Finding an ISF Tech?? (1 Viewer)

[John S]

I live in the Denver Metro area, how would I go about finding an ISF Tech to adjust my new Philips.

Should I just call some of the Philips factory authorized service centers?

I see a fair amount of people like to let the set "settle in" for a week or two before having it done. Any good guidelines on how long one should wait before calling the ISF Tech out?

How are most ISF Techs on letting you watch what they do in detail?

Lastly, it does seem with the HDTV timelines growing near, one could make some extra money doing IFS tech work. So how does one become an ISF Tech? I have an extensive electronics background, an associates degree even.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

you mean ISF.

You can go to their website, or find some good techs here.

IMO, you should do basic calibration with Avia/VE, and then get the set ISF'd after a few months, once you have it exactly where it will stay, and is settled in and no longer "minty-fresh," as this is when things will drift the most.

http://www.imagingscience.com/

 

[John S]

Thanks... Sorry about the letter switch, I have the worst degree of dyslexia possible. Of course for me, it read ISF, until somebody points it out at least.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

Greetings,

I edited your thread to correctly reflect "ISF"

In Colorado I recommend 2 people:

1. Alan Brown, the president of Cinemaquest (they manufacture back lighting)

2. Bill Gambrell, who has quickly become a "guru" on Hitachi RPTV sets.

Direct view sets are quite straight forward and I would imagine that any tech would let you watch as he calibrates your TV.

Your set's color will dramatically change over the first 100 plus hours. So make sure you have 100-200 hours as a minimum on it prior to the calibration. As Chris as suggested you can use AVIA for now, but that is not a substitute for a real "calibration". You could quite easily get away with using some THX patterns which are available at the start of certain DVDs (T2, Toy Story?), or buying the $20 Digital Video Essentials, or the less than $20 Sound and Vision Test Disc.

Best wishes

Gregg Loewen

 

[John S]

Thanks for the editing, guidelines, and tips....

I will certainly have it done, I will wait for at least a 200 hour burn-in period.

I will call both of the suggested calibrationists in a month or so, and see what they say.

Dang I am excited, I watched MNF last night in HD (well cheater HD anyways on my old non HD set), ABC does the best job on their HD broadcats being what looks like true widescreen HD. Even down converted through Svideo, man does that stuff looks and sounds great!!!

I have been using the THX optimizer stuff on all my friends setups. I do want true calibration though, I would think everybody that buys an HDTV that does DVD's and true HD sources would have it done. My new set is not direct view, but is RP by the way.

Thanks again for all the help here.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

There is not nearly as much calibration business out there as you might think.

It is surmised that less than 1% of all people buying HD sets would even care about such things.

It might be a good hobby job, but it could never sustain you as a full time job in any one market area. The successful calibrators ... all 10 of them ... have to travel extensively to make a go at it.

Taking the ISF seminar is a good start, but if you don't know 80% of the material in that seminar already before you attend, then the calibration business will be tough ...

Just ask the 3450 ISF attendees out there that can't get more than a couple jobs a month. There are only about 3500 ISF attendees out there in total.

You have to be an enthusiast first, above all else. Most of the best calibrators out there were all self taught ...

(Hobby yes, ... don't quit your day job.)

Regards