Digital Video Essentials and the Spyder Colorimeter (1 Viewer)

[Dave>h]

HI,

I recently purchased a Spyder Colorimeter for measuring and tweaking the picture on my Samsung DLP. (if you don't own one of these and can afford the $200 purchase price, I highly recommend it)

The results were pretty decent, better than I have ever managed to get using the Avia calibration disk. Probably the best my TV is going to look outside of getting an actual professional in to do the greyscale work.

I am wondering if it is possible to use the spyder and the accompanying software with the recently released HD version of DVE. If I use the same test patterns that the software is expecting from the HD version of DVE, will the colorimeter and the software give accurate and useful measurements? Will the measurements be better than what I have gotten using the DVD? Does the fact that it is HD and not SD really make that much of a difference for calibration purposes?

If any one knows or has any suggestions on how to do this, I would greatly apprec iate it.

Thanks

Dave

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

The limitations of the spyder hardware are not in the scan rates you feed the TV, but rather the TV technology itself. It works okay on some technologies and better on others.

If you found the SD part turned out okay ... then the HD part should be fine. As in ... go ahead and calibrate it separately since HD optimal settings are often slightly different than SD settings. Often ... optimal SD brightness settings turn out to be too dark for the HD material, for instance.

Regards

 

[TonyD]

any link to the spyder colorimeter

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I am not sure it is viable for your Mitsubishi DLP set...it definitely is not ideal for my 57831, but that is because it has the six-color color wheel. I think your set has the three-color wheel (2 segments each of RGB)...

But here's a link anyway:

http://www.colorvision.com/product-whichsolution.php

I ended up getting an i1 Pro for calibration purposes.

- Steve

 

[TonyD]

thanks steve.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Oops, wrong link... this is the same colorimeter, but with the HT-oriented software:

http://www.colorvision.com/product-ht.php

 

[Dave>h]

Steve,

Is the meter you purchased the $1100 one or the $3500 one?

Are you professional installer?

Any idea, with the "basic" spyder, if I can do more with it? Is there other software out there that works with it to do the grey scale calibration or that can do other measurements on the computer?

I think it is a really cool little toy but its use is very limited and is quite limited by the software.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Shawn Perron]

Full featured free software that allows you to calibrate your display/projector with a variety of comercially available probes - http://www.homecinema-fr.com/colorimetre/index_en.php

A thread specifically for the software - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=737550

I'd recommend a Spyder2express or a eye-one display LT for a low price entry level colorometer. Both of these can be found online for around $100 or less.

The only problem with this $100 solution is that you will need to read a lot online to be able to take advantage of this. While the software is fairly easy to use, you do need enough knowledge of calibrating to make use of it. Also you will most likely need to access your service menu and make changes there to make maximum use of this software.

 

[Dave>h]

Shawn,

AWESOME!!! Thanks.

I will give it a try and post back. Can I assume it is generic enough to work with the DVE HD DVD calibration software that is coming out (or is out)?

Thanks again, I have been looking for something like this for a while now.

Dave

 

[Shawn Perron]

You can either connect the computer running the calibration software to the tv through vga and use the program itself to generate the test images or you can use an alternate dvd/hd-dvd/source of your choice. For instance, if you were going to do a grayscale calibration, you would need to have a source with atleast the 20ire and 100ire test patterns. Same thing for any other parameters you need to use the program to check like your secondaries or gamma ratio.

Also you will need the appropriate .dll from the software package that your probe uses. You will place this .dll in this programs folder.