it, spend just a little more and hire Craig.
Robb M.
Chandler, AZ
Well, Craig was at my place this past Friday, giving my 46807 its “facelift” …which is how I explained to my wife the expediture in her terms!
All I can say is WOW!!!
Craig is a master at his work and clearly enjoys what he does, even when he misses a step while flying through the remote and has to re-key something…
The spaceship demo shot from a movie I can’t stand — The Fifth Element — was amazing for the blacks! I popped in The Incredibles a couple of days later and was astounded at the detail and depth. I’ll be holed up in the new media room for a while now, watching the DVDs that were tucked away for 9 months while the new place was being built.
Thanks agin Craig… y’all dun goooooood!
Bill K.
Dallas, TX
Craig just visited me and my Mitsubishi 65813 on 12/7. I had the full treatment with the calibration, PCB mod and 2% tweak. All I can say is “WOW” what a difference.
My wife watched one of her favorites, The Mask of Zorro (Antonio) and it was really beautiful and detailed. She loved it!! This was my Christmas present and my wife didn’t understand why I wanted it, but now she does!!
Craig was a pleasure and as already stated, professional and courteous. We even got him down to eat a steak we grilled before he left on his long journey.
Thanks!!! Craig!!! We enjoyed you and your visit!
Again, like others, if you are on the fence about this, just do it!
Terry B.
Winnie, TX
…would have posted sooner, but been watching TV like I’ve never watched it before!
… I can definitely notice a difference in overall picture. Even on S from the satellite. I know they’ll never come out sharp, but just the greyscale, color and geometry done makes a noticable difference to me.
Thanks, Craig! We’ll see you down the road for the tune up!
Allan R.
Miami, FL
It has been a week since Craig was here.
All I can say is wow. Craig was a very friendly informative guy. Fun to talk to! He was very meticulous in his work.
There is a noticeable difference in the picture quality of my WS-65813. SD looks MUCH better and HD has so many more details.
A decent SD feed looks almost as good as an overly compressed HD feed did in the past.
Thanks again Craig!
Gary M.
Windermere, FL
If you have read any reviews of Craigs work you will already know the following:
Really nice guy
Very knowledgeable on Mits chassis
Properly equipped to perform calibrations and other mods
Procedure is lengthy but there is no time wasted
Enough about Craig let talk about my TV. Before Craigs arrival I thought my Mits 65413 was awesome, I had some issues with my reds and the geometry was off. Otherwise I thought it was in pretty good shape. Needless to say my TV was totally whacked, completely out of focus, color completely off, Blacks, grays, everything!
When Craig was finished we watched a few scenes from his demo movies and I could notice his attention to detail was well worth the price. The picture is so unbelievable clear; the colors are rich and lifelike. Watching my precious football in HD was truly tear jerking. My friend has a 45 inch aquos, and I think my TV is just as good as or better than his now. I would have never dreamed I would be able to say that. If you are thinking about having Craig do a cal on your TV. STOP WAITING and just do it! Craig thanks so much, for making my mid range home theater HIGH END!
Joshua E.
Bloomington, IN
CraigR was at my house in Kokomo, IN… My 62725 now looks amazing. He even went above and beyond the call of duty by calling me back a couple of days later with a fix he found for the hd tuner input and walked me thru it over the phone.
… Thanks once againg Craig, it looks amazing and the wife even likes it.
Blaine B.
Kokomo, IN
As many of you are aware, CraigR is on his whirlwind US Tour (like some rockstar) and visited my house this past Saturday to calibrate my 65819. Although this set was previously calibrated two years earlier by another Spottie calibrator (who I admit really improved the picture from the orginal factory settings), CraigR IMPROVED that picture – yes, I said IMPROVED! I am so pleased with the results – brighter visual with deep blacks, enhanced color accuracy, and overall sharper image made this calibration so worthwhile…thanks CraigR. If you are still on the fence whether a calibration is right for your set, call CraigR NOW! You have read this all before…You will not be disappointed and that is coming from a moderatly critical-eyed viewer – man, the calibration is so worth it and this set just shines now.
Thanks again CraigR – I enjoyed your visit and look forward to the next time.
Ralph P.
Newington, CT
…I have been busy watching my newly calibrated Mits, I only just got around to posting my experience with Craig.
Craig got to my house around scheduled time with a lot of equipment. As I hanged around a little bit, he showed me how to take off the screen to clean the lenses. There was a thick layer of dust on the lenses and bits of debris on the CRTs which he cleaned off. I noticed dark spots caused by the debris a few days earlier on the screen. Craig spent a good deal of time at my place (over 5 hours), and would probably have stayed longer if my wife hadn’t rush me as we had a dinner engagement that evening.
To make a long story short, Craig put on some DVDs to watch after the calibration. I was never that enthralled with The Fifth Element first scene as a reference DVD, but shots of spaceship in space showed a lot of detail in the dark/black scenes. I was wowed when Craig put on the Monster DVD. Definitely looked like hi-definition then! Colors seems more vibrant. Later on, I put on The Lord of the Rings — which disappointed before as I thought scenes didn’t look sharp enough. Now, scenes in LOTR were definitely a lot sharper.
Needless to say, I thought the calibration was very well worth it as Craig was a nice guy and seemed very knowledgable.
John H.
Fairfax Station, VA
I just wanted to post a few impressions on my CraigR calibration, since I’ve had the weekend to really do some serious viewing on the set now. He was at our house… and worked on the set for about 6 hours… the set really looks incredible.
I think that our calibration may have been a little easier than some others, since Craig said that my geometry and grey scale were already in good condition compared to some of the sets he has seen. As others have said, he really is a professional, and explains what he’s doing to you every step of the way.
This weekend, my wife and I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and we were both blown away by how much detail we could see. It really looked like film, and it was absolutely stunning. We also watched North By Northwest last night, and again, it looked simply amazing. I have also watched bits and pieces of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, along with a number of Pixar movies and some of Shrek 2 off of HBO’s HD channel, and all of it has been better than I would have expected.
If you’re at all considering getting your Mits calibrated, I would recommend Craig. He really knows what he’s doing, and you can tell that he enjoys his job (even though the hours of the tour are pretty grueling). I appreciate all the work he did for us, and it was great seeing the end results.
Aaron O.
Gretna, NE
So chalk me up for another satisfied Craig R customer who strongly recommends to have your set calibrated. The colors and depth of picture will truly put a smile on your face.
Mike W.
Land O Lakes, FL
Craig calibrated my TV last week and I must say I’m really impressed. Anyone thinking of having this done should really consider using
Craig. He was prompt, very knowledgeable and came back inside
the house twice after “finishing” to look at one more
thing. He even called the next day to follow up and make sure
I was still happy with everything. Great job Craig.
Brian C.
Nashville, TN
I second the notion to have Craig R do a complete calibration on your Mits.
…The results are fantastic and my 65315 now looks like a movie screen on dvd’s and the colors are fantastic. Invest in a day with Craig and you won’t be sorry!
Kevin G.
Charlotte, NC
Just had Craig R calibrate my 73711 and all I can say is WOW!! Arrived about 8 am and finished up with enough time to catch
the end of the Eagles game. Anyone hesitating to jump on Craig’s
next tour should stop what they’re doing and call him to reserve
right now. I had done some Geometry and color adjustments on
my own and thought my picture was pretty good but I was floored
by Craig’s final results. For the ladies out there, my wife is
actually excited to see how good Desperate Housewives will look
tonight. Thanks again Craig for taking as much time necessary
to answer my questions and get thinks just perfect. I look forward
to working with you in the future.
Marc C.
New Castle, DE
Last night Craig R. performed a calibration and ringing mod on my 55815. By way of reference, this was the second calibration that I have had performed (different Mits sets) and Craig R. met or exceeded every expectation. First and foremost, I was most impressed with his dedication and professionalism. In watching him do his work you clearly see that he takes pride in what he does. He works on your set as if it was his own and tries to get every little bit out if it. Craig arrived at 1 p.m. (exactly the time he told me to expect him) and left at 7:30 p.m. He rarely stopped working except to go to the bathroom or to answer some stupid question I had to ask (he even ate his lunch while he worked). I also found Craig to be very friendly and personable. Its clear that this is not just a job for him, he really wants you to enjoy the best these sets have to offer. As to the quality of the work, Craig did an exemplary job. Compared to my first calibration (which cost the same as Craig’s) he spent at least two to three hours more on the set, a good part of it consisted of doing the best geometry job I have ever seen. At the end of the calibration Craig popped in a couple of DVDs (Fifth Element and Monster, Inc.) and I was floored. The set looked fantastic. If your on the fence about having your set calibrated, I strongly suggest you have it done and I without hesitation recommend Craig R. to do the job. I echo all the glowing reviews I have read about him on this forum. He is by far one of the best calibrators out there…
Bob G.
Ocean, NJ
I’ll try to keep this short and sweet….
AWESOME!!!
I will have to say I wasn’t sure it was worth it at first. I mean the picture seemed to look nice, improved color and grayscale, etc. I started to think that maybe the only reason it looked better is because I wanted it to look better.
Well, let me tell you, the picture really is better!! After Craigr left, I threw in a couple of movies my wife and I watched recently. They looked good. The next day, while watching Blind Justices in HD, that’s when we realized how much better the TV was. At the first commercial break, my wife turned to me and had the biggest grin on her face. All she could say is “WOW”. She now calls it 3D instead of HD.
Later, she said she now understands why I was so anxious for the calibration. Now she is anxious to finish off the room with new furniture and to make it into a true media room.
Thanks Craigr. You REALLY do GREAT work.
Matt B.
Frisco, TX
…As for the calibration – It was a terrific learning experience and produced terrific results. Well worth the investment IMHO. I still am amazed how 3-D the HD material looks with the red push gone and the color decoder set properly. Amazing. The more I watch, the more I want to watch!
Bob C.
Watertown, CT
First off let me say anyone who thinks DLP sets don’t need to be calibrated like CRT-based sets is incorrect. Out of the box these sets are mile off, but can be made to be spot on.
I contracted Craig Rounds about 2 months ago and arranged for him to calibrate my WD52725 while on his east cost tour. Throughout the process I found Craig to be an extremely knowledgeable expert about all things TV, exceedingly patient, and just a heck of a nice guy to deal with. I never felt like I was being “sold” on anything, and I don’t believe he ever would. Craig lives on his well deserved reputation and I don’t think he would ever do anything to put it at risk.
Through the process he was always explaining what he was doing and why, as well as happily answering my never ending stream of questions. The end result of this process was quite stunning. I saw a picture that was more lifelike, 3D looking, vibrant, and richer then I had ever seen. Colors were bright and more realistic looking without be over saturated and ringing, and even without the neutral density filter the black level performance was much improved. However, the real proof of the calibration happened when my wife came home. As she sat through my demo of Monsters Inc, U571, Finding Nemo and other DVD’s, her jaw dropped and all she could say was WOW! That’s a great picture. She was equally impressed when I turned on our Comcast HD channels. When your wife tells you “that’s money well spent” you’ve hit the jackpot.
You’ve already invested thousands in your entertainment system and I can’t imagine of a lower cost way to get a bigger improvement in your picture than a professional calibration by Craig when he’s in your area.
Doug M.
Norcross, GA
All I can say is thank you Craig, The HD rocks! Craig R. fixed my HD sync and calibrated the Tv and all I can say is WOW! Craig is a very kind person for going the extra mile and helping me out.
Brian C.
Coral Springs, FL
Well folks, if you are teetering on the brink of deciding to have Craig calibrate your television, I am here to throw a resounding YES
to your decision making. Craig calibrated my Mits. 65819 yesterday 2-16-2005, and I am still sitting at the television with a big grin. I had read the reviews for a year or more, and was fortunate enough to get in on Craig’s southern tour. I might add that Craig gave up a day of planned vacation to add me into his tour. He arrived promptly, and immediately set up and began my Mits’ transformation. In five and a half hours of steady work, Craig was very personable and informative as to what was being done to my television. Upon completion and watching various dvd’s, the difference in picture quality was astounding. The infamous Mits. red push……GONE!!! That in and of itself was worth the cost of calibration to me. Colors were so much more vivid and detailed without everyone looking like lobsters. The level of black detail had me laughing every time I watched a scene and noticed detail levels that were not apparent prior to the calibration. Of course, I was later faced with the ultimate big screen challenge when my wife sat down to watch with me. She was a little unsure of differences. (She’s happy watching a 19″ screen!) However, I put in several dvd’s (Fifth Element, Monster’s Inc., Tomb Raider II) and showed her particular scenes. We then went to our next door neighbor’s house and watched the same scenes on an uncalibrated Mits. big screen and her reaction was immediate! The desert in Fifth Element that was golden and brown on our set was a ruddy brown and red on our neighbor’s set. The underwater cavern scene in Tomb raider was startling in the difference in black detail. She even thought I had put it to a different scene because so much detail was lost viewing it on our neighbor’s television. When we got home, she watched them again on our set, and gave the wife stamp of approval that she could tell a significant difference in the two pictures! (whewwwwwww) The night before Craig came I was so pumped I stayed up watching movies till 4am in anticipation of the calibration. Last night after the calibration, I stayed up till 3am watching dvd after dvd out of my 400+ dvd collection grinning like an idiot with delight over the performance of my newly calibrated television. It is with great pleasure that I give a resounding two thumbs up, high five, and much thanks to Craig for a job well done. Without seeing it yourself, the difference is as apparent as night and day in watching an uncalibrated and calibrated television. If you’re contemplating, by all means, get this done to your television. It is a decision you will not regret. Especially after already having spent the money to get such a good television in the first place. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding the calibration or Craig. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Randall T.
Birmingham, AL
Just wanted to publicly say what a great job Craig did calibrating my Mits 73713.
Ron F.
St. Petersburg, FL
Craig calibrated my TV yesterday. I was a little unsure of the results prior to having him come out. The cost of a calibration is a big investment and I was having jitters the days leading up to the calibration.
However, now that he’s gone … I have to say it’s money well spent! My dvd’s are beautiful. I think I can honestly say that a well-mastered DVD looks as good or better than most of the average HD content being broadcast. Blues are vibrant, red’s are equally as beautiful. I see so much depth and detail that I never had before. Plus my screen geometry is perfect (it was very bad before).
My only disappointment is that I didn’t have the calibration done before the end of the football season.
…after he left I popped in Star Wars Episode IV, Finding Nemo, Shrek, and Matrix: Reloaded. The difference in these movies is mind blowing.
DirecTV SD is better as well, the colors are much more accurate.
Thanks Craig, for an excellent job. I would recommend your services to anyone.
Rick P.
Rock Hill, SC
Just wanted to chime in and say that Craig did a number on my 65813. I never thought the TV could actually look any better but low and behold he did his magic and the TV looks phenomenal.
Some have written this before, but I just want to say again, that he is THE calibrator as far as I’m concerned. Professional, courteous, etc..
Gary L .
Gonzales, LA
Craig re-calibrated my Mits 46807 yesterday. It was first professionally calibrated 4 years ago, and then tweaked by me off and on through the years. I even tried the I2C adjustment using settings I found on the spot. Overall I’ve been happy with my mits, but now, after Craig’s visit, it’s like I just got a new brand new TV. Beautiful.
Thanks Craig.
Brian
Edit-Actually that’s not correct. A brand new tv, without calibration, would never look this good!
Brian M.
Rock Hill, SC
Brief review of CraigR calibration in 25 words:
On time. Courteous. Professional. Lots of equipment. Six hours. Ringing mod. Geometry, overscan, convergence vastly improved. Whiter whites. Blacker blacks. More natural, realistic colors. Satisfied customer.
OK, maybe too brief… He did a good job, we had some pleasant conversation, my 73615 looks like a different set. Much less red push, much less ringing, significantly better overscan.
About previous posts regarding the value of calibration, I’ll just say that after having gotten used to the red push, excessive brightness and contrast, at first it looked a little “washed out.” But watching Leno last night, he looked like a human being standing inside my TV. Before, his skin sort of glowed and was very pink. The picture is very, very different. It just took a few hours for my eyes to get used to “normal” colors instead of the overly bright colors. Now, I would never, ever go back. So, to me, it was well worth the money.
Robert W.
Cordova, TN
I had the awesome luck of getting on a CraigR calibration Tour. It started months ago, when I started posting on the SpoT. After finding out Craig was coming back East, I sign up straight Away!!. I had my Day…March 4. I booked out of work….Friday off…Nice.
I sat down and watched “The Master” at work. I was excited, like a kid with a new toy. My wife, who is really into photography, was also interested, as she more than I, understands gray scale, and white balance, and color bleed. Craig Explained everything he was doing along the way…
All along the way, he shared with me his observations and data he was
collecting. My wife and I asked a lot of questions and he was very friendly and
open… He
spent a lot of time making it as good as he could. It was more like he was
working on His very own set and not a job. I appreciate that sort of work ethic.
Overall, Craig is a great guy. Very personable and loved by cats. He provided lots of insights and suggestions. I originally got the ‘evil-eye’ from my wife on spending more money on the TV…but she was very happy with the end result. The colors “POP” was the quote I heard from here
Andrew J.
Erial, NJ
So Craig started around 8-8:30AM and wrapped things up yesterday
around 5:00PM. My wife and I sat down to watch the MNF game and
were floored at how much better it looked. IMO ABC does a better
job than Fox with football games but last night was clearly the
best I’ve ever seen a game look. The first thing that struck
me with HD material was how much more “depth” the picture
had to it. It was much more of a 3D look than it ever did. Colors
were also much more neutral, likely a result of Craig implementing
the red-push fix and balancing the color palate. This week I’ll
have the opportunity to check out some of my favorite movies.
On the reference discs Craig brought along, 480p sources exhibited
a similar depth enhancing effect as well. While my set was apparently
one of the cleaner ones inside that Craig has seen, there was
still a few bits of dirt in the lenses. I was surprised to see
how off my overscan was.
Craig was very good about answering any questions I might have
had and very thorough in his work. He took the time to double
and triple check certain aspects of the calibration. I’ll
happily be recommending Craig to other Spotties and have
already offered a look at my set to someone in the area that
might consider Craig the next time he comes through. I only hope
that Craig’s cheese steak was acceptable…
Bill B.
Downingtown, PA
Let me add my $.02 to this…
I was also on Craig’s last tour, and he calibrated my 55813. I’m a skeptical aero-space engineer, but am a believer in TV calibration
now. The difference in picture quality is stunning. Even the
480i picture is amazing! It really says something when your wife
walks in the room and *immediately* notices the difference in
picture quality and is complimentary on you spending the money
and getting it done! (sorry ladies…no offence intended) Craig
is a very nice, friendly guy – I can’t recommend him any higher. He
explains things as he goes, and is patient with inane customer
questions throughout the process.
Tom I.
Huntsville, AL
Craig R did a full calibration last Friday, including the ringing
mod on my 65813. What a tremendous difference. I have a brand
new TV! I didn’t think the geometry, focus, overscan and color
were that bad until I saw the grids. The overscan lines at the
sides were so fuzzy you could barely make them out. The red push
wasn’t evident until after he worked on the color decoder and
PerfectColor. Now the reds are just beautiful. All other
colors are vibrant, too. SD is now watchable and HD is a total
pleasure.
The most impressive though was that it passed the WAF (wife
acceptance factor). I think there is a setting in the service
menu for WAF, but he wouldn’t let me see him set it. I’ve
heard my wife on the phone telling her friends how much better
it is.
In conclusion, IMHO, calibration has to be part of anyone’s’
home theater set up…
Gary H.
Long Island, NY
Just finished my calibration with Craig R and I am so pleased. He really takes the time to explain everything both in technical
terms and layman’s terms. For those of you waiting you will be
very pleased. I highly recommend getting his PCB mod, it really
brings out the details in the picture that you never knew you
were missing…
Craig is very thorough and a perfectionist and wants the best
for your set, just as much as you. So help him help you. I just
can’t get over the difference. Even my wife noticed the difference.
I will post the data at a later time as soon as I get it ,and
get a chance to read it. Thanks Craig for your time and dedication.
While I am at it I would also like to thank the rest of the calibrators
and techs who so generously dedicate their time and research
to helping the rest free of charge on these message boards. So
I raise my glass to all of you!!!!!!
Matt M.
Rock Hill, SC
I had Craig over Monday to calibrate my two-month-old WD-52725. The calibration went pretty quickly and I’m very pleased with the results. I could tell an immediate improvement. However, my TV room can’t be darkened much during the day so I had to wait until nighttime to see the full benefit. After two nights of viewing, I’m glad I had it done. I won’t go into a lot of detail since I’m experiencing the same improvements that many others here have elaborated on. I’ll just say that the color accuracy and shadow detail are incredible now. He was also able to get my bad geometry mostly straightened out. My set turned out to be bright enough for a ND filter… it really improved the black levels.
Craig did a great job and was very enjoyable to visit with (read: he patiently answered all of my questions), and all-in-all the calibration was well worth the cost!
Lee Z.
Boerne, TX
Craig calibrated my Sony… It looks AWESOME. I could tell the moment we tuned to DiscoveryHD after the calibration, Trading Spaces was on, that there was a BIG IMPROVEMENT. DirecTV looks so much better. Even the SD channels with extreme compression looked some better. Of course, there’s nothing he could do about the compression. Other SD channels with less compression I could see a major improvement there also.
He got here at 8:15am and finished at 4:30pm We unloaded lots of equipment. He jumped right to work. He didn’t even take a break for lunch. Just ate while he worked. He did everything mention on his web site except reprogram EPROM which is for Mits only…
As the others say Craig is a professional. He definitely gets into his work and wants it to be as perfect as possible. He didn’t mind answering any questions. I learned quite a bit of new things I didn’t know about my set. I really enjoyed his visit and talking with him as he did the calibration.
Mark D.
Olive Branch, MS
Ok guys, I was going to wait a full day before posting my experience
with Craig R. calibrating my set, but after about 12 hours of
viewing, I didn’t need anymore time.
First, Craig is a very knowledgeable person when it comes to
the Mits sets and a laid-back guy, which is great when someone
is working on your set for 8 hours. He showed up at about 9:00
am yesterday morning and quickly got to work. We went over exactly
what I wanted done; calibrated of set on all 1080i inputs, his
special IC fix, and the fine-tuning of one of my 1080i sources,
which is a MIT MDP-120 MyHD card.
He expected everything to take about 4-6 hours, since I was
only getting the 1080i inputs done, ignoring the 480i/480p, since
none of my sources are 480i. Everything moved at a nice pace,
without any major hold-ups. My biggest concern with my set was
the convergence and geometry, since I could never get it right
in the SM myself, not to mention I screwed a couple things up.
I always had blue lining on the left side of edges, which drove
me NUTS!
Since everything moved smoothly, Craig decided to spend some
extra time on Gamma, and am I glad he did. We had decided on
an acceptable setting that I liked (all which were in spec),
but he wanted to try one more thing. Viola!, he hit an almost
perfect setting, which was way more than I expected with gamma.
He finished around 4:30 in the afternoon and we fired up some
HD movies that I had recorded. The blue lining was gone (which
he knew it would be), colors were much more crisp, and blacks
jumped out. I can’t forget to mention that know my overscan was
soooooo much better than it was before, man were my settings
off.
After Craig left, I watched some material during prime time
from my local affiliates. PBS always looked great, but now it
just looked amazing! Everything was just much ‘tighter’ and looked
smoother. The colors were dead on. I also popped in my recording
of Attack of the Clones (1080i), and for the first time could
see why everyone else raved about the PQ of this broadcast. It
was quite amazing.
I wouldn’t hesitate to have Craig back out to work on my set
and I highly recommend him.
Mike S.
Florence, Al
Last Saturday Craig Rounds calibrated my 65813 RPTV. The first word
that come to my mind is WOW. In the past I had a Panasonic
PT47WX49 which was ISF calibrated, so I was familiar to the kind
of results that you can get after a display is calibrated. About
two months ago, I bought the 65813 and I was impressed by how
good it look out of the box in comparison with my old Panny.
I tweaked my 65813 by following some of the tweaks published here in
the SPOT. I simply couldn’t adjust it to the level of my old Panny.
It required a professional calibrator, and I decided to go with
the best one out there for the Mit’s. When I first approach Craig,
I was impressed with his professionalism…
By the way, Craig is a very nice guy to hang out with. Through
all the process, we talked a lot about what he was doing and other
cool stuff…
So, if you are still undecided to go for a calibration, prepare to be
dazzle once that is done. And if you want the best out there, who
goes the extra mile, don’t hesitate to hire Craig Rounds.
Christian G
Washington, DC
I was fortunate to have CraigR perform a calibration on my 55511
this past Saturday and I have finally taken a break from watching
movies (actually, I had to go to work today) to try to express
the results. I am still at a point where
I can’t find the words to express what my Mits looks like.
Before I get to some details, I want to thank Paul for creating
a forum such as this and has created a “pool” of calibrators
from which we can choose. I can unequivocally,
without reservation, undoubtedly, definitely recommend CraigR
to calibrate your Mits. I can confirm all of the raving
reviews posted about CraigR here; he is an expert. I thought
I knew something about video… I’m just a novice compared to
him.
CraigR arrived about 15 minutes early and after getting all
of his equipment down in the basement HT room, he started his
calibration. He is intensely focused on what he is doing. (He
ate his lunch while working.) However, this does not mean that
he is not personable. He is extremely nice and answered every
question I asked. After watching the way he proceeded, I was
confident that he was capable of dealing with any issue with
my set.
He cleaned the optics. Checked and set G2. Mechanical and electronic
focus. He performed all of the work as described in his paperwork I
can’t describe well enough how he “moved around” in
the service menu and tweaked the geometry to remove all of the
problems I saw. This took several hours and I don’t know how
he can stare at the grids for that amount of time!
After much deliberation, I finally decided a week ago to have
him perform his video amplifier modification that fixed a “ringing” problem
inherent in Mitsubishi (and other manufacturer’s) displays. He
happily demonstrated the effect of the modification. So cool.
Next came color decoder, grayscale, gamma, contrast, brightness
and all of those parameters to make my display “shine” and
caused him to use all of his cool Sencore stuff. We are now getting
to the point where he creates all the calibration charts and
we are about to fire up the DVD player and take a look. About
eight hours have passed (seemed like only about half that time,
to me) and CraigR will evaluate the results using some DVDs that
he is very familiar with.
The movie starts and I am speechless. I
can’t believe I am looking at 480P! The details are unbelievable! It
looks like (actually, better because the colors are set correctly)
I was watching my HD tuner. I think I may have worried CraigR
a bit because I just couldn’t say anything. All doubts about
the money disappeared. This display had never looked this good!
Honestly, I felt that with 480P looking this good, why worry
about HD!
The details this set can reproduce are astounding. I
can say that the details are unbelievable. Details in the blacks
were also very evident. I was not aware about how this much-discussed
attribute enhances the movie-watching experience.
We then gathered my wife and daughter around the display and
began evaluating DVDs of our own. Everything from a B&W “Casablanca” to “K-PAX”. My
wife and daughter easily saw big differences in the details and
the colors. I was surprised they would notice.
I just want everyone considering this kind of monetary investment
in their display to know that I am extremely satisfied with my
experience and will not purchase another display of this caliber
without setting aside the money for a calibration.
Thanks, CraigR. I enjoyed the whole calibration experience
and look forward to re-watching all of my movies. I am glad to
finally meet you and find that all those good thinks others have
said about you are true!
Franklin J.
Frankfort, KY
I’m a very, very happy camper (and so is my ever-adorning,
HDTV-challenged wifey) after Craig R drove down and rejiggered
my Mits 65907 a few weeks back.
When I got the set, I had paid another popular technician,
who shall remain nameless, to calibrate my new puppy. He took
the better part of two days and deconstructed my set so much
that my son, Trey, thought we had a new extra large set of Legos
in the family room.
The tech installed the Duvetyne and hung strings and put what
looked like NASA’s primary telescope onto the front of my set
and then he finally put Humpty Dumpty together again. And I thought
things were pretty swell — for two years — until Craig came
by before the Tennessee-Georgia football game this month.
He showed me many things as he went along, telling me why I
could never quite see the scroll of college game day scores on
ESPN HD, and we talked about Mit’s infamous red push (which I
now have NONE of) and lots more things that went way, way over
my feeble little head. But as he worked, he kept telling
me, over and over, “You’re going to love how your TV looks.”
Me? I kept thinking he was trying to sell me a cheap suit…
That’s a joke, guys.
OK, so dude gets finished and the football players look a bit
smaller but much more sharp during the Tenn-Ga game — and I
mean shockingly so — and when the Minnesota Vikings comes on
Sunday, via the NFL Sunday Ticket package my wife hates I pay
for, I see purple for the first time on my set. Previous
to this so glorious moment, everyone trying to wear purple looked
like they had on a really nice shade of deep royal blue. The
Artist Formerly Known as Prince included.
It was amazing. The screens on my HD Tivo looked completely
different, color-wise, and the wife kept asking what did I
do to the TV. Craig made my baby (the TV, not
the wife) look like a movie screen. That’s what happened. You
should see “Lost” or “Smallville” on my
set now, and I thought it was pretty darn good before.
My 31/2 year old set now looks better than
it ever did and just for kicks, I dragged the wife to
Tweeter to look at new sets. She kept telling me that “this
one doesn’t look as good as ours.” Hearing her say
this while standing in front of top-end rear projections and
plasma sets that will set you back the cost of our Honda mommy
van, well, that, gentlemen, was the kicker.
So excuse me while I stand up and applaud Mr.
Rounds for his good work — and get on his list for a touch
up in 24 months.
Langston W.
Charlotte, SC
This mother smokes any lcd/plasma/dview CRT. It seems to get better and better.
Thanks Craigr!!!
I Am very pleased!
Lee W.
Newton, MA
I just had my Mitsubishi WS55819 calibrated by Craig Rounds last week and after now having a few days to watch the TV post calibration I thought I’d post my impressions.
Please indulge me bit and let me start with a bit of history first. When I first bought this TV 3 years ago I was immediately impressed with it but knew it could be better. I work in the graphic arts industry so I know a bit about accurate color rendering and usually try to apply that knowledge to video.
I had waited a few months after the purchase to allow the TV to break in before I did any major tweaking but immediately used Avia to calibrate the user controls. After allowing the TV to break in for a few months and studying the Mits tweaks at HomeTheaterSpot I finally put aside a weekend to try and improve the overall image for the 480p…
I first removed the screen and cleaned the lenses and CRTs. When I removed the lenses I found bugs, wood chips and various other dirt and dust under and on them. This is not unusual from what I understand and most CRT based RPTVs are shipped in this condition. While I had the screen off I installed Duvutyne to remove any internal light reflections which also reportedly improves black level and color saturation. I then replaced the lenses and performed both electrical and mechanical focus adjustments. After this was done and the screen back on (this time removing the protective shield which not only causes glare but is tinted so that color and contrast is skewed) I used Avia to adjust my geometry and convergence to 5% overscan all around where it was 7%, 10%, 8% and 5% before. I then readjusted my user controls for color, tint, contrast, brightness and sharpness using Avia and turned off Scan Velocity Modulation in the service menu…
The result was a big improvement but I still knew it could be much better if a pro worked on it. The geometry grid still had slight waves to it and since then I still felt I was readjusting convergence too often. I thought my grayscale while decent needed to be fixed and the only correct way to do it is with the expensive specialized tools that only pro calibrators typically have. Then there was that red push on all of my inputs other than the DVD player where the attenuator was connected. So I kept telling myself that eventually a pro would need to be called. The problem was always that funds would be needed in more important areas of a married man with a kid and a mortgage because I didn’t budget this in at the time of purchase. I just couldn’t justify the money now after the fact to make my DVDs look better.
So now here we are 3 years later and I finally get HD programming from my cable company and I see that the 1080i scan rate for my TV is pretty messed up. The red push is about 25% and the geometry is whacked. A pro calibration was starting to look more like a necessity. Well the stars finally lined up just right and I received a bonus from work, Craig announced a calibration tour of my area at just the right time and 3 years of begging the wife meant that I could get this TV calibrated the right way.
Still with me so far? Good. Let’s start talking about Craig and the job he did.
Let’s start with how professional he is. I emailed him to say I was interested in hiring him and he replied right away stating what he does and how much along with extensive instructions on how to sign up for the tour. Once I was confirmed he sent me an email with a confirmation date and instructions on how I could help him by preparing my TV before he arrived. When the day approached he called me to confirm the time he’d be there and go over any last minute details with me. On the day of the calibration he arrive when he said he would and although I could tell he was tired from all of the traveling he’d done prior to my appointment greeted and treated me as if I was the first stop he’d made on the tour. He’s a true professional in how he conducts himself.
I helped him bring his tools into the house and showed him the way to the TV. We discussed what I had already had done to the TV and where I though it could be improved while he unpacked and got ready to dive in. He took and initial look at the PQ and said he’d seen worse but that he thought I’d be very happy when he was done. He got right to work by removing the screen and taking a look at the insides of the cabinet… The mirror still looked very clean and he didn’t touch it just as I left it alone 3 years before.
With the optics cleaned he moved on to the focus. He did both the electrical and mechanical focus like I did but he also adjusted the focusing magnets at the base of the CRTs. I stayed away from here when I did it due to high voltage concerns and not knowing exactly what I should be touching. He had an Avia pattern on the screen with the grid and the dots inside each grid square while he made his adjustments. Now I’ve looked at that grid so many times over the years and always thought that the dots were square and on my TV they became oblong as they went further to the edges. Boy was I wrong. He adjusted the magnets so that they’re pretty much the same shape across the screen and that shape is now round as they’re supposed to be.
Next up was the geometry. He connected his Accupel signal generator and proceeded to get my overscan amount down to 4% and more linear and straight then I ever could… he was able to zip in and out of the service menus and take a long, tedious process and make it look like child’s play all the while taking measurements with a ruler to make sure it was all straight and lined up and asking me if there was anything that I noticed that could be straightened more.
With the optics clean, the focus perfect and geometry better than if I had spent weeks making adjustments it was time to move on to the color decoder. He set up his Sencore color analyzer and started to take his reading to see how far off I was. He connected his I2C cable to his laptop and saved my original EEPROM file to the laptop. He then reprogrammed the file to remove the red push for all of my scan rates and inputs and also removed the extra edge enhancement that Mits adds into the programming of the processing of the signal. So now I don’t need an attenuator for any input and the color level can be set where it should be for everything as well as the reduction of any extra ringing and EE that the TV was adding.
It was time now for the grayscale, color and tint adjustments. He set my user controls as they would be if I had just bought the TV or pressed the reset button. He then adjusted the color, tint, contrast, brightness and sharpness in the service menu to the levels that they should be at for proper viewing. So now even if somebody plays with my settings all I need to do is press reset or recenter the controls and I’m back to the proper calibration levels. He setup his analyzer and continuously checked the readings, going back and forth from one setting to the other since they interact, until he had these settings perfect or as close to it as my TV would allow.
For the grayscale he used his Sencore analyzer to take readings and make adjustments to bring my High color temp to 6500K since this setting is global across all scan rates on my TV. He showed me where my reading were by using a chart on his laptop that plotted a line across the temperature graph for each step on the grayscale. By eye I had known that my grayscale was off since I’m used to looking at grayscale patterns on my job but without some sort of instrumentation I didn’t really know how far off they really were. I knew the blacks had too much red in them and that the whites were too warm. What I didn’t realize was just how much my whites were off. From about 40 IRE to 100 IRE my 480p grayscale plotted fairly flat but it was below 6500k with reading from about 6000k to 6100k. But from 40 IRE down to 0 IRE it trailed off the charts and bottomed out below 5000k from 20 IRE down. My 480i and 1080i scan rates weren’t much better but after a lot of time spent by Craig fighting wrestling with my TV he’s got all scan rates plotting within 100k or so across the scale with of all scan rates 480i being the best one. The one I use the least the TV decides to do the best. Go figure.
This is as good a time as any to point out that the results of a calibration have as much to do with your TV as the person doing it. Even in the skilled hands of a pro like Craig who’s using the proper instruments, sometimes your TV doesn’t want to or can’t be made to perform exactly to a spec like 6500k. You can get it close but due to variances in manufacturing, electrical current, components, etc.; there will always be concessions to be made and in the end you can only do so much.
With all of the adjustments made we cleaned up a bit and Craig popped in a few DVDs with scenes that he’s familiar with to check his work. He used the opening of the Fifth Element and the regeneration scene from the same movie, some scenes from Monsters Inc. as well as some scenes from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. I’m also pretty familiar with all of these scenes so I immediately started analyzing the image for improvements. At first it was subtle. I saw deeper, richer blacks in the space scene of 5th E. I saw increased detail and color tone in the overall picture in all of the scenes. But then something unexpected happened. I started to notice things I’ve never seen before in these movies I’ve watched so many times. The scene in LOTR where Arwen is on her horse and leaving for the Gray Havens was the first. I always thought that the cape and hood she wears was simply blue. I had never seen the fine intricate detail of the embroidery on it before. Since then I’ve been popping in other DVDs I own that I’ve watched countless times and I keep noticing things I’ve never seen before. The diver’s mask that falls from the boat in Finding Nemo was always green and black but now it’s green and black that has texture. The green looks like terry cloth while the black is detailed where the strap meets the mask. On the score board in Monsters Inc. that is made up of several monitors separated by black boarders I can now see that the edges are beveled and has light reflecting on the edges. The scene that introduces you to Bruce the Shark in Nemo looks like he’ll come through the screen it looks so 3D. Movies with plenty of darks scenes in shadows are now revealing detail I never was able to see before. The nature shows on Discovery HD are now more than pictures on a screen but it actually looks alive in my living room. My wife came home from work as we were watching these things and she noticed right away the improvement in detail, clarity, color and depth of field.
So I guess I’ll wrap this up by saying that even though I performed a lot of tweaks on my TV there is something to be said for a real pro calibration. I understood that a tweak here or there can make a difference but the effect of having somebody like Craig who knows what he’s doing using the correct instrumentation rather than by eye like many of us do is nothing less than stunning. We buy these HDTVs in order to see the improvement that DVD has over VHS or HD has over SD programming but unless you get the display calibrated you really aren’t seeing all you could be seeing. Craig is true professional who really understands the ins and outs of these displays and it really does make a noticeable difference when he’s done. And on top of that he’s a really nice guy to hang with for 7 hours.
Thanks again Craig.
Chip M.
Hardyston, NJ