Is Avia all it's cracked up to be? (1 Viewer)

[John_P_R]

I'm thinking of getting a calibration disk for my tv and as far as my previous experience with them I'm not getting the dvd silver series one from discwasher. For one the disc had no clear cute way of telling me if was setting my contrast right since I never saw the change they told me to look for even with the contrast setting at 100%. Secondly the color setting was nothing more than three pictures and I had to make a guess on what looked alright. Third the sharpness test you couldn't even tell if the sharpness was even doing anything. As far as brightness it did a decent job but it still expected me to do that blacker than black test which my dvd player can't display blacker than black.

I'm looking into AVIA but for the price (we are talking 39-49 dollars for a college student this is quite a price to pay for a dvd) I could be paying less because my friend works at best buy but I'm not even sure that it'll bring down the price anymore than 20 dollars at best. So is it really worth it for as close to proper calibration as I can get or would something like sound and vision disc be any better

any thoughts please?

also I've been debating whether the contrast+(black stretch) setting on my tv should be left on or off during calibration

thanks for your time reading this lengthly post. hopefully I'll get some good input from you good folks and make a decision.

 

[Dave H]

Avia is the best disc out there for calibrating your TV. I've used one similar to yours and they aren't worth it. Avia will solve all of your problems and it's well worth the money.

 

[John_P_R]

thanks for the prompt reply DaveH i thought no one was going to answer :frowning: I'll take your input into serious consideration

 

[Carl Johnson]

After calibrating my audio and video systems with Avia I've had multiple compliments on the quality of my presentation, one of which wanted to know if my television was High Definition (which it isn't). It is expensive as compared to other single discs but a real bargin considering it will help you get the best possible performance out of your equipment.

 

[John_P_R]

once again thanks to everyone who provides input on this subject .

 

[Carl Johnson]

Welcome

 

[JeromeS]

Here is a post from HomeTheaterSpot.com with an explanation of the Avia disc by Guy Kuo one of the owners.
Avia Explanation by Guy Kuo
Jerome

 

[rodney wiley]

Where can I get one?

 

[Massimo N]

I feel that AVIA is well worth the money. I have found that this disk provides all the test patterns you need (and more). The AVIA DVD is very easy to navigate, and allows you to use more patterns as your knowledge grows. Very comprehensive audio and video test.

Your DVD player does not need to pass Blacker than Black to use the brightness (black level) settings.

The AVIA disk also provides blue, green and red filters so you can correctly set you colour and tint controls (and discover if your set exhibits red push).

Cheers!

Mass

 

[Jeff Pounds]

John,
I don't know how much Avia is at Best Buy, but I picked up mine on sale at Buy.com (many months ago) for significantly less than it was at Best Buy at the time.
I just checked, and right now, Buy.com has it for $40.
You might check some of the other online dealers for the best price.
IMHO, picking up Avia (~$40) and the analog SPL meter from Radio Shack (~$35) is a solid $80 investment in your home theater and will be well worth it in the long run.
You won't find many other sub-$100 investments that will improve your HT experience as much as this will.
Good luck!

 

[JeromeS]

You can also check convergence with the filters. What you do is scotch tape the 3 filters with the green filter in the middle and the red and blue filters on the outside. You do this with the long sides horizontally. While doing your convergence you place the filters on the screen over the lines you are lining up. You then move the red and blue lines to line up with the green line and once they are all in line you are set! This of course works both horizontally and vertically since all you have to do is turn the joined filter 90 degrees to check the other convergence.

Jerome

 

[John_P_R]

thanks guys, great info oh and jeff the only reason I'm getting it at best buy is because of my friend's employee discount there which we'll find out today how much is taken off the 49 dollar retail prices (she pays 5% over what best buy pays to get it)

 

[Greg_R]

You can also rent either Avia or Video Essentials (IMO as good as Avia but harder to navigate) from Blockbuster if budget is an issue...

 

[TonyD]

You can also check convergence with the filters. What you do is scotch tape the 3 filters with the green filter in the middle and the red and blue filters on the outside. You do this with the long sides horizontally. While doing your convergence you place the filters on the screen over the lines you are lining up. You then move the red and blue lines to line up with the green line and once they are all in line you are set! This of course works both horizontally and vertically since all you have to do is turn the joined filter 90 degrees to check the other convergence.

jerome that sounds like a good idea but when you say on the outside do you mean on either side of the green one or sandwiched around the red and blue one with the green one inside the other 2?

 

[JeromeS]

Yes I meant on either side of the green one. Hopefully the example below makes it clear.

Well I can't seem to get the right side to line up but you get the idea.

------------

| Red |

------------

| Green |

------------

| Blue |

------------

 

[TonyD]

thanks