Does a 32XBR450 need ISF calibration? (1 Viewer)

[Erik_C]

Hello--
I'm having a 32XBR450 delivered on Saturday (a combined law school graduation and holy shit I passed the Bar gift to myself), and wonder how accurate it is without an ISF calibration. How close does the color temp get to 6500K? Also, if there's simply a slight red push or geometry issues, I can fix that myself in the service menu, and SVM can be disabled in the user menus. What I cannot do is a proper grey scale. Would there be a significant benefit to having an ISF guy calibrate the tv? If so, can you recommend someone in the D.C. area?
-Erik

 

[Richard_Huntington]

Ok I am new around here, but from what I have read in magazines over the years, any TV will be off that 6500k level out the box and will need calibration to look correct. I know my 36" Sony is off (too hot) and I would get it ISF calibrated, were I not considering moving up to a better TV.
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"My wife actually prefers widescreen"

 

[Jeff D.]

Erik:
It is always difficult to say how much any TV "needs" a calibration. There is always the potential that the set is properly calibrated right out of the box, though that is highly unlikely. I do not know of any set that arrives from the factory in that condition. Even if there was, your particular DVD player will need to be used in the calibration - since all DVD players output a slightly different signal and therefore a calibration would have different results depending on the player used.
As a general rule, Sony sets have been considered to come fairly close to 6500K when their colour temperature control (I believe they call it Trinitone) is set to NTSC STD. If you are unable to find the cash for a proper calibration, set this control properly and then calibrate the other picture controls with Video Essentials or Avia, and you'll have a good start to a properly calibrated image.
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Jeff
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"They're coming to get you Barbara..."

 

[Eliab]

Eric,
In my almost 5 years experience in offering ISF certified calibrations, the ONLY display device that I’ve ever seen come really close to a balanced D6500 greyscale out of the box was an older Sony KV-32XBR100 (geometry and overscan were still an issue). And, even that TV benefited a little from a white balance adjustment.
IMHO, you’ll never realize the full potential of your new Sony DVTV until a qualified ISF technician has properly calibrated it.
Chuck Williams is your man in the DC area. Good luck!
Eliab

 

[JayB]

I saw my friend's 36XBR450 pre and post ISF. Yup, ISF is better. If these things are important: depth, accuracy, naturalness, and sense of correctness then ISF is worth it. If you just want to watch CNN and CNBC then save the $250.
And you may not really appreciate it when the ISF tech leaves--but if you're into this stuff, you'll appreciate the more you watch.
If you've gone off the deep end like me (and I suspect a few others here) then you'll just sleep better knowing your $1600 TV is displaying the very best image possible.
--Jay
PS I have a Loewe Calida 32" TV and I got mine ISF'd and it's awesome. Yes, Loewe TVs have an NTSC standard color setting but it's off.

 

[JohnnyG]

Need? No. Benefit from? Definitely!