ISF Calibration Questions (1 Viewer)

[Perry Jonkheer]

Hello,

A friend of mine just purchased the Sony HP51W40 and is considering an ISF calibration. She is by no means a videophile, but wants to get the most out of her set. If she gets the calibration done, will the 4 year warranty she bought be useless? Tweeter recommended against the calibration because of this. Also, since she is not a videophile, will the differences in picture quality be worth the $300+ it will cost to have the calibration done? What differences can she exepect to see once the calibration is complete?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jack Briggs]

To a videophile, yes, the differences will be pronounced, noticeable, and better. To her, however, she might at first be put off by the relatively low light output of the set. Then she might learn to appreciate more accurate video. (The contrast and brightness will be lower than she's used to, the color less saturated, etc.)

As for warranty issues, she should contact the Sony service number, for what it's worth, and explain what she wants to do. If the RPTV is not opened up, there shouldn't be a problem. But call Sony just the same.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Re: the question of warranties.
Calibration is like anything else; there are different styles and philosophies, and one of the important things to do in deciding to retain a calibrator is to learn just what he or she means by calibration. There are those who believe in performing radical surgery on a consumer monitor in order to squeeze every last drop of performance out of it; this kind of operation almost always voids the warranty. There are others who believe that you shouldn't try to push consumer equipment beyond reasonable tolerances, who will almost always confine themselves to adjustments that would not be considered warranty breakers, and who will nevertheless achieve quite stunning results.
So, like with most things, it depends.
There's a very long thread in the HTF archive in which calibrators from different schools of thought debated the pros and cons. It became quite heated at times, but it's still one of the most informative discussions of ISF calibration (and non-ISF calibration -- the ISF doesn't cover everything) that I've ever read, including comments from the like of ISF's Joel Silver and video guru extraordinnaire Joe Kane. Here's the link.
M.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

A thorough calibration session is still rather benign when it comes to changes in the TV. Not much changes physically if at all. Anything that is done can be undone if need be ... but the biggest item here is ...

"Who is going to know?" If you do not offer the information, then don't worry about it. The process is benign ... do no harm.

No one will ever know ... except you and the calibrator. The Service people will never know ... nor do they need to know since no harm was done.

The only ways to tell are ... improved focus ... and more accurate colours ...

"Your set looks too good ... you must have violated your warranty."

BTW ... you know that when you take your car to a Jiffy Lube ... you violate your car's warranty as well ...

Regards

 

[Perry Jonkheer]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. You have been a great help.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

I like Michael's reply. It reminds me of some advice I got regarding what to report in my tax return.

"If you give the IRS too much information they get confused".

TV manufacturers seem to get confused rather easily.

 

[Carson E]

Why not get one of the setup DVDs (AVIA,etc.) and manually do the adjustments. Should improve somewhat. May be enough to satisfy her. (?)