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Note that I am NOT going to get into details about how to USE these tests. So let's talk about the sort of tests that are available on the three Calibration discs I'm featuring in this post. But even there, it is common to find silly setup errors which leave people listening to lower quality audio than they think they are getting. The default settings in most Audio/Video Receivers (AVRs) generally ARE set to produce good result. The situation with Audio is not nearly so dire. AUDIO TUNER CALIBRATION TVIt's actually rather sad to contemplate how many people pay good money for a new TV - and then never ever correct all those Factory Installed Gotchas! Then there are the settings which screw up the "geometry" of the image - for example, cropping portions of the image on all 4 sides so you can't actually SEE what's out there! These are the tools which attempt to blur (NOT correct, because that's not possible) problems in crappy content, so they don't stand out quite so much. These rejoice in Marketing names like "Noise Reduction", "Flesh Tone Correction", "Motion Smoothing", and "Dyamic" anything. Finally, turn on *ALL* the image "Enhancement" options in the TV. But no matter, as people in a store can't see those anyway. BUT THEN, they ALSO have to push Reds! Why? Because without that, all these other settings will make people look way too corpse-like! Forget about near-Black details as these other settings will crush the bejabbers out of them. Sharpness (haloing of vertical edges) is also cranked way up to add "False Detail". Color Temperature (the tint of "white" between red and blue) is then set way too Bluish, as this also tricks the eye into seeing the image as brighter and more detailed on a casual look. These crank up Contrast (White Levels) and drop Gamma (the shape of the Black to White response curve) to boost the overall light output - called "False Pop". You know - so we don't get so many of those dreaded, Early Returns!Īnd so you get what have been generally dubbed the "Torch Mode" settings. So we want to set defaults which will make watching such content less immediately annoying. And Second, most people buying our TV are going to start out playing crappy, picture quality content on it. The sad truth is, the Factory Default settings in just about every TV ever sold - even the newest - are almost always Godawful for best quality viewing! Why? Because the defaults are chosen by Marketing people with two thoughts in mind: First, we need to make our nifty new TV stand out when hung on a wall with OTHER TVs, under garish store lighting conditions. Let's start with Video, since that's where the most common problems are found. And also, one specialized disc - in this case an SACD disc - to give you a flavor of what's out there if you go looking for such specialized, test content.īut first I should take a moment to explain WHY Audio and Video Calibration is such a big deal, and why you SHOULD spend the time to learn how to use tools like these, even if you'd really rather just be relaxing, watching movies or listening to music! In this post I'm going to discuss two, generally useful, Calibration Blu-ray Discs. And even in that case, this particular test was included in an add-on disc to that set, which only appeared several years after the set first shipped! Try getting your hands on THAT one! AUDIO TUNER CALIBRATION PROThe most sensitive test I know of to confirm that Speaker Distance Correction is happening properly, for example, is found in the Avia Pro SD-DVD multi-disc set, which is long out of print. Some are hard to find, or even out of print. AUDIO TUNER CALIBRATION PROFESSIONALSome require you also have those professional tools mentioned above. There are LOTS of different calibration discs out there at this point, and more likely to come out over the next year or so as UHD (4K) video becomes more mainstream. Calibration Discs provide you with content of known "correctness" which you can use for this. But even though you can't fully match their professional results, you should STILL have calibration discs handy to confirm there are no silly setup errors in your system, and to check whether any problems you spot while playing real content are due to oddities in that content, as opposed to something you've overlooked in your system setup. Professionals will bring tools and computer programs which are both expensive to buy and daunting to learn. ![]() This is true even if you intend to hire a professional to come in and set up your system for you. EVERYONE interested in Home Theater should have a few Calibration Discs in their collection. ![]()
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