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Spectracal DPG-1000 Signal Generator Impressions

post #1 of 29
10/29/11 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
Was curious about this thing, especially since it is half what the closest device costs, and you can automate it with Calman (I have Chromapure though). I ended up with a 1000, not the new 1400, because the deal was too good to pass up. When looking into these things, I heard a lot of varying comments, but Ill try and sum up what I learned.
  • It comes with a lot of patterns, including windows plenty small for plasma and just about everything an amateur needs.
  • Many said it was very slow, and it is compared to an Accupel, but not to AVS709. You need to jump 3 patterns, you just hit the remote button 3 times and give it a sec, and it jumps. No need to press/wait, press/wait, and so on. Once I figured this out, it worked much faster.
  • This is basically a WD Live player, with an IR rcvr and remote, along with the reference test patterns. Spectracal put it together, and IMO its a bit overpriced, but if you want a cheap all in one generator, its not half bad.
  • Big key, and I mean a BIG key, is that once you get one, do not install the updates put out by Western Digital. This is an off the shelf item, so when you get it, it works the way it is supposed too, but folks have had issues with the proper HDMI output properties after some wonky WD updates. I repeat, do not update it whenever WD releases new FW smile.gif (Thanks Ray Coronado for a nice 40 minute phone conversation today smile.gif )


I used it tonight on my Dads set, and I was plenty happy with it, and its speed, so Id recommend it to anyone who cannot afford an Accupel at $1200.

c2298d19.jpg

54293903.jpg
Power cable
WD Live Device
USB stick with test patterns
Remote
Ir rcvr
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post #2 of 29
10/29/11 at 12:54pm
hi Jason
Awesome review...thanks!
On a side / related note. The Accupel 5000 is now at $1499. It this price point it comes with the Deluxe stuff, and then add 3D patterns and "just out' motion patterns. You can still buy a bare bones Accupel for $1200.
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post #3 of 29
10/30/11 at 1:34pm
Hi Jason, thank you for the review of the CalMAN DPG-1000. The biggest differences between the DPG-1000 and the DPG-1400 is the speed improvement of the WD Live player and quality of HDMI output. If anyone has a DPG-1000 and would like the upgraded speed improvements not only in the player but the macro commands sent from CalMAN, you can simply purchase the WD live from anywhere online like Amazon.com, etc. for just under $150. it doesn't need to be purchased from SpectraCal to receive the added benefits of the new player. Also, WD made many improvements to the player's HDMI issues that the DPG-1000 firmware updates had with select displays.
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post #4 of 29
10/30/11 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
I did not even look at it that way. For a small price once could just get the newer unit, but continue to use the USB stick with the patterns as well as the IR/Remote combo?

Are the HDMI improvements between the older WD unit and the new one strictly handshake related? Nothing to do with quality of output for calibration purposes?
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post #5 of 29
10/30/11 at 2:12pm
Yes, we purposefully kept the command sequences in CalMAN and on the patterns inside the USB stick the same. We did this so customers could upgrade hardware without having to spend more $ on the entire package. The only thing we did in CalMAN was give you a new drop down for the DPG-1400 and improve the delay speed between the commands when controlling the DPG-1200/1400 because the new hardware had a faster response time.

The HDMI improvements between the old and new player were handshake related. In the first generation WD player (DPG-1000) we found that depending on the display the unit would sometimes output different levels (PC/Video) because of what the display tried to predict the source was. The new WD player doesn't appear to have this issue. I will talk with the team tomorrow to see if their is anything else I'm missing between the old WD unit and new WD unit.
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post #6 of 29
10/30/11 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Joshua.

I assume something like a brightness test pattern would be an easy way to see if it was outputting the wrong level. IIRC, pc level would be washed out, correct?

Thanks for the great info. I hope to try it out on my Samsung 2011 plasma next weekend, it worked OK with my Dad's Insignia LCD.
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post #7 of 29
10/30/11 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
Joshua, one more thing. If something happens to the USB stick, do you guys sell replacements?
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post #8 of 29
10/30/11 at 3:47pm
Actually the DP1000 had correct video levels but was slow. The DP1200 offered speed improvements but did not consistantly output the correct video levels of PC or Video.


Gregg Loewen
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post #9 of 29
10/30/11 at 8:51pm
Greetings Jason,

The USB stick with the patterns on it ... just make a copy of the files on your computer as a back up. If the stick goes down ... put the patterns onto another stick and keep going ... or carry two sticks in the bag ...

When you bought the entire unit, the bulk of the cost of the unit goes to the creation of the patterns and the intellectual property that it is. They've made the sale on it ... hence the suggestion to buy an off the shelve WD Live plus unit and use that as the DPG1400.

Make back ups of the patterns ... just don't give the patterns away ... and you can't resell them (and keep a copy for yourself).

Regards
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post #10 of 29
10/31/11 at 5:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregg Loewen View Post

Actually the DP1000 had correct video levels but was slow. The DP1200 offered speed improvements but did not consistantly output the correct video levels of PC or Video.
Gregg Loewen

Thats what I was initially told, about the DPG-1000.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael TLV View Post

Greetings Jason,
The USB stick with the patterns on it ... just make a copy of the files on your computer as a back up. If the stick goes down ... put the patterns onto another stick and keep going ... or carry two sticks in the bag ...
When you bought the entire unit, the bulk of the cost of the unit goes to the creation of the patterns and the intellectual property that it is. They've made the sale on it ... hence the suggestion to buy an off the shelve WD Live plus unit and use that as the DPG1400.
Make back ups of the patterns ... just don't give the patterns away ... and you can't resell them (and keep a copy for yourself).
Regards

Man, I way over thought the the stick. Occam's razor applies smile.gif

Thanks Michael.
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post #11 of 29
10/31/11 at 7:47pm
Thread Starter 
I used the 1000 tonight to calibrate my D7000 from scratch. Pretty happy with how the small windows reacted with the display, they seem to be a great size for plasma. Results look good too.
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post #12 of 29
10/31/11 at 7:59pm
Quote:
Results look good too

thats the important part...too many people focus on the graphs and not the image.
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post #13 of 29
11/1/11 at 5:36am
Thread Starter 
I agree. What I find funny is, if you use the wrong patterns, or do not have something set properly, you get very nice patterns and an ugly image.

Twice I've tried calibrating with the APL patterns some folks like on AVS709, with the Oppo 93 in Source Direct. While I agree they avoid ABL on a plasma kicking in, something does not look right (except the charts smiley_wink.gif )
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post #14 of 29
11/1/11 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elwaylite View Post

I used the 1000 tonight to calibrate my D7000 from scratch. Pretty happy with how the small windows reacted with the display, they seem to be a great size for plasma. Results look good too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael TLV View Post

Greetings Jason,
The USB stick with the patterns on it ... just make a copy of the files on your computer as a back up. If the stick goes down ... put the patterns onto another stick and keep going ... or carry two sticks in the bag ...
When you bought the entire unit, the bulk of the cost of the unit goes to the creation of the patterns and the intellectual property that it is. They've made the sale on it ... hence the suggestion to buy an off the shelve WD Live plus unit and use that as the DPG1400.
Make back ups of the patterns ... just don't give the patterns away ... and you can't resell them (and keep a copy for yourself).
Regards

Yes, this is true. Thank you, Michael.
Jason - As Michael said, simply backup your pattern files in case something goes wrong with your USB memory stick. Then if something happens simply upload the folder on a new drive and you should be good to go.
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post #15 of 29
11/1/11 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Joshua. I have a Kingston on order to do just that.
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post #16 of 29
11/1/11 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elwaylite View Post

Thanks Joshua.
I assume something like a brightness test pattern would be an easy way to see if it was outputting the wrong level. IIRC, pc level would be washed out, correct?
Thanks for the great info. I hope to try it out on my Samsung 2011 plasma next weekend, it worked OK with my Dad's Insignia LCD.

Using the patterns will quickly help you know if your display is in the right mode.
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post #17 of 29
11/1/11 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elwaylite View Post

Thanks Joshua. I have a Kingston on order to do just that.

Great, let us know how it goes! :-)
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post #18 of 29
11/1/11 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elwaylite View Post

I used the 1000 tonight to calibrate my D7000 from scratch. Pretty happy with how the small windows reacted with the display, they seem to be a great size for plasma. Results look good too.

Wonderful, do you have any before and after screenshots? How was the movie experience after the video calibration?
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post #19 of 29
11/1/11 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 
I did not take any. I'll take some time over the next week to evaluate, but my target was what Ive used both the AVS709 and an Accupel in the past (2.2 gamma). I seemed to be able to get the Gamut chart a little tighter with the small color windows, but I've seen variances in how this chart looks depending on whether one uses the Accupel 75% windows, the AVS709 100% and 75% windows, and the AVS APL color windows. I also know window size affects gamma, and up until now anyting larger than the Accupel pattern (9% IIRC) was too large IMO. I could easily see a nice gamma drop after 80% Stimulus. Being that this DPG window is like 3%, I'm curious if that has on PQ affect on gamma vs the Accupel, or the color. Up to this point, the Accupel produced the best looking (to me) calibration and those are the settings I default back to if I am not happy with an experiment. I'm hoping this DPG result will be another winner.

Also, IMO, the AVS709 calibrated colors were saturated when using the APL color windows. As far as charts, I did not snap shot them because the end result is usually the same with these sets, especially with a Cell of 20 and Contrast in the 90-95 range. Gamma ranged from 2.21 to 2.24, so pretty darn flat. Grayscale dE reported of under 1 smile.gif, and a color temp of 6525.
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post #20 of 29
11/1/11 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Gamma ranged from 2.21 to 2.24, so pretty darn flat. Grayscale dE reported of under 1 , and a color temp of 6525.

go go go !!
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post #21 of 29
11/1/11 at 5:32pm
Thread Starter 
Well, after putting some Nat Geo, Boardwalk Empire, and BBCAHD stuff behind me. I'm really digging the result from the DPG. Not really finding anything to complain about PQ wise, yet.
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post #22 of 29
11/3/11 at 8:15am
Thread Starter 
Got 8 more hours of HDTV under my belt and Im just about convinced that this thing does a fine job for someone like myself. PQ is excellent IMO, and I think it's a good investment vs calibrating with an optical player.
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post #23 of 29
11/7/11 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elwaylite View Post

Well, after putting some Nat Geo, Boardwalk Empire, and BBCAHD stuff behind me. I'm really digging the result from the DPG. Not really finding anything to complain about PQ wise, yet.

Very cool, glad to hear, Jason. Let us know if you see any areas we can improve the DPG pattern sets.
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post #24 of 29
11/7/11 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
My only current complaint is the Brightness pattern. It is not as easy to "see" the proper adjustment as DVE, Spears and Munsil or AVS709.

I know that the Brightness pattern on DVE thru the Oppo, vs the adjustment in the Accupel, is accurate, so i was able to use that to figure out how the DPG test pattern should look.
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post #25 of 29
11/7/11 at 12:04pm
Good to know. I'll pass this feedback on to the development team so we can improve the brightness pattern on the next generation of patterns. We'll look at the DVE, Spears and Munsil and AVS709 discs as examples.
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post #26 of 29
11/7/11 at 12:14pm
Thread Starter 
I think it's a matter of the 16 and 17 bars, vs the background.

On other patterns, the point where you have decreased brightness enough is pretty obvious, the DPG pattern could been 2-3 clicks depending on your eye. The plasma is easy, because you see green dithering in the BTB area until Brightness is lowered to the right position. IIRC, at one point the dithering of the center of the 16 bar stopped, but was still outlined with dithering. What i found was once the bar stopped dithering, it needed another 2 clicks down.

This is all splitting hairs really, but if they could take that into account and maybe tweak it about. What I like about the DVE pattern is, you raise Brightness until the BTB bar shows, then as you slowly click brightness down it just disappears after one click. Little easier to use. The bars on AVS709 have some flashing going on and look like the DPG pattern, but the pattern is a little more bright which I think makes it easier.
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post #27 of 29
11/8/11 at 9:04pm
Splitting hairs is what we like to do. smile.gif I'll pass this on to the support team as well. I'm sure we can make this recommended tweak.
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post #28 of 29
11/9/11 at 5:51am
Jason,

I do know that the unit was using a 0 % APL pluge pattern when it was released. This is not the correct pattern to use when setting the black level. You want to use a 15-25% APL pluge pattern for night time / reference viewing.

Gregg
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post #29 of 29
11/9/11 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Gregg. In my experimentation, I found the Oppo 93 + DVE Blu-ray matched the Brightness setting result from the Accupel 4000. So I just use DVE and the Oppo to set brightness and check contrast.
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