I am not terribly impressed.

[Utnayan]

I recently purchased Digital Video Essentials for my home theater setup based on what I have read, and honestly, for a novice user of even an intermediate user that does not want to go into the service menu, there isn't anything here that you cannot get from just running the series of THX tests that comes with any THX certified DVD you may purchase.

This may not be popular opinion, but I will voice it anyway.

The menu system is hard to navigate through, while being clumsy at best and tedious at it's worst. While I can appreciate some of the explanations, they didn't really help me understand things that I didn't already know, and they definitely didn't help explain things that I wanted to learn. Some of the explanations regarding home theater rooms were decent, but yet at the same time didn't do enough to explain why rooms are needed to be set up the way they are, or why sound acts the way it does in different areas.

All basic tests for calibration which regards to contrast, brightness, color saturation, tint/hue, and sharpness is just a rehash of what comes with any THX certified DVD for free with the purchase of a movie. Basically I am left with a $20.00 set of red, blue, and green filters that do not do me a bit of good unless I can enter the service menu and start poking around. Otherwise, you might as well go to pick up a blue filter at any local shop for .50 cents and run the THX calibration tests which will definitely do the trick for you. The contrast (white) is completely outdated as most TV's now do not bloom when you have the contrast setting too high. For me, that portion especially was useless.

I do see a useful utility by explaning some of the sound enhancements one can do with their home theater set up. Once I get to radio shack to buy a meter, I will give this a go and try and calibrate that. But yet again, the THX audio tests pretty much do the exact same thing here.

The production values are nice, but I didn't pay money to see a lift off of the space shuttle, or a computer rendered Islands of Adventure Hulk rollarcoaster ride. It looks nice, and the picture is good, but I wanted a DVD which would explain the more intermediate and advanced uses of calibration techniques, not just a cut and paste of the THX tests with some narration included and a minor example or two. Of course, maybe I am just missing out on the meat of it being that I cannot navigate the menu system properly.

All in all, I am not impressed thus far. My advice for anyone thinking about purchasing DVE (I have not yet tried the others) is to find a blue filter somewhere on the cheap, and just use your THX tests that come with movies such as Terminator 2. Especially if you are a novice user. Basically after watching this all it made me want to do was call an ISF technician to take care of it for me. Which may have been it's intent all along anyway.

[Rocko]

I have the Sound & Vision Home Theate Tune Up DVD, and used it 3 times to tweak picture settings. Everytime I use it, I end up changing the settings afterwards to levels which work best for combination of HD, digital, and analog crap signals. The DVD was a waste of money for me.

[Scott5626]

I have Sound and Vision it's ok I really bought it for the Dolby and DTS demos. Well written post Rocko I have to agree with you on just about everything you posted. Now there are better set-up disks out there, Avia is good. But I have thought the same about Sound and Vision when I purchased it. I do see a SPL meter being quite useful if you have a large enough room, mine is only 13'x15' so I really dont see the need for one.

[kevinw]

I agree with all of you to a point.. I have AVIA and Sound & Vision.
I use S&V to tune up friends new purchases. I use the Avia to tune up my tv because I can get into the service modes and do nearly all the things an ISF tech can.
If your serious about having the best picture possible and not sure about a tech or want to spend the money then one of these discs are quite usefull.

In the case of the person who is not an extreme hobbyist, a THX set up will suffice. In my case it was not enough.

I recomend anyone who is serious about the PQ of their display to research how to do work inside the service modes.
There is a great pay for tweaks sight if you are so inclined.
Do a google search for the Home Theater S*P*O*T..( remove the stars when you search). Or try Keohi.com and ask the Techs that run that Forum.

[57U]

If all you're interested in is some test patterns, then the first few posters are probably correct, however, if you have little or no knowledge about Home Theatre, then I think $20 or so invested to learn about HT and do some tweaking is not too bad. Also, if you want to do additional tweaking, AVIA can be helpful (not sure how many test patters S&V & DVE have since I don't have them).

[Scott5626]

What about just going off other people when they have the identical set and using their settings they get after using Avia. In a dark room the settings should be rather close right? I did not realize you could enter the service mode through a setup disk, I wish I felt more comfortable to do that.

[Utnayan]

I recomend anyone who is serious about the PQ of their display to research how to do work inside the service modes.
There is a great pay for tweaks sight if you are so inclined.
Do a google search for the Home Theater S*P*O*T..( remove the stars when you search).

This is something I am definitely interested in. Is the information easy to read for a newbie? I am very technically inclined, and learn fast (my main forte is with computers) but I was wondering how in depth they get before I blow $25.00 :)

If anything, I would be much happier with my DVE DVD and the new test patterns.

[kevinw]

Originally posted by Scott5626
What about just going off other people when they have the identical set and using their settings they get after using Avia. In a dark room the settings should be rather close right? I did not realize you could enter the service mode through a setup disk, I wish I felt more comfortable to do that.

With settings no two tvs are alike. Unlike most products what arrives at your door is different than the next. There are starting points but each TV will have identical PQ but have different settings.
The disk itself does not allow access to the service mode. It is usually a combination of buttons pushed on the remote sort of like entering cheat codes on a game station.

[Scott5626]

I see that makes sense.

[Utnayan]

Kevin -

Is the tweaks section worth $25.00? Or would I be better off finding a book or taking a couple classes? I am wondering just how in dpeth they get and how "teaching" it is. Do they go over things step by step? Or in major technical terms and fast?

[kevinw]

I have heard good things about the tweaks section. It was pretty good before it went to paid members. I not that fond of the websight becuase of the attitudes of the Owners. Overall they are good people but a little too snobbish for me.
I got all the info I needed from Keohi.com

[BRYMANKS]

I'm using the Avia tune up dvd and noted that the "Bloom" would not occur on the brightness test as you pointed out. I have an Hitachi 50v500 that looks fantastic but what do you recommend when tweaking the brightness?

[kevinw]

The bloom is more for older tvs with weak power supplies. I go more for keeping the lines from bending.

[57U]

On AVIA, for the brightness and contrast, start with them both around 50. Then do the test with the moving lines - the ones where they just become visible - you don't need to be exact.

Then go to the test that has several vertical bars - one end is black and one end is white. You want to play with the two settings so that you have "black" at one end and "white" at the other with equal gradiations of grey in-between. Make sure you have your automatic settings for black level, etc turned off, otherwise it's impossible to get this right.

When you then go to watch TV, you may have to increase or cut the settings slightly by eye, but you should be pretty close.

[HDBoobToobNoob]

On AVIA, for the brightness and contrast, start with them both around 50. Then do the test with the moving lines - the ones where they just become visible - you don't need to be exact.

Then go to the test that has several vertical bars - one end is black and one end is white. You want to play with the two settings so that you have "black" at one end and "white" at the other with equal gradiations of grey in-between. Make sure you have your automatic settings for black level, etc turned off, otherwise it's impossible to get this right.

When you then go to watch TV, you may have to increase or cut the settings slightly by eye, but you should be pretty close.

It also helps if you turn the color level to 0 so you have pure black and white. Just my 2 cents worth.

(eidt) Sorry didnt realize i was reviving such and old post, forgot I did a search on ISF calibration, hehe :rofl2: