Chris Eberle - ISF Calibrations

A Return To Posting, I'm Still Here!

2010-05-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

First off, let me apologize to all regular visitors to this blog for my long absence from posting. I want to assure everyone I am still very much active as a calibrator. I have had steady business all this year. In fact, I’m doing about as much work as I’m able to. My reason for not posting is simply that I’ve been doing more reviews for Secrets than I ever thought I would. Starting in late October of 2009, I’ve had at least one product, and sometimes as many as four, in my theater under evaluation. Below I have listed all the reviews published since August of 2009:

Focal Dome Speaker System
Revel Performa Speaker System
NuVision 65-inch LCD TV
Optoma HD8200 DLP Projector
Optoma HD8600 DLP Projector
Optoma HD20 DLP Projector (benchmarks only)
Samsung SP-A900B DLP Projector
Runco LS-5 DLP Projector
Emotiva Factory Visit

During all that, I calibrated a number of Pioneer plasmas and a few Samsung DLPs as well. I’ve had particularly good results from the A650 series TVs. Calibration is done in the CCA menu, just like the older models. After selecting the correct gamma curve and tweaking the white balance, these displays look very good. They’re a bargain too and well worth the price of a pro calibration. Out of the box performance is not so great with poor gamma and crushed blacks and whites. Color is OK but adjusting the CCA menu really makes these sets pop. I also calibrated a JVC HD750, a Pioneer FPJ-1 (JVC RS2 clone) and very recently, an Epson Home Cinema 8100. The HD750 needed a firmware update to fix the CMS but after the upload, performance was stunning. Anyone out there with an HD750, RS20 or Anthem LTX-500 that needs the update, let me know and I will include it with my calibration service at no extra charge.

Despite the exit of Pioneer from the plasma market at the end of last year, there are still sets available. Some stores are gouging for them but if you dig around, you may find a deal. If you’re in the market for a new flat panel and you don’t need the extra light output of an LCD, I highly recommend looking for a Pioneer. I still believe Panasonic is at least two or three years away from equaling the contrast performance of the 9th generation Kuro TVs.

You’ll see by my above linked projector reviews, I have experienced quite a few DLP models. I got great results from all of them and I enjoyed watching movies very much. My pick for ultimate performance is still LCoS however. My Anthem LTX-500 sat in a box for almost three months and when it finally returned to the shelf, I felt like my old friend was back. Of all the DLPs I’ve tested, the Runco LS-5 showed the deepest blacks and highest contrast. It still didn’t match the Anthem. Unless you have a large room and screen, LCoS is my preference.

I don’t want to talk about specific gear for upcoming reviews but I’ll give a general preview. Right now I have a multi-channel processor, a two-channel integrated amp and an LCoS projector under review. I recently finished articles on two Blu-ray players and expect those to be published soon. Later this summer, I’m expecting a new surround speaker system to be delivered. This system will include the biggest center channel I’ve ever seen and a gargantuan sub as well.

Finally, I’ve added movie reviews to my plate at Secrets. You may have read the monthly Renter’s Guides in the past. Now they are much larger as we have a total of six writers contributing. I do about four movies a month. Most recently, I covered the new Blu-ray release of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Thanks again for reading and as always, if you have questions about my calibration services, please email me. Enjoy the view!

KRP-500M and KRP-600M Patch and Calibration

2009-11-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

As you all know by now, Pioneer will be done selling their amazing Kuro plasma displays by the end of 2009. The Elite models are becoming harder to find as dealers seek to trim their inventories. Now a model is emerging that wasn’t even on the radar six months ago, the KRP monitors. These were originally only sold in Europe but they became available in the US in early 2009. Even now there is no information on them on Pioneer’s US website.

Here’s the spec rundown:

50” and 60” screen sizes
1080p
Pure Cinema Standard, Smooth and Advance modes
Pure Mode (like the Elites)
Blue-only Mode (to set color and tint)
1 – DVI input, 2 – HDMI inputs, 1 each component, composite and S-video input, PC input, ATSC tuner

Hardware-wise, these panels are identical to any other Kuro – same glass, same electronics. The only difference is software and that is where things get interesting. Thanks to some very creative engineering from ControlCAL, it is now possible to replace the firmware of the KRP monitors to enable the ISF modes just like the Elite models. The user modes are still available and all other features too. As you’ve read in my previous posts, the ISF modes are a real jump in quality because of their greater light output and contrast. The dead-on accuracy of color, gamma and grayscale is there too. The patch turns your KRP into an Elite Signature Monitor. The only thing you won’t have are the two additional HDMI inputs. I will be up front about one thing – you will likely void your warranty by applying the patch. My recommendation is to purchase a KRP and run it for a few weeks before applying the patch. Go through the break-in process and watch it in the Pure mode for a while to be sure there are no manufacturing defects. This is standard procedure for any TV you plan to have professionally calibrated. You don’t want to pay for calibration before you’re sure the TV is solid.

I recently patched and calibrated a KRP-500M with the amazing results typical of all Kuro TVs. The patching process takes about 10 minutes with a laptop and serial connection. Then the calibration proceeds just like any other ControlCAL workup. The two links below will open the color and grayscale reports I generated.

KRP-500M Patched, Color Report

KRP-500M Patched, Grayscale Report

If you are interested in the patch here’s the pertinent info. Go to the Patcher Info page at ControlCAL.com. Purchase the patch for $100 with the Pro calibration option. Then choose a supporting calibrator you intend to hire. This calibrator will make an appointment with you to install the patch and calibrate your monitor. I don’t charge extra to install the patch. The fee to me is still $300. The bottom line now is that you’ve turned a $1900 monitor into a $4500 monitor for only $400.

If you’re considering an HDTV purchase I can’t stress enough how you need to move fast if you want a Kuro. In a few months they’ll be gone with prices being so low. 50” KRPs are going for under $2000 and 60” models for under $3500. This is an amazing deal.

Please email me if you have questions and thanks for reading.

Enjoy the view!

My Trip to CEDIA

2009-10-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with this report but I recently attended the CEDIA Expo in Atlanta. I was there to cover the show for Secrets. I focused primarily on new projector models and surround speaker systems.

The big news in projectors this Fall is LED light engines. Several manufacturers introduced LED models including SIM2, Projectiondesign, Digital Projection and Runco. The demos looked quite impressive. The main challenge with an LED light engine is achieving sufficient brightness. All the new units seemed to do just fine. I would have liked to see more varied scenes rather than the bright colorful content only. A best test of any display is how it renders darkness and shadow detail. I hope to get some of these new projectors in for review soon.

Here is a link to my reports on Secrets as well as those of the five other writers who were there:

Secrets CEDIA Expo Reports (All Writers)

My Individual Reports

Thanks for reading!

Anthem Statement D2v Processor and A5 Amplifier Review

2009-09-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

My latest review has been published at Secrets. It's the second part of "Flagship Home Theater." I evaluated a system consisting of an LTX-500 LCoS Projector, SI Black Diamond 2 Screen and an Anthem Statement D2v Processor/A5 Amplifier combo. These are top of the line components with no flaws worth mentioning. The audio and video performance is simply wonderful. Check it out!

Anthem Statement D2v Processor and A5 Amplifier Review
at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Anthem LTX-500 LCoS Projector and Black Diamond II Screen Review

2009-07-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

My latest review was posted yesterday at Secrets. I spent several weeks with Anthem's new LTX-500 LCoS projector. This has turned out to be the best and most accurate display I have ever worked with. The benchmark results are simply stupendous. I liked it so much I bought at the end of the review period! Check it out.

Anthem LTX-500 LCoS Projector and Black Diamond II Screen Review

at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Next Generation Home Products Remote Extender Review

2009-07-28T17:58:00.001-07:00

Please check out my new article on the Next Generation Home Products Remote Extender. This innovative product converts any infra-red remote that accepts AA or AAA batteries into an RF unit. What does this mean? Why no pointing of course!

Next Generation Home Products Remote Extender Review

at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

CalMAN Calibration Software Review

2009-07-13T05:56:00.001-07:00

My latest review has been posted at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. CalMAN is the analysis software I use to calibrate displays of all types. For an in-depth look at the power of this package and how I use it, follow the link below to my article.

CalMAN Display Calibration Package Review

at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Pioneer 5020 and 6020 Calibrations

2009-06-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, it is now possible to calibrate the 9th-generation Pioneer non-Elite displays thanks to ControlCAL. Without this software, there is no access to white balance controls in the service menu making it impossible to calibrate these TVs any other way. It’s a good thing too because with a proper calibration, the 5020 and 6020 sets can nearly match the performance of an Elite TV in the Pure mode. While not quite the equal of an Elite display in ISF mode, you can save a bit of money purchasing the non-Elite TV and a pro calibration.

The procedure for calibrating these sets is similar to the Elites. ControlCAL accesses the service menu through the RS232 interface. Once activated, I am able to navigate the service menus and record all default settings before starting the actual calibration. It is important to note that the calibrated picture mode is Movie with Pure Cinema turned off. Turning on Pure Cinema after the calibration will actually change the grayscale settings. It’s not permanent but the calibration will obviously be affected as long as Pure Cinema is on. This is not a great loss as 24p material will still be displayed at 72hz with the proper 3:3 cadence. The only thing you will lose is inverse-telecine deinterlacing of 480i and 1080i material. You also must use Movie mode because the grayscale adjustments are global and affect all picture modes. All the modes will look a bit different but only Movie will have the proper D65 color temperature. The calibration is also global for all inputs. You cannot have separate setups per input or per picture mode. As most modern video source components are pretty much the same in terms of color, grayscale and gamma output, this is not a big deal. I saw excellent results with both cable/satellite sources and DVD/Blu-ray. I was able to verify that components such as the PS3 and the Pioneer BDP-51 Blu-ray player perfectly matched my signal generator.

Color performance is very good before calibration. The gamut is not quite as accurate as an Elite but it’s very close. Secondaries line up perfectly after calibration. I typically have not had to adjust the color or tint controls from the factory defaults. Luminances are also very close to perfect. Gamma is very flat but a bit under 2.2. It tracked closer to 2.1. Contrast performance is also excellent. I measured the same minimum black level of .001fl with a peak white level of 41.727fl. This translates to a measured On/Off contrast ratio of 41,727:1.

Once calibrated, the performance of the non-Elite TVs is still better than any other display I’ve worked on save the Elites. For a substantial savings over the Elite displays you still get the second-best TV in the world, and only by a small margin. While I heartily recommend the Elite for ultimate performance, the 5020 and 6020 represent a phenomenal performance bargain right now. The 5020 (50-inch) TV can be found for around $2000 and a 6020 (60-inch) can be had for just over $4000. Even adding in a pro calibration, you’re still ahead. Now that these displays can be properly calibrated with ControlCAL, they are well worth considering.

DreamVision Dream'E LCoS Projector Review

2009-05-21T16:55:00.001-07:00

My latest projector review of the new DreamVision Dream'E was just published over at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. You can read all about my experiences with it and check out all the measurement data by clicking on the link below.

DreamVision Dream'E LCoS Projector Review

at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Pioneer PRO-111FD Review and Calibration

2009-04-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Recently something wonderful has happened in the plasma TV market. Pioneer has dropped prices on their 9th-generation displays to levels never before imagined. I was incredibly fortunate just a few weeks ago to pick up a PRO-111FD for a mere $2900. Six months ago this was a $5000 display. The funny thing is it’s worth every penny of $5000. At $2900, I’m practically stealing it!

The plain truth is the 9th-generation Kuro plasmas are the best performing televisions you can buy. That is no exaggeration. Their color accuracy, clarity, video processing and most importantly, dynamic range, are without equal. I’ll throw out a number right now: 51,080 to 1 On/Off Contrast Ratio. This is literally what I measured in the ISF Day mode. Minimum black - .001fl, maximum white – 51.080fl, incredible! Color accuracy was equally amazing. The measured color gamut is a perfect overlay of the Rec 709 HD colorspace. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll continue with these amazing performance specs a bit later.

The PRO-111FD is the 50-inch model in the Elite line. There is also a 60-inch panel, the PRO151FD and monitors in 50 and 60-inch sizes, the PRO-101 and 141. Everything about the set exudes quality. The base and bezel are finished in a high-gloss hard plastic. The back of the panel is all metal. There are four HDMI inputs (one side-mounted), one component input and two S-video and composite inputs. There is a side-mounted USB input for the Home Media Gallery feature. This allows you to show photos and videos from a USB device directly on the display, very slick. There is also an optical digital audio input which can handle a Dolby Digital or DTS bitstream and downmix it for the TV’s speakers. These speakers by the way are the best I’ve ever heard on a television. They certainly won’t replace a 5.1 surround system but they blow away any other speakers built into a display. Pioneer thoughtfully made them removable as they add about eight inches to the overall width of the set. The remote is also of excellent build quality. The face is brushed aluminum and all buttons are backlit. It can be programmed to operate other components.

Setup is quite easy. If you use the internal tuner, you can scan for available channels. If not, simply connect your components to the generous selection of inputs. There are seven picture modes: Standard, Optimum, Performance, Sport, Movie, Game and Pure. Pure is the most calibration-ready mode. It has the most accurate colorspace and a perfectly flat gamma of 2.2. You will need to calibrate the grayscale as it runs a bit warm out of the box. Movie is similar but it has a slightly expanded colorspace. Some people prefer this but it’s really not necessary with this TV. The color saturation and tint are dead-on accurate at the factory default settings in Pure mode. There is no need to pump up the color since the luminances are close to perfect.

The user menus are quite extensive offering a large variety of calibration options and other features. You can find the white balance settings and color management system in the Pro Adjust submenu. This is also where you can make choices for Pure Cinema, Noise Reduction and other image enhancements. There is a very handy Tools menu that has its own button on the remote. This menu lets you change the AV Selection (picture mode), Screen Size (aspect ratio), blank the screen and other options. You can view your current input resolution, AV Selection, input number and Screen Size by pressing Display on the remote.

The real reason to go for the Elite TVs is the available ISF modes. These can only be unlocked by connecting a laptop to the RS232 port and using ISFccc software like ControlCAL. There are two modes, Day and Night. They can be set up any way you like. You can have a Night mode with less light output. You can have a black & white mode with a 5500k grayscale, whatever you want. This can be done independently per input. After activation the ISF modes appear in the AV Selection list and in the Tools menu. All user adjustments are locked out when the ISF modes are engaged. This way no one can tamper with the modes you paid good money to have calibrated. The ISF modes can also increase the peak light output. On my set, the peak reading went from 38fl in the Pure mode to 51fl in ISF. This makes a huge difference in picture quality. The Pure mode seems dull and drab by comparison. That extra output is nice in rooms that have some ambient light coming in. I have no trouble watching on a bright sunny day.

Since I’m calibrating this TV through a control interface, the procedure is somewhat different than other displays. I began by connecting my laptop to the RS232 port. After cycling the power, I was able to establish communication with the TV through ControlCAL’s ISFccc connection. This gives me complete control over the calibration plus video processing and aspect ratio. There is a color management system, settings for the Pure Cinema modes and a 9-point RGB gamma control. After activating each ISF mode (Day and Night), I performed a separate calibration for each. Using ControlCAL along with Calman calibration software makes for a very smooth setup. With both applications on screen and Calman controlling my signal generator, I could literally calibrate this TV without looking at it! Controls behaved exactly as they should with no interaction.

The ISF Night mode was set about 15fl lower, peak output. Otherwise, I left all other settings the same. I set the Pure Cinema to Advanced. This allows for 72hz operation with 24p content from Blu-ray disc. It also performs inverse-telecine deinterlacing from 480i and 1080i sources. With film-mode DVDs, motion is much smoother since the repeated frames are discarded. Blu-rays play with a 3:3 pulldown. Frame interpolation is available if you select Pure Cinema Smooth. I find this look to be unnatural. It makes film look like soap opera video. It also introduces annoying artifacts and judder in content that isn’t mastered correctly. My recommendation is to go with Advanced and leave it at that. I set the Screen Size (aspect ratio) to Dot By Dot. This is a true 1:1 pixel mode with no overscan or pixel blanking. Test patterns confirmed that every pixel was rendered. Screen uniformity was visually perfect.

As previously stated, On/Off Contrast measured 51,080:1 in ISF Day mode. This is phenomenal performance. Gamma was ruler-flat at 2.2. Grayscale tracking measured within 75k of D65. Delta E* was under 1 for all stimulus levels. A Delta E* of 3 is the point where errors are visible to the eye. The color measurements were of comparable accuracy. Primaries and secondaries were within a whisker of perfect and luminances were also nearly perfect. You can see all the results below. I used Calman 3.3 and an EyeOne Pro meter for all measurements. Patterns were provided by an Accupel HDG-3000 signal generator.

Once complete, I closed out the ISFccc interface and all settings were saved. I was able to set up the other inputs just as easily and accurately with ControlCAL. Disc-based test patterns were used to adjust and verify my Denon and Panasonic disc players. When exiting ControlCAL, calibration information is saved to the display that can be viewed by the user. It’s cool to hold down the Display key on the remote and see my name, calibration date and phone number. I save this same data to all clients’ displays.

Since calibration, I have lived with this excellent display for several weeks. Even though I have the Night mode available, I find myself leaving the TV on Day mode. I never have my room totally dark and I am sitting about ten feet away. I like a bright image and 51fl is quite comfortable for my wife and me. There is no question that I have purchased the finest flat-panel display available. By activating the ISF modes, I have tapped into its full potential. There is literally nothing I could wish for with this TV. All performance specs are a close to perfect as my instruments can measure. Perceived picture quality is simply unparalleled. This is truly a TV that makes you want to watch your entire movie collection over again. With an artifact-free image, perfect color and stupendous contrast performance the Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD is literally without flaw. Now that prices have dropped within reach of most of us, there is no better time to add one of these fine TVs to your viewing room.

SVS PB-12Plus Subwoofer Review

2009-04-19T04:56:00.000-07:00

About the two months ago I had the pleasure of reviewing the PB-12Plus subwoofer from SVS. The article is now published on Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. Check it out!

SVS PB-12Plus Subwoofer Review

at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Pioneer Plasma Calibrations, ControlCAL and ISF Modes

2009-03-31T17:29:00.001-07:00

Since my last article, I have had a lot of opportunities to calibrate many different models of Pioneer plasma TVs. ControlCAL has allowed me unprecedented access to the ISF interface on Elite displays and the service menu of the non-Elite sets. Calibration results have been in a word, astounding. There is truly no more accurate or better performing direct-view television available today.

Results have been comparable between 8th and 9th generation TVs. The 9th gen displays have a bit lower black level but the difference is small. Black level stability and gamma are excellent across both lines. Similiarly, results are very close between Elite and non-Elite sets. The one big advantage to the Elites is the ISF interface. Using this, I can engage two extra picture modes, ISF Day and ISF Night. They can be set to anything the client desires. Usually I set ISF Night about 15fl lower than ISF Day. But I can also use it for a seperate grayscale say D55 for watching black & white movies. The other really cool thing about the ISF modes is they are brighter than either the Pure or Movie modes. You get a perfect color gamut, ruler flat gamma and over 50fl peak light output! It also locks in all settings. Once enabled, ISF Day and ISF Night are in your AV Selection menu and can be called up at any time.

I have in my toolkit all available display profiles for ControlCAL. This means I can use it to calibrate ALL 9th generation displays, ALL 8th generation displays and 7th generation Elite displays. If you would like to see data from my calibrations, just send me an email and I'll send you the grayscale and color gamut charts.

As most of you know, Pioneer is exiting the TV market at the end of the year. Right now there are incredible deals on all Pioneer plasma TVs. I recently picked a PRO-111 for myself for $2900. This is truly a reference display. I'll post a full review shortly. With the low prices and a pro calibration, a Pioneer plasma will have no peer in picture quality. If you would like to book an appointment with me, please send me an email. I service the New York Hudson Valley Region from Albany to Westchester County, New York Metro, New Jersey, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Pioneer 8G and 9G Plasma Calibrations

2009-01-17T16:52:00.000-08:00

After calibrating many Pioneer plasmas over the last two years, I can say without reservation that this line of displays is the finest available. Impeccable build quality and a superb picture make these plasmas the ones to beat. While the Elite line includes all controls necessary for a professional calibration, the non-Elite TVs do not. The eighth-generation sets have grayscale controls in the service menu but the ninth-generations ones have none. This is unfortunate because the potential in image quality is the same for all Pioneer plasma displays.

I'm happy to say this has now changed. I recently acquired an application called ControlCAL. This windows program allows me to access the RS-232 interface available on ALL Pioneer plasma TVs. Through this interface, I have the ability to do a full calibration on ANY Pioneer plasma from both the eighth and ninth generation lines. ControlCAL allows access to the ISF Day and Night modes on the Elite models (eighth-gen PRO-110, 150 & 950; ninth-gen PRO-111, 151, 101 & 141) with all calibration controls in play. ControlCAL also allows a higher contrast setting on Elites so you can have a true daylight mode without any compromises. With these ISF memories properly calibrated, a user can simply select the appropriate mode with the remote to lock in all calibration settings with one button press.

The best part of all this is how inexpensive the ninth-generation non-Elite models have become. You can get the 50-inch 5020FD for around $2500 and the 60-inch 6020FD for around $3800. This is an incredible deal. There is no difference in picture quality between these and the more expensive Elite TVs. Now with ControlCAL, you can buy the cheaper set and pay for a professional calibration for hundreds less than just buying an Elite display. Of course, ControlCAL can be used with great success on Elite TVs including the new Elite monitors, the PRO-101 and 141. ControlCAL is the only way to activate the ISF modes, view panel hours or change the level of the side masks on Elite displays.

If you've lusted after a Pioneer Kuro as I have, now is your best chance to acquire one. You can save about $1000 by going for the 5020 or the 6020. ControlCAL now makes it possible to calibrate these displays for maximum performance. If you have any questions or you'd like to book a calibration appointment, please email me.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

I Have a New Writing Gig!

2008-11-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

I recently answered a call at Secrets of Home Theater and High-Fidelity to apply for a position as a contributing writer. To my surprise and excitement, I was hired a few weeks ago. My first technical article was posted today.

Professional Display Calibration:

What It Is and What It Means to Your Home Theater Experience

I'm looking forward to making more contributions to Secrets in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Tech Note: Iron Man on Blu-ray Disc

2008-10-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

I recently received my copy of Iron Man on Blu-ray disc and made an interesting discovery. You may have read about this on forums already but I'm talking about it here for those that don't want to wade through the 3,000 post mega-threads on AVS. As you probably know, the Blu-ray release of Iron Man was recalled at the last minute due to an authoring error. Apparently, some reviewers had trouble with their pre-release copies. I found in my research that there is an old and new UPC code and the old one was covered by a decal when the disc was replaced by the manufacturer. Well, there is still a quirk with the replacement disc that I discovered when I viewed the film.

Iron Man includes an excellent Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Unfortunately those of us who own certain model receivers (Onkyo 805 in my case) will note that the sound lacks the punch and dynamic range we've come to expect from lossless sound mixes. I watched the entire movie and felt underwhelmed by the sound even when I turned it up quite high. I remembered an early review I'd read which said the standard Dolby Digital track actually had more punch and the TrueHD track was enabling Dynamic Range Compression automatically. I played the movie again checking the Late Night mode on my receiver. Sure enough, it was set to Auto. Turning it to Off made a huge improvement. I watched the movie through two more times and was much more impressed. I also discovered that powering down the receiver resets the Late Night mode on all TrueHD tracks to Auto. I have to manually turn it off for every Blu-ray that has Dolby TrueHD. Auto doesn't always mean compressed but Off is a guarantee that there won't be any range compression. I had always wondered why some TrueHD movies required a higher volume level than DTS Master Audio. I believe I now know why. By the way, this only applies if you're bitstreaming the audio. Analog or PCM won't exhibit this behavior.

Advice: check the Late Night setting on your receiver every time you watch a TrueHD enabled movie. You don't have to worry about DTS because Late Night mode is only for Dolby codecs. This may also not be the case for all receivers and processors. I believe Onkyo and Yamaha use the same DSP chips so you Yamaha owners might want to check this out the next time you watch Iron Man.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

The Samsung Color Management System

2008-10-02T05:50:00.001-07:00

Samsung's newest flat panel TVs are quickly becoming a reference standard for calibrators. The user menu boasts the most complete set of adjustments I've seen outside a projector. There is even a comprehensive color management system (CMS). These controls are available on all Samsung 1080p TVs, LCD and plasma, 32 inches and up. As mentioned in other articles on this blog, there are also controls for gamma and white balance. It's so nice not to have to navigate an arcane service menu to find these adjustments. With the user menu, I can achieve a nearly perfect calibration in all respects. In this article, I'd like to focus on the CMS. I recently learned a new technique that has allowed me to achieve a high level of color depth and reality. Thanks to Doug Blackburn, Widescreen Review writer and ISF calibrator, for his research and instruction on the new Samsung CMS.

A CMS has two major goals: achieving the correct colors and the proper amount of each color. In layman's terms, you want the three primaries and three secondaries to match the SMPTE standards on the CIE triangle. This standard is also referred to as Rec 709 which is the HD color space. Most TVs with a CMS allow you move the color points to make this happen. What Samsung allows which is a real plus on a consumer TV, is adjustment of the luminance of each primary. There is a standard for that as well but most CMS equipped TVs won't allow adjustment of the color luminance independently. Below is a CIE chart from a 650-series LCD.

It's not absolutely perfect but I've never been closer on any other TV. What the CIE chart doesn't show is the luminance of each color. That is the third axis that I can now address thanks to Samsung. By using a luminance calculator, I can input the actual measurements of each color at 75IRE and find out what the luminance should be. My initial measurements on this TV showed the luminance levels to be about 20% too high for green and blue while red was almost perfect. You can see what needs to be done: the balance must be restored! By using the Custom mode in the Color Space menu, I can adjust each color individually. Once I dropped the luminance of green and blue, I had each color within .5fl of the correct number.

The net effect is a more realistic color representation. The "looking through a window" effect is heightened and the sense of depth and dimension in the image is greater. You see, low black levels aren't the only thing needed for a great image! Samsung has added a feature that makes their TVs truly capable of unprecedented image accuracy. Thanks to the ISF, the community of independent calibrators and probably influential internet forums like AVS, manufacturers are finally delivering displays that offer accurate image modes in addition to their retina-searing showroom ones. These latest Samsung panels can provide an image to rival any professional monitor. I have revisited the current-generation Samsung TVs I've calibrated to adjust the CMS and I now employ this technique on all Samsung flat panel calibrations.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Products and Services Pricing

2008-09-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Video System Calibration
An ISF calibration has one goal, to make your display match as closely as possible the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) standards for video displays. These specs are used in the industry to master all content whether it be broadcast or disc based. The end result is that you will see the same image the director sees when the content is created. By improving the dynamic range and color fidelity of your display, you will see more detail, fewer video artifacts and a greater sense of dimension. You will also experience less eye fatigue as most displays come from the factory set to a retina-searing Dynamic mode to make them more attractive in showrooms. The standards set by SMPTE take human factors into account. After a few days with a calibrated display, you will wonder how you ever watched TV before!

All calibrations are full system calibrations and include the entire signal path. Source components are adjusted to the highest level of accuracy to match the display.

· LCD and Plasma panels - $300
· CRT direct-view - $300
· Rear-projection (all types) - $350
· Front-projection (all types) - $400

A full-system calibration includes:
· Setting correct Black and White levels
· Adjusting grayscale tracking to 6500K
· Correcting color decoding errors (Color and Tint)
· Removing artificial edge-enhancement (Sharpness)
· Correcting color primaries and secondaries where applicable
· Correcting geometry and aspect ratio
· Correcting convergence on CRT displays

My tools include:
· Accupel HDG-3000 Pattern Generator
· Avia Pro Test Suite
· Spears and Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Disc
· X-Rite EyeOne Pro Spectrophotometer
· CalMAN Professional Display Analysis Software
· ControlCAL ISFccc Calibration and Control Software

Calibration is always done with instruments, using known reference test patterns, never by eye. Results are documented and stored. All settings are provided to the client and follow-up service is always available.

Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray Player Review

2008-08-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Since I am firmly committed to the Blu-ray format in my theater, it was only a matter of time before I felt the overwhelming need to add the format to my living room AV system. With more and more TV shows being released on hi-def disc I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy my favorites on DVD when they are available on Blu-ray. To that end, I recently installed Panasonic’s latest entry, the DMP-BD50.

The BD50 is Panasonic’s third generation player and its most feature-laden to date. In addition to all the excellent video playback features carried over from the BD30 it supports full PCM and 5.1 analog decoding of ALL lossless sound formats. This is the main reason I waited for this player rather than buying the less-expensive BD30 for my living room. The BD30 only supports lossless formats as bitstreams. You will need a decoding receiver like the Onkyo SR-805 to fully enjoy the improved sound Blu-ray has to offer. The BD50 works nicely with my Denon 3806 by converting all sound formats to LPCM which the receiver accepts through its HDMI 1.1 inputs.

Aside from the improved sound support, the BD50 appears identical to the BD30. Though I have not compared them side-by-side on the same display, I can see no difference in image quality between the two. I believe both players have the same video sections. Menus and setup are pretty much the same. 24fps and DVD upconversion to 1080p are supported and you can force both resolution and scan rate if your display doesn’t play nice. As I am still using an older 720p Samsung TV, I set the BD50 to 720p and 60hz. Sound setup was a bit different. In the Audio menu, you can specify the type of digital output independently for Dolby and DTS formats. These settings will hold for Blu-ray and DVD playback. This means if you’ve specified PCM for Dolby and DTS formats, your receiver will say “PCM” or “Multi Channel” whether you play a Blu-ray or a standard DVD. For those of you wondering, I can’t hear any difference between audio that’s bitstreamed or decoded to PCM. I certainly CAN hear a difference between compressed (Dolby Digital & DTS) audio and uncompressed audio (Dolby TrueHD & DTS-Master Audio). Detail and clarity are much better and the dynamic range of even an average soundtrack is larger than the best mixes on DVD. I don’t believe you have to have a killer system to enjoy the benefits of lossless sound. My living room is far from ideal and I don’t have expensive gear. I do know that the soundfield is larger, the sense of surround is greater and detail is improved. I know there are other media formats vying for your entertainment dollars but Blu-ray is the only one to offer such a huge improvement in audio quality.

As I stated, there seems to be no difference in image quality between the BD30 and the BD50. DVD upconversion isn’t too bad. It’s not the equal of a high-end processing solution like Anchor Bay or HQV but I think it does a better job than the cheap upconverting players I’ve encountered. It certainly beats the video processing in my Samsung DLP. I noticed a few combing artifacts and occasional jaggies but images were noise-free and color fidelity was excellent. There was no added edge enhancement and dynamic range was superb. Though this player did not ace the HQV test disc, I still would consider it an excellent DVD player. The next step up would be Oppo’s $400 983 or Denon’s $850 2930. The BD50 will play standard audio CDs but not DVD-Audio or SACD. It will play all burned media provided it has been finalized. It also accepts SD memory cards like the BD30 for viewing of photos and home videos.

The BD50 is one of the first Profile 2.0 players on the market. It has the required Ethernet connection on the back panel. It does not however have sufficient internal memory. For this, you must install an SD card. I did not test the BD-Live features of this player but I did install a memory card just in case. They’re so cheap now; you might just have one lying around the house!

Obviously, I am quite happy with this new player. At $599 it’s not cheap but the bleeding edge never is. I wasn’t sure I would be as thrilled with Blu-ray on a 50-inch 720p display as I am in the theater with its 92-inch screen but I am. The image quality is simply wonderful and the audio is equally amazing. There’s just nothing like an artifact-free color-saturated picture. It’s much more difficult to achieve that from Standard DVD. Even an average-quality Blu-ray is superior to the best DVD transfers. I’m all about removing video processing from the signal path whenever possible. Now we have a format that allows this and I think we need to embrace it. Of course there will be something better in the future but when is that not the case? Blu-ray is the best video and audio format going right now and is likely to be for the next few years. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get the most out of your display right now!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Samsung LN52A650 LCD Calibration

2008-06-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

The competition in the flat-panel TV market has never been hotter and LCD has taken a commanding lead over plasma in recent years. While plasma still holds the edge in image quality, LCDs are so close as to be nearly indistinguishable from even the best plasmas. Samsung has taken a strong position with their latest line of displays including the 550, 650 and 750 models. The 650 includes a 120hz refresh rate and correct handling of 24p sources with 5:5 cadence. There are 4 HDMI inputs, 2 component inputs and an attractive bezel with a hint of red tint around the edges.

I calibrated only the digital inputs on this TV so I used the side-mounted HDMI port to plug in the signal generator. Initial measurements in Movie mode showed perfect color primaries and nearly perfect secondaries. I engaged the extremely handy blue-only mode in order to set the color and tint controls. This is far more accurate than using a blue filter. I wish all TVs had this feature. I displayed a color bar pattern and adjusted color until all bars showed a uniform blue. I didn’t have to adjust the tint control. Verifying the results with my color meter showed a perfectly aligned decoder. This took me all of 2 minutes, amazing! Levels at the default settings weren’t too far off but the gamma curve was a bit high at 2.34 yet I had downward room in brightness. Fortunately, there is a usable gamma control along with the backlight adjustment available on most LCDs. I lowered both brightness and backlight and raised gamma. I wound up at a gamma of 2.2. I was able to max contrast without a color shift or any crushing. Grayscale was also no problem with the included gain and cut controls. As always, if you want to adjust this yourself, use a color meter. The Warm2 color temp was pretty close. I was able to improve on the default settings resulting in Delta C readings under 1.0 from 20 to 100 IRE. Color accuracy and grayscale tracking on this TV is simply superb. It’s so refreshing to finally see TV manufacturers providing an accurate picture mode and the adjustments necessary to maintain it. Bravo Samsung!

After color and level calibration, I was anxious to test the various motion processing options. Samsung calls theirs Auto Motion. There are three levels in addition to the off setting. Off means there is simply 5:5 pulldown applied to incoming 60hz signals. From what I could tell watching actual content, this held true. Standard DVD looked suitably film-like. Even with correct motion processing, some titles will still show a little judder. The better the transfer, the less judder you will see. I viewed the THX-certified Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope. The opening scene with the Imperial star destroyer chasing Princess Leia’s blockade runner showed smooth motion and no artifacting. Turning on Auto Motion enabled the frame interpolation feature. While things became even smoother, it was no longer film-like. On the high setting, it was positively un-natural. It’s ultimately up to personal preference. I encourage clients to experiment with the different degrees of motion processing to decide which they like best. I prefer to retain the frame rates of the original film. With more interpolation, there is some artifacting. This shows up as occasional breakup of fast-moving objects, almost like a flash of macro-blocking. It’s not huge but it does catch the attention of a video geek like myself. Some however do prefer the interpolation. My only advice: try the different settings for a few days at a time. As with any aspect of calibration, it takes time to become accustomed to a change.

Since there are now only a few major companies selling plasma panels, LCD is pretty much taking over the market by default. This latest series of Samsung LCDs is the best competition for plasma I’ve seen yet. Plasma still holds the edge in black levels and viewing angle but LCDs can put out more light, are easier to mount on a wall and consume less energy. The latest panels also boast excellent color accuracy and grayscale tracking. The advanced motion processing features make them a perfect compliment to a shiny new blu-ray player. Even prices have come down to the point where it’s either a small or no price difference to choose LCD. For the typical living room with medium to high levels of ambient light, LCD is a better choice due to its high output and less-reflective screen. If you’re shopping for a new LCD, this Samsung is a great choice.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Samsung LN32A550 LCD Calibration

2008-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

I continue to be impressed with Samsung’s line of LCD TVs. Ranging in size from 22 to 52 inches, there is a panel to fit any imaginable viewing situation. The LN32A550 is one of a very few 32 inch panels that have a 1080p native resolution. It also includes a myriad of calibration controls normally only found in flagship displays. There is a color management system, grayscale, gamma control and the usual host of defeatable enhancements.

I used the Movie picture mode for all inputs. This turns off all enhancements by default and sets a correct Rec 709 color space for HD signals. I recommend using all hi-def sources with this TV as the components will likely do a better job of scaling. A quality upconverting DVD like the Oppo line and a hi-def cable or satellite box set to 1080i are the best devices to use. De-interlacing of 1080i is good. I could see no difference in zone plate patterns when an Oppo 980 did the deinterlacing versus the TV doing it.

Calibration was a breeze as all controls are available in the user menu. Drilling down from the front page, there are many options in the Detailed Settings and Picture Options menus. My favorite feature is the Blue Only mode. This shuts off the Red and Green primaries allowing you to set color and tint accurately with a color bar pattern. It took me all of a minute to achieve almost perfect decoding on all HDMI inputs. Component inputs were not tested. Brightness and Contrast were set with ease. This is where it’s important to turn off enhancements like Dynamic Contrast and Black Adjust. These controls change levels as the picture changes and can produce many unwanted effects like floating blacks and color shifts in brighter scenes. Edge Enhancement should also be turned off. Surprisingly though, the Digital Noise Reduction feature works very well on the Auto setting. I used images from the HQV test disc to verify that noise was indeed reduced without softening the picture. Sharpness was set to 0 as well. Grayscale tracking was typical for an LCD but I was able to dial it to within 150k of D65. Gamma was 2.5 at the default setting. Lowering it one click brought it to 2.2. Interestingly, the gamma setting flattened the grayscale a bit, smoothing a dip at 60 IRE.

I was very happy with the final result. The image was punchy and color was spot-on. I couldn’t achieve a plasma-class black level but my minimum reading of .04fl was quite good. Perceived contrast was quite high as the 100 IRE field and window patterns measured over 80fl! I was able to max the Contrast control without crushing or causing a color shift. As this TV was in a mid to high light level room, these settings were appropriate. In a darker setting, one could turn down the Backlight to achieve better blacks. Real world on/off contrast was 2000:1 and ANSI was about 1600:1 - all in all, an excellent display and an attractive one too. The base and bezel are finished in a high-gloss piano black, very sexy! I highly recommend this TV. LCDs are appropriate in a room where lighting conditions are less controlled and there are hotspot reflections. The anti-glare properties of the screen are superior to plasma as is the overall light output. Given the image quality and large list of calibration controls, I’d rate Samsung LCD TVs as among the best in class.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Pioneer Elite PRO-950HD Plasma Calibration

2008-05-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Elite PRO-950HD Plasma Calibration
I have calibrated several Pioneer Elite plasmas of late but I wanted to write about this one because it’s the first 720p model I’ve worked with. Besides resolution, the spec sheet reads identical to the 1080p models, the PRO-110 and 150. It employs the same screen filter and coating which contribute to its outstanding black-level performance. It also includes the same menu structure and high-quality video processing of its higher-resolution brethren. At 42 inches, this TV is perfect for smaller rooms. It has plenty of light output so it can be enjoyed in a wide variety of lighting conditions.

The calibration procedure was identical to the PRO-150FD (click here for my article) so I won’t reiterate it here. My main purpose with this article is to talk about the superb performance numbers I achieved. While other calibrators have stated they couldn’t measure black levels on these panels, I had not encountered this phenomenon. I could always measure at least .001 fl. This panel however would not register a black level reading. Even after raising brightness from the default (Pluge patterns did not show below-black until this was done), I could not measure the black level on any pattern. I check these numbers with a full-field 0 IRE and an ANSI contrast checkerboard. No part of the screen registered a reading. My instruments therefore returned an infinite on/off and ANSI contrast ratio! Gamma was still a solid 2.2. I viewed the Pluge patterns in low to mid-level room light. Patterns were generated by an Accupel HDG-3000.

Performance in other areas was identical to the 1080p models. Color primaries were slightly oversaturated and decoding was error-free. Edge enhancement was easily defeated by reducing the sharpness control. I did encounter one interesting thing that I had not dealt with before. My client occasionally connects a computer to one of the TVs HDMI inputs to view photos. When connecting this way, there is no control over pixel clock or phase. The result is the TV displays a different portion of the computer’s desktop. To view the slideshow, my client has to drag the pictures off the top of the computer’s screen so they are visible on the TV. I can only speculate that this is a product of HDCP. The only workaround is to use the VGA port on the TV. This allows adjustment so you can sync the computer and the TV. It depends on what outputs are available on your computer.

In summary, I was most impressed with this TV. At a 42-inch screen size, 720p was a more than sufficient resolution for high-quality imaging. DVDs and high-def cable looked excellent as did the photos from a computer. At an MSRP of $2700, I consider this an excellent value in plasma TVs. Given that the cheapest 1080p model (the 50-inch PRO-110FD) has an MSRP of $6000, you’re only giving up a little screen size for a huge savings.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Onkyo TX-SR805 Surround Receiver Review

2008-05-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

The AV receiver has become a critical component in any home theater. It is the hub through which your various source devices are able to feed their goodness to your display and loudspeaker system. With the proliferation of HDMI and new high resolution audio codecs, an advanced receiver or processor is a must to make the most of the latest sources like Blu-ray, hi-def TV and game consoles. Despite the poor design and planning behind HDMI, it looks like we’re stuck with the interface for the foreseeable future. At least when it does work it works well. The THX-certified SR805 sports three HDMI inputs and one output, all version 1.3a compatible. This means all advanced audio codecs are supported via bitstream input. If you have the appropriate Blu-ray player (like the Panasonic BD30 or one of the expensive new Denons) you can enjoy Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (gads what a mouthful) decoded in the receiver. Though some may think it insignificant, it’s nice to know exactly what’s going on when your receiver’s front panel display says “Dolby TrueHD.”

Since the main function of your receiver is to output the best possible sound, let’s take a look at that first. The 805 is endowed with the same neutral and accurate audio reproduction available in all current-generation Japanese receivers. The source material is represented accurately and faithfully with no modification. I feel this is very important. As with video, I’d rather have an accurate starting point with the ability to adjust the image (in this case the audio image) to accepted standards. In the case of the 805, Audyssey room correction is the means to this end. Plugging in the included microphone starts the procedure. You can measure up to eight positions and the receiver will calculate speaker sizes, crossovers, delays and levels. It also applies an equalization curve. It’s important not to second-guess the system. When I had finished the approximately 30-minute routine, my mains and center had been set to large and my surrounds had been set to small with a 70Hz crossover. This surprised me as the center I have (Axiom VP150) is only rated down to 100Hz. I had to remind myself however that Audyssey measures room response in making its calculations. I can tell my room is bass-heavy just by speaking in it. I have acoustical treatments but they really only absorb the higher frequencies. Controlling bass requires mass and I don’t have the space or the budget for bass traps. Audyssey did a superb job of equalizing the bass to a nice and tight level. Even though I have a large sub (Axiom EP350v3), bass and LFE is never bloated or harsh. Loud bass is not necessarily good bass. If it isn’t controlled it becomes fatiguing. This is why the sound in most movie theaters is so poor. As with so many other aspects of home theater, balance is key.

The HDMI support on this receiver makes hookup very convenient. I have three transports in my rack, a Denon 2930, a Panasonic BD30 and an Oppo 980. They are all connected via HDMI and a single cable goes out to my projector. The only other cables I have plugged in are the speakers, IR and power. I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to create such a large and heavy cable with such a weak connector. I had to route everything very carefully to avoid straining the inputs on both the receiver and the sources. The ports are fairly solid on the Onkyo and the Denon player but the Oppo and Panasonic players seem a bit flimsy to me. I am using Belden cables from Bluejeans for everything. The shorter runs are the more flexible stranded conductor type and the run to the projector (25 feet) is a 24AWG solid conductor cable. I have had zero problems so far. Though I have not used them, I have read many good things about Monoprice cables. There really is no need to buy expensive boutique HDMI cables. This all-HDMI connection arrangement allows me to use un-processed bitstreams for all formats from all transports. The Oppo 980 even supports DSD from SACD. I prefer this arrangement because I can use the receiver’s excellent audio processing to best advantage. The Audyssey correction is always in play and I have all the different DSP and surround modes available to me no matter what the source material.

The only other thing I had to do for initial setup is set the main speakers for bi-amp operation, and assign and rename the inputs. All digital inputs (HDMI, coax, optical) are assignable and can be renamed to anything you wish. You just have to remember what the original input name was if you use the included remote. A word about video: the SR805 will transcode all analog video to HDMI. It will also transcode composite and S-video to component. The nice thing is there is no video processing applied to incoming signals. That means the tasty 1080p/24 signal from your Blu-ray player will get to your display unmolested. You do need to be careful when shopping for receivers these days because many of them won’t allow a simple passthrough of the video signal. You will usually want the receiver first in the signal chain from after the source so you can get the soundtrack information. If you’re using an outboard video processor, it will have to go after the receiver unless it’s able to pass the audio streams properly. Do your homework before committing yourself.

The Onkyo TX-SR805 represents the state of the art in mid-priced receivers. There are comparable models from Marantz, Denon and Yamaha but they are all more expensive. At $1099 MSRP, this is by far the most bang-for-the-buck you can get. The competition is priced anywhere from $1399 to $1599. I just wish it had been available when I paid $1299 for a Denon 3806! For my small theater, I can’t imagine having a better hub for the system. It’s handling of all the latest audio formats is exemplary and as a video switch, it works perfectly. Just make sure you have about ten inches of shelf height available because it runs a bit hot. I haven’t had any signs of strain at high volume levels but good ventilation is always important. You might need a friend to help you get it in your rack as it weighs in at 65 pounds! Onkyo has really hit a homerun with this receiver. If they were to put the same level of features and value into a Blu-ray player, they could dominate the mid-price AV market. At this point in my AV journey, I’d have to spend far more money on high-end separates to see any improvement in quality. If you’re looking for a new receiver, you should audition the Onkyo. I bet you’ll end up buying it!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Panasonic AE2000U Projector Review

2008-04-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

If you’ve followed the progress of my new theater in my previous articles, you know the display is a Panasonic AE2000U projector. This unit is a 3 LCD design utilizing the same D7 C2Fine panels found in the Epson Ultra-Black series as well as the Sanyo line of home theater models. Native resolution is 1920x1080. There are 3 HDMI inputs which accept both 60 and 24Hz refresh rates. The projector’s actual refresh is 60Hz or 96Hz for 24p material. The cadence used for 24p is 4:4 where each frame is simply repeated 4 times. I’ll talk a bit more in detail about this later. Two component, one composite and one S-video input are also included. HDMI inputs are up to 1080p/60 compatible with Deep Color and xvYCC support. An backlit remote is included which controls all projector functions and is programmable for other devices. The projector responds very well when the remote is pointed at the screen. Also included is a 9-foot power cord. I was happy to see this as I am using a high shelf for the projector and the power is of course by the floor.

Installation is very easy and flexible with this unit. The throw range is quite large with the 2.0x zoom. You can project an image of 40” at 3’11” up to 200” at 39’4”. My theater uses a 92” Carada Brilliant White screen with a gain of 1.3. The throw distance is around 10’. Generous horizontal and vertical lens shift is available. You can go one full screen height above or below the lens axis. You can go about 40% off-center horizontally. The only caveat is if you max out one axis, you have less range on the other. There is rarely a reason to use horizontal shift for more than fine tuning however. I mounted my projector right around the height of the top of the screen and had no problem getting everything lined up. It’s critical for accurate geometry to have the projector and screen level and parallel in both planes. The front feet adjust independently for this purpose. I achieved a perfectly square and centered image. Focus from edge to edge was excellent with only the slightest aberration on the sides of a fine grid pattern. As with any 3-chip projector, convergence can be an issue and there is no adjustment for this available on the AE2000U. Fortunately, my unit had no problems. Color uniformity was excellent with only a barely perceptible green tint toward the right side. Focus and zoom are motorized so you can get right up to the screen and adjust them with the remote. Lens shift is accomplished with two dials on the top of the case. If you use a ceiling mount, these will point towards the floor.

The user menu has everything a tweaker (tweakaphile?) could ask for and more. You can fiddle to your heart's content and save all your work to one of 16 memories! The seven picture modes are labeled Dynamic, Normal, Color 1 and 2, and Cinema 1, 2 and 3. Color 1 measured almost perfectly to Rec 709. I did my initial calibration in this mode after running the lamp about 80 hours. All other parameters were very accurate and the projector was very easy to dial in. A complete set of grayscale controls are included as well as a three-point gamma control. I did all adjustments with the iris turned off. After calibration, I turned it on as it does improve shadow detail and black level quality. Though this projector won’t compete with a CRT or the new JVC RS2, its black level and gamma quality is superb, especially in my totally dark theater. There is a color management system which is quite unique. You display a target on the screen and sample a particular color. Then you can adjust Color, Tint and Brightness for that color. All you need to do is display a primary or secondary color pattern and adjust away! Unfortunately, this isn’t available in the Color 1 and 2 modes. After about a week of viewing, I decided to try adjusting the colors in Cinema 1. Initial measurements showed a bit of oversaturation but perfect decoding. After calibration, I was much happier with the overall image quality. I recommend Cinema 1 as the best mode for this display. If you have a color-neutral screen like the Carada, little adjustment is needed to the color space.

Video processing in the AE2000U is fair but not stellar. I engaged the Cinema Reality option to check out the inverse-telecine capability from standard DVD. Judder was reduced as expected but the overall image was softer when fed a 1080i signal from a Denon 2930CI. I preferred the picture with the Denon set to output 1080p. Even though there is some judder, the increased detail and almost total absence of artifacts is a worthwhile tradeoff. There is also a Detail Clarity control which I left on. It does a good job of reducing noise without softening the image.

Blu-ray image quality is simply amazing. If anyone is on the fence about whether to go for a new player, you won’t be if you see a movie on a quality 1080p display. It’s not just the increased resolution that’s in play here. It’s the total absence of video processing required to display the image. Blu-ray movies are almost exclusively encoded at 1080p/24. The data is decoded from the disc and output without modification. The AE2000U accepts the signal, does the YCbCr to RGB conversion and displays the signal at 96Hz. The appearance of an artifact-free and judder-free image must be seen to be appreciated. There is no more film-like display than this. Even real film must be projected under the correct conditions (mechanically sound projector, unworn print, color accurate light source) to approach what I’m seeing in my theater. The only drawback is how I’m going to afford to upgrade my entire DVD library to Blu-ray!

Obviously, I’m very happy with my purchase. If you’re looking for a comparison to the Epson 1080UB, here it is: these projectors are identical in image quality. I measured the same black levels from the AE2000U as I did from an Epson UB. You could pretty much toss a coin to decide which one to buy. The Panasonic is a bit quieter than the Epson but most people would not hear the difference unless the projector is right overhead. The only other difference is the Panasonic has an H-Fit aspect mode that will support an anamorphic lens setup. Doing a constant-height system with the Epson would require an external video processor. Other than that feature, you won’t be sorry with either projector. I’ve had the theater running for a few weeks now and I can say with certainty that I won’t be going back to a movie theater for the foreseeable future. The large high-quality image coupled with the amazing sound make for an experience far above any I’ve ever had in a commercial theater. There’s nothing like having an intimate space with the movie literally filling the entire space both visually and sonically with no extraneous sound whatsoever. Stay tuned for my Onkyo SR805 receiver review.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Pioneer Elite PRO-150FD Plasma Calibration

2008-04-06T06:29:00.001-07:00

The Pioneer Elite line of plasma TVs has always represented the pinnacle of the technology. These displays are truly deserving of the title “reference.” The build quality, image accuracy and features of these displays are truly without peer. The latest generation of this line is called Kuro (the Japanese word for black), and with good reason. Pioneer has really gone after the holy grail of display attributes with the lowest black levels this side of a professional CRT. The PRO-150 is the 60-inch version of this panel. As this TV is very large (duh!) Pioneer thoughtfully made the side-mounted speakers removable. The bezel is a high-gloss piano black as is the pedestal stand which looks like a heavy glass plate (it’s actually Lucite). Four HDMI inputs are included along with one each of component, composite and s-video.

The glass for this panel is the same as used by the non-Elite models. Both lines also incorporate the same excellent video processing. The similarities end there. The Elite panels have a different front screen element to provide even higher contrast. In practice the difference between the Elite and non-Elite’s contrast ratios is small. It can be measured but not really seen. The main reason to go for the Elite is its more extensive calibration controls. There is a complete color management system and full grayscale controls. There are seven picture modes but for calibration purposes, I only explored two, Cinema and User. One of the first things I do with any display is measure the different picture modes to determine which one has the most accurate colorspace. There are also different picture “enhancements” in play but Cinema or Movie modes generally turn these options off. On the Pioneer I found the Cinema mode to be the closest to Rec 709 with nearly spot-on color decoding. I did attempt to adjust the color gamut with the Color Management system in User mode. I was able to achieve a perfect CIE chart but not without a tradeoff. When I attempted to adjust grayscale, I found it impossible to achieve decent tracking. I finally settled on Cinema with its almost-perfect color so I could have perfect grayscale tracking. The default Gamma setting of 2 produced a perfect 2.2 curve. It’s interesting to note that this curve remained correct regardless of the changes I made in other areas. It’s nice to see adjustments not interact for a change!

The other major area I addressed with this TV was motion processing. Since this display accepts 24p input and supports a correct-multiple refresh rate of 72Hz, I wanted to be sure and set up the signal path from the client’s Blu-ray player correctly. Blu-ray output is a no-brainer. Set the player for 1080p/24 and enjoy judder-free and artifact-free playback from hi-def discs. For standard DVD though, I experimented with 1080i. The only way to engage inverse-telecine in any TV or video processor is to feed in an interlaced signal. The processor reverses the 3:2 pulldown and tosses out the extra frame effectively giving 24p playback. Unfortunately, this combination did not look as detailed to me as feeding the TV 1080p/60. The judder was reduced but the image was softer. If you sit far enough from the display, the softness would not be a problem but my client was about 10 feet away and he preferred the 1080p signal. I experienced the same thing with my Panasonic projector. This demonstrates to me that there is still a need for high-quality standard DVD players. As we’ll all be watching NTSC for the foreseeable future, we need a good player to handle that format for displays that just get better and better every year. I’m really hoping a manufacturer will step up and produce a player that supports 1080p/24 output from standard DVD. This to me is the final frontier for NTSC video. Currently, the only way to do this properly is with an outboard video processor. To the Pioneer’s credit, motion processing of 60Hz signals was excellent. Zone Plate patterns showed virtually no loss of resolution. Even though judder was present, it was far less noticeable because detail was preserved during pans.

Obviously the end result of the calibration was superb. Even though this TV is better out-of-box than most, it most certainly benefits from a precise, instrumented calibration. Finding the right balance of picture modes, colorspace, decoding, levels, gamma and motion processing is the key to having the best possible image. Luckily with the Pioneer Elite, no compromises are needed. You really can have your cake and eat it too with this display. Yes, it’s very expensive. I believe the MSRP of the PRO-150FD is currently $7500. For the absolute best plasma display available however, I can’t really call it overpriced. Even the Panasonic commercial 65-inch panel is $6000. Big glass is big bucks! For anyone wanting the ultimate plasma, look no further than Pioneer Elite. It really is the best direct-view TV out there. If you can’t quite justify a $7500 TV though, don’t feel like you’re settling for a non-Elite Pioneer or a Panasonic. They are excellent displays sure to please even discriminating videophiles (like me!). It is my privilege however, to have the hands-on experience with the Elites that I do. They are a pleasure to work on. To quote Ferris Bueller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one of these up!”

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray Player Review

2008-03-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Blu-ray is here! Now that the format war is over, I can confidently commit to an optical disc hi-def format. You can read about my aborted attempt at a dual-format player here. For an MSRP of $499 (I got it for $399 at Amazon), you can enjoy hi-def bliss in your own theater. The BD30 supports 24p video output and bitstreaming of lossless sound formats to a compatible receiver. It will also upconvert standard DVD to 1080p/60 if you wish. This player will play pretty much any shiny disc except SACD and DVD-Audio. AVCHD support for hi-def camcorders is included as well. This format allows HD video to be encoded on a standard DVD or an SD card. For audio output there are 5.1 analog output jacks provided as well as coax and optical digital and of course, HDMI. This player will not decode lossless sound formats internally. It should be considered an audio transport to be used with a receiver or processor capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Fortunately, the Onkyo SR805 in my rack is one such product. I will post a review of that unit shortly.

Ergonomically, the unit is pretty typical of disc players. The front panel has 2 flip-down doors, one hiding controls and the SD slot and one hiding the disc transport. Fortunately, you don’t have to manually open the disc door to insert or eject a disc like you did on the BD10. I’m not sure why Panasonic chose to put the eject button on the opposite side from the disc tray, strange. My only real complaint about this player is the blue light in the top center of the front panel. This little light is about an inch wide and shines an extremely bright blue. Oddly, you can dim the panel display in the setup menu but not this annoying light. I will probably put a piece of black tape or cloth over this as it is within my peripheral vision when I’m watching a movie. (**Update 3-29** To turn off the light, enter the Setup menu, choose "Display" then "SD Card LED Control." Turning this option off turns off the blue light. Thanks to Widescreen Review for this info.) The remote is decent though without a backlight, it’s pretty much useless in a darkened theater. I couldn’t wait to set the player up with my Harmony 890.

Before I dive into the playback results, a word about 24p: once you’ve experienced a movie without judder or cadence-related artifacts, you’ll never want to go back. I highly recommend a display capable of displaying 24p. Note my use of the term “displaying.” Some TVs will accept a 24p signal and display it at 60 or 120 hertz. This completely defeats the purpose of having a 24p capable player. My projector displays 24p signals at 96 hertz. Look for a refresh rate that is a multiple of 24. Pioneer plasmas can refresh at 72 hertz while the latest Panasonic commercial plasmas support a 48 hertz refresh rate. The resulting smooth and artifact free cadence really brings movie watching to whole new level.

Now, on to the playback results. Blu-ray discs, not surprisingly, look stunning on my Panasonic AE2000U projector and Carada 92-inch screen. Detail and color are simply on another level even from hi-def TV. There is simply no comparison of a quality Blu-ray image to cable or satellite HD. Since compression is minimal and bandwidth is plentiful, the image rivals that of a movie theater. In fact it handily surpasses the film quality available in my area of the country (Orange County, New York). DVD upconversion is decent though I much prefer the image from my Denon 2930CI. I’ve added one of these excellent players to my theater to support my standard-def movie collection. I would say though on a 50-inch or smaller display, the DVD playback of the BD30 is above average. I’d say you’d have to go with at least an Oppo 983 with its ABT video processor to surpass the Panasonics DVD image quality. Audio from this player is also superb. Of course, in bitstream mode it’s simply passing the data to the receiver for decoding. The advantages of a direct signal path with only one digital to analog conversion are clear. Sonic detail from movie soundtracks is the best I’ve ever heard. I’m hearing subtle things in familiar titles I’ve not heard before. Blu-ray discs with lossless soundtracks are even more impressive. Once you’ve heard a well-mastered disc in TrueHD or DTS Master Audio, Dolby Digital won’t be quite the same. The speaker system in my theater is the same Axiom M60, VP150, QS8 and EP350 setup that I use in the living room. Between the improvements I’ve made in electronics and room acoustics, I can now say with confidence that I’ve surpassed the sound quality available in all but the best movie theaters. There is no harshness or fatigue. Dialog is clear and tight. There is a huge dynamic range yet I’m never straining to hear detail or reaching for the volume control when the louder dynamics are in play.

I realize that at $499, many still consider Blu-ray to be too expensive. It’s a shame that the industry isn’t willing to get players down to the sub-$200 range at this time. For us early-adopters however, it’s a great time to be a videophile. I only wish there were more Blu-ray titles! They are slowly getting out there. I’ve already purchased a few movies that I previously owned on DVD. To me, it’s well worth it for the improvement in image and sound quality. Before Blu-ray, images and sound this good couldn’t be achieved even on the most expensive equipment available. Now you can have 1080p and lossless sound for only $499! The only caveat with this player is you must pair it with an HDMI 1.3a capable receiver to realize its full audio potential. This isn’t too hard though with the excellent Onkyo SR805 selling for under $1000. With today’s quality hi-def displays available at ever-lowering prices, it’s easy logic to have the best hi-def source available to maximize performance. The Panasonic BD30 advances the art and science of video to a very high level. You won’t be disappointed!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

The Mancave is Alive!

2008-03-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

As you may have already deduced, the mancave is now a full-blown theater. To see how the room evolved into its present form, check out this article. I've posted pictures below:

Here is a close view of the front speakers, Axiom M60, VP150 center and EP350v3 sub.

This is the focal point, a 92-inch Carada Criterion screen. The viewing area is 80"x45", 16:9 aspect ratio. Believe me, it's worth the extra $100 for the Criterion frame. It's super-stiff for a perfectly flat screen surface. It looks like a giant flat-panel TV!

Another view of the screen and front speakers. The center channel stand is by Axiom also. They will provide custom heights for no extra cost, really nice. All speakers and the stand are on spikes included by Axiom.

Here is the gear rack. It's a flexi built according to these instructions. It's amazingly solid. I put the acorn nuts on the bottom to act as feet. This makes the rack easy to pull out to reach the rear jack panels. The setup you see here is 100% digital. Only HDMI cables are used to connect the three source components. The Onkyo SR805 receiver is THX certified and decodes all lossless sound formats. It also features 8-point Audyssey room correction.

A closeup of the source components. On top is an Oppo 980 for SACD transport. This player outputs DSD over HDMI for a mere $169, amazing! The Panasonic BD-30 does a super job with Blu-ray and outputs all lossless sound formats as a bitstream. The only thing I don't like about it is that bright blue light on the front. Unfortunately, there's no way to turn it off. You can just see the Denon 2930CI peeking out below. This is still the best player out there for DVD upconversion. It's also built like a tank. I wish there were a Blu-ray player as good for under $1000. Is anyone out there listening?

Two views of the Axiom QS8 surround speaker. This a quad-pole design with midrange drivers on the top and bottom and tweeters on the vertical faces. These surrounds sound great in almost any placement position, they are very forgiving. The conduit below is cable raceway from Home Depot. It comes in white plastic with double-stick tape on the back. Stick to the wall, insert cable and paint for a finished look.

This is the shelf-mounted Panasonic AE2000U projector. This is a 3-LCD design using the latest Epson C2fine panels. Black levels are superb and the overall image is stunning. Adjustments are many and a near-perfect calibration can be achieved. Stay tuned for a full review and calibration report.

Sony KDS-60A3000 Calibration

2008-03-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

History is replete with examples of products that were discontinued just when the manufacturer got them right. The latest victim of this injustice is Sony’s SXRD line of rear-projection TVs. These displays have always had benchmark status starting back with the Qualia series and its lower-priced successors, A2000, A2020 and A3000. Only the A3000 really got everything right. All the aspects of a quality TV are there; stable black levels, accurate color, good optics, 1080p/24 capability and correct gamma. Previous sets had most of these qualities but the A3000 finally had something I’d not seen since the last XBR960 I calibrated: accurate primary and secondary colors. This was the first Sony display, in my experience, with correct color out of the box.

My client was running his sources through an Anthem Statement D2 processor. This unit has Gennum VXP video processing so I ran my patterns through it to be sure of accurate results. As with most Sony TVs, all the controls needed are in the user menu. I started by setting the iris to a fixed aperture so it wouldn’t affect gamma and black level measurements. All enhancements were turned off. Black levels remained stable throughout the complete luminance range. Color space was left on standard. This set like many others supports an extended gamut (xvYCC) but no content is encoded with this colorspace. Engaging the wider gamut results in a cartoon-like picture with overblown color saturation. I did find use for the Live Color control. With the control set on medium, the CIE points were almost perfect and color separation seemed better. Since it had a positive effect, I left it on. Previous Sony products with this control do not benefit from its use.

Grayscale was easy to dial in with user menu controls as well. Tracking was within 100k of D65 after calibration, excellent performance. Gamma improved greatly from 1.7 to 2.1 after calibration. The gamma control did not have a positive effect so I left it off. Using it served only to raise the bottom of the curve. All adjustments were made with the Iris set on minimum. This ultimately hurt peak light output so I set in on Auto 2. Shadow detail was still excellent but peak luminance doubled to over 21 foot-lamberts. A 0 IRE field measured .008 fl for a contrast ratio of 2725:1. This was an ideal range for the room the TV was in. This TV is capable of prodigious light output but in a darkened room, anything over 20 fl will result in viewing fatigue. If ambient light had been an issue in this case, I would have opened up the iris to a larger, fixed aperture. I am a fan of automatic irises when you don’t see their operation. This is the case with the A3000. You don’t see the iris doing its thing when viewing content. Black level quality and shadow detail are excellent and you only notice the iris if you turn it off.

Once all adjustments to the Sony were complete, I dialed in the different sources using the Anthem’s adjustments. The Gennum VXP video processor has controls for everything except color management and grayscale. Small tweaks were made to brightness and some of the edge enhancement controls. DVD from the clients Oppo player was excellent and HDDVD played from an Xbox 360 looked stunning. Once you’ve experienced Blu-ray or HDDVD, you won’t want to watch any other format! For anyone considering a big TV like this, please hurry. Since Sony has ceased manufacturing this model, they won’t last long. I’ve seen them selling for under $2000. Imagine a 60-inch TV for under 2 grand! This has to be the video bargain of the century. As of today (March 9), Circuit City no longer has them in stock. If you already have one of these excellent displays, grab an extra bulb and consider a professional calibration. You should have no problem getting many years out of this TV.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Epson Home Cinema 1080UB Calibration

2008-02-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

This projector is one of the heavy hitters in the hot sub-$3000 1080p projector market. I wrote about the Panasonic AE1000U recently and the AE2000U just found its way into my own theater, review to follow. This unit like the others in its class uses the latest C2Fine LCD panels from Epson. These panels offer superb black levels and a tack-sharp image as their top features. This unit did not disappoint in either area.

The menu system is quite large and covers every possible calibration control required. There are cuts and gains for grayscale, color management, 9-point gamma, lamp brightness, iris on/off, position and overscan and a very useful multi-level sharpness control.

I began with basic level adjustments. This projector really does render superb blacks. Pluge patterns were fully resolved with the setup level on 0 IRE. This allows passing below black and above white signals which are present in most DVD and Blu-ray content. I was able to fine-tune the color gamut using the excellent color management system which offers Hue, Saturation and Brightness for all six colors. Once I had made adjustments to cyan and magenta, the gamut and color decoding were right on the money.

Next I turned my attention to gamma and grayscale. As automatic irises play havoc with gamma measurements, I turned it off temporarily. My approach is to achieve a correct curve without the iris then turn it on viewing actual content to check black level detail. The 9-point gamma adjustment was really handy as I couldn’t achieve 2.2 even with the control set on 2.4! I lowered every point with the most adjustment in the low and mid areas. I finally settled on 2.12. Any higher and black would start to crush. The net effect was positive after I re-engaged the iris. Blacks were very inky with great shadow detail. The image really popped. This is one of the real justifications for a precise and thorough calibration. Without test equipment, it would be impossible to find the best balance between good black levels and a correct gamma curve.

Grayscale was a snap to adjust with a full set of cuts and gains available. Tracking was excellent, within 100k and under 0.5 DeltaC*. I checked the grayscale with both windows and full fields. This projector had excellent panel alignment and color uniformity. There was no perceptible variation across the screen.

With the proliferation of Blu-ray players outputting 24p and a compatible display such as this one, it pays to spend time with some motion patterns to ensure you’ve got everything set up correctly. This projector has excellent video processing so I wanted to take advantage of its inverse-telecine de-interlacing ability. This means setting the SD DVD player to output 1080i. The projector correctly discards the extra fields created by 3:2 pulldown and makes 24p from 60i. The end result is judder-free motion from standard DVD. Blu-ray output is obviously set to 1080p/24. Unless you have a really good SD DVD player or an outboard video processor, I recommend sending a compatible display 1080i whenever possible.

My customary post-calibration reality check was quite enjoyable. In fact, it stretched to about an hour of watching scenes from different movies! Switching back and forth between Blu-ray and DVD versions of The Fifth Element really showed off the projector’s excellent image and excellent video processing. The Blu-ray was obviously superior but the DVD looked great too. Even though Blu-ray has won the war, we’ll be watching DVDs for a few years to come. It pays to consider this when purchasing any display or player. This particular system had an Oppo 981 for DVD. I recommend this or the more expensive Denon 2930CI. None of the currently available Blu-ray players can upconvert DVD as well as the Oppo or Denon units. A projector like this deserves the best sources available. For anyone considering a new projector, you won’t be disappointed with the Epson 1080UB. With superior projectors costing at least 3 times as much, you’ll have plenty of cash left over for a calibration and some quality source components.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Hitachi 51F500 Calibration

2008-02-14T04:42:00.000-08:00

Though requests for CRT calibrations are less frequent these days, I always enjoy the unique qualities these TVs possess. I also enjoy the before and after effect. A CRT can really be transformed into a superb and accurate display capable of very high image quality. This TV is very similar to the F510 model but with a more limited user menu. The service menu however has all the same controls available in its extensive ISF mode to achieve a spectacular image.

When I arrived on site, this TV really need some work. Color was quite flat and the image was very soft. I began with a full manual convergence. I displayed the set’s internal grid and worked my way from the center spiraling outwards. This can be tricky because the guns are defocused during this operation. You really have to get up close and personal with the screen to see what you’re doing. It’s a painstaking process but quite necessary. After about 45 minutes, I was finished. The results were immediately apparent. Clarity was greatly improved and some color had returned to the image.

Moving on to the calibration portion; primaries measured very accurately as with most quality CRTs. The service menu allows turning off the individual guns so aligning the decoder was a breeze. Turning off several options in service eliminated the red and green push inherent in these TVs. Black levels were also very stable at all light levels. This TV has an excellent power supply. This is the most important component in any CRT or plasma display. An inferior power supply will allow black levels to change as light output or APL increases. Grayscale unfortunately was nowhere close, even on the Warm color temp setting. It was so blue, several IREs measured beyond the limit of my metering software (18,000K!). Fortunately, this was easy to fix in service. There are 3 color temp memories, high, medium and standard. I adjusted the standard one to D65.

Once the grayscale and decoder were dialed in a final tweak of brightness and contrast brought the image up to a very high standard. One small surprise: the Scan Velocity Modulation control actually made a positive improvement in image clarity. With Sharpness set to 0, the SVM did improve the picture without introducing any ringing. I usually leave these sorts of options turned off but in this case, Hitachi got it right.

We checked out the results with some hi-def satellite and Blu-ray from a Panasonic BD30. Both sources did a super job at rendering 1080i, the set’s native resolution. Blu-ray content was artifact-free and looked simply stunning. Color depth and dynamic range were every bit the equal of the best plasma panels out there. For those wondering, this TV had not been modified in any way. I have encountered some of these units where clients had lined the cabinet with light-absorbing Duvetyne and or removed the screen cover to cut glare. These mods can show an improvement but in the right viewing environment, they are not necessary. My client’s room had good light control so there were no issues with reflections on the screen or stray light entering the cabinet.

My client has owned this TV for 4 years and plans to hang on to it for a few more. With proper maintenance and adjustment, this is a totally reasonable goal. The image quality is top-notch and the TV is well-constructed. I would recommend adjusting convergence every 6 months and follow-up calibrations every 12-18 months to anyone looking to get a few more miles out of one of these TVs. The DVI (HDMI on the 510) connection is HDCP compliant so current HDMI sources will work. If you have one of these displays in good working order, consider an ISF calibration before you toss it out. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Choosing Components for Front-Projection

2008-02-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

Now that my mancave has evolved into a theater, I have had to expand my research into front-projection systems. I use the word system because that’s exactly what it is. There is a projector and screen of course but there is a sometimes forgotten element - the room. Before you spend one dime, you have to know the exact conditions of the room; light control, mounting positions for projector and screen, wall and ceiling construction and of course, throw distance.

Ideally, a theater should have total light control. You should be able to make it totally dark. This includes light leaks around the entry door which can be considerable. Windows can be covered with blackout curtains but the best method is some sort of panel or shutter. In my case, I used acoustic panels to both cover the windows and act as sound treatment. To seal the door, I used some thin rubber strips in the door frame and a sweep for the door’s bottom edge. Not only is light sealed out but sound transmission through the door is nearly eliminated.

My next order of business was choosing a screen. I knew I wanted a fixed-frame screen for a few reasons. Since the room is a theater, I don’t need to retract the screen at any time. I also wanted a wide, light absorbing frame. Lastly, the highest image quality comes with a perfectly flat screen. I chose Carada based on excellent reviews, value and design. Their Criterion Series screens have a 3.25” wide by 1.5” deep extruded aluminum frame covered with a velvet-like material they call “Black Hole Trim.” They are not exaggerating about this. It really does absorb all light. I’ll be able to take the image right to the edge when I have the projector set up. This frame is extremely stiff. The screen can’t help but be perfectly flat. The mounting system allows the screen to hang on a bracket so if the wall isn’t flat (mine certainly isn’t) the screen still will be. The screen material is also important. Carada offers three: high-contrast gray, cinema white and brilliant white. The gray has a gain of .8 and will improve contrast at the expense of light output. Black levels will be very good with this material. Cinema white has a 1.0 gain which means it will be completely neutral. Brilliant white (my choice) has a gain of 1.4. I do like bright whites and 1.4 is not such a large increase in light output. Given that I measured .02fl on a 0 IRE field from an AE1000, a gain of 1.4 will give me .028fl, still quite black!

My choices in projectors started with price. I wanted to spend under $3000. Fortunately, there are many excellent models to choose from. The top models from Epson, Panasonic, Sanyo and Mitsubishi all have just the right attributes for a small theater like mine. Using the excellent throw distance calculator on ProjectorPeople.com, I determined the Panasonic AE2000U could project a 92” image within my possible throw of about 11 feet. I also thought very hard about mounting options. Certainly a ceiling mount would work but I have some obstacles. The walls in my house are old-world plaster making stud finding a real challenge. I certainly would need to attach a ceiling mount to the joist for safety’s sake. I also have an 8’6” ceiling in the theater. Putting the projector that high would be too far above the screen top for my taste. Even though the Panasonic has a large vertical lens shift range, I’d rather keep the projector closer to screen center for better uniformity. I decided to go with a shelf about 6 feet high. The shelf gives me another bonus: adjustability. To achieve the best image, you need to have the projector and screen perfectly on plane both vertically and horizontally. You can do this with a ceiling mount but you have to be sure to buy one that allows pitch, yaw and rotation adjustments.

There are of course other considerations with projector models, namely, black level quality, color accuracy, image clarity and light output. While the SMPTE standard for cinema is 16 foot-lamberts with no film in the projector, many professionals are recommending 20fl peak. The Panasonic AE2000U can achieve this. By using the formula: fl=(lumens/screen area in square feet)*gain, a peak reading of 402 lumens with a 92”, 16:9 (25 square feet), 1.4 gain screen yields 22.5fl, more than enough. The color accuracy is certainly there with the 2000 and black levels are superb. This projector uses the same D7 C2fine panels as the Epson Ultra-Black series. Black levels I measured from an AE1000U were the same as a good plasma panel.

My final consideration is the room’s construction. As I said, my walls are plaster and therefore more difficult to work with than drywall. I have the added challenge of mounting the screen over a window. The window is totally covered with black acoustic panels and I’ll be covering the rest of the wall behind the screen with black burlap. This will absorb any light that shines through the screen material. These reflections can alter the color if your walls are not perfectly color-neutral. Many installers use either flat black paint or black carpet to do solve this problem. To find studs to support the projector shelf and screen brackets, I’ll drill small holes. The location for the shelf is right over an electrical outlet. There is a stud on one side or the other which I’ll confirm by removing the wall plate. Once I confirm the stud’s location, I’ll use 3.5” lag bolts to secure everything.

All this information is out there in various places on the internet. Hopefully, this will tie together a few things for those of you interested in going to front-projection. Prices and quality have never been better and you don’t need a huge room to have a huge screen. I’ll never have to go to the movies again!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Panasonic TH-42PH9UK Pro Plasma Calibration

2008-02-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

The plasma market is dominated by just 2 manufacturers, Panasonic and Pioneer. I have already covered the Kuro 5010FD and the Panasonic PZ700U. The third TV vying for alpha status in this hot segment is the professional line of Panasonic plasmas. There are 720p and 1080p models ranging from 37 to 103 inches. Today’s subject is the 42-inch, 720p PH9UK.

The pro-Panasonic models are strictly monitors. There is no internal tuner or speakers. You can buy add-on speakers which bolt to the sides of the panel for about $600. You’ll also need to add a pedestal stand or a wall-mount bracket. Inputs are customizable with 3 slots for “blades” or terminal boards. You can have different combinations of HDMI and analog inputs to suit your particular system. The newest models, the PF10 series, come with a dual HDMI board that accepts 24p signals. This particular PH9 had a single HDMI input and a component input, both of which I calibrated.

Each input has its own memory for all settings which is very nice. There are a complete set of controls in the user menu for grayscale and gamma. In addition you can adjust image size and position for each scan rate independently. Upon setting up my pattern generator, the first thing I noticed was the extremely stable black levels. There was no visible change in the pluge patterns as I moved through different APL patterns. The DC restoration was every bit the equal of a Pioneer Kuro. Color primaries were slightly oversaturated but the decoding was spot on at factory defaults. Rec 709 colorspace was used for all scan rates. Grayscale was fair at the warm color temp setting. Once the white balance controls were adjusted, tracking was within 100k of D65 from 20-100 IRE. There are only red and blue controls for high and low but they were sufficient to achieve a nearly perfect grayscale. The newer models have a full set of RGB cuts and gains. There is a gamma control which has 4 settings. Default is 2.2 but to actually achieve a 2.2 gamma, I had to set it on 2.4. The gamma curve was absolutely perfect at all scan rates on both component and HDMI. I was able to set contrast fairly high without any color shift. This gave me a bright, punchy image upon completion of my work.

The end result was a reference-quality image for both HD and SD. These panels are used professionally as mastering monitors for a good reason. The video processing on this panel is excellent. It did quite well with the motion tests on Avia Pro. Upconversion of SD material was very good. Since this panel is actually 1366x768, all material is scaled including 720p content. It will accept 1080i signals. I can’t help but recommend this and all pro-Panasonic panels as the value leader. A 50-inch PF10UK can be had for under $2500, accepts 1080p/24 and is a rugged, well-built TV. The 720p panels are even cheaper with the 50-inch coming in at under $1500. You can’t go wrong with any panel from either Panasonic or Pioneer. But you’re looking for the most display for the money and you don’t need speakers or a tuner, the pro-Panasonics can’t be beat.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Panasonic AE1000U LCD Projector Calibration

2008-01-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

The 1080p projector market is white-hot these days with several superb units priced at under $3000. Even one year ago, this was almost unheard of. Epson, Sanyo, Mitsubishi and the subject of today's article, Panasonic, all make models. The model I calibrated is the AE1000U. It has been recently replaced by the AE2000U. This unit uses a new LCD panel set and is slightly brighter. In fact, the 2000 uses the same panels as the new Epson HC1080UB. But I digress: The AE1000U has every possible calibration control available in the user menu. You have complete control over color primaries and secondaries, grayscale, and a neat 3-point gamma control. There is also a waveform monitor that makes setting black and white levels very easy. You can have the waveform on the screen while you navigate through the various menus and make your adjustments.

The AE1000U has 2 HDMI inputs as well as component, s-video and composite inputs. There is also an RS-232 port for control systems. There is no IR hookup but the receiver on the front of the unit is very sensitive. I had no trouble bouncing the remote off the screen to control the projector. My client had the projector ceiling mounted with about a 12-foot throw to a 100-inch Da-Lite fixed-frame screen. I measured the screen's gain at 1.1

First up was geometry. It's important to have the image perfectly positioned without visible distortion. There are horizontal and vertical lens shift controls for this purpose. There is also a 2x zoom for lots of flexibility in sizing and placement. Vertical shift range is one-half screen height above or below the screen. Using the extremes of the vertical shift will limit the horizontal shift. This is not an issue if you place the projector's center-mounted lens within a few inches of screen center. Once image geometry was set, the calibration was pretty much the same as a direct-view display. Black and white levels were set with pluge patterns and checked with the waveform monitor. I measured gamma before grayscale calibration and came up with a disappointing 1.71. After turning off the dynamic iris, it improved to 2.0. I was able to get it to 2.2 with the 3-point gamma control, which has sliders for high, mid and low. I only needed to lower the low control to get a perfect curve. Given this result, I left the iris off permanently.

Grayscale was no problem with the complete set of RGB gains and cuts available. Color decoding allows several approaches. You can adjust the primaries with the color management system. This involves displaying a pattern, a 75% color window works for me; then setting a target to adjust. You can tweak the color, tint and brightness of the primaries (or any other color for that matter) this way. After some very small adjustments to the color profile, I had a perfectly aligned decoder and primaries and secondaries were spot-on. At this point, I should talk about the different picture modes. The 2 to be concerned with are Cinema 1 and Color 1. Cinema 1 is claimed to be "Hollywood style colors" in the manual. It places a filter in the light path that darkens the image. It also appeared to me to introduce a slight yellow shift. Color 1 does not use the filter and is pretty much right on Rec 709, HD standard. Obviously, I left it on Color 1. The other modes are progessively less accurate.

When I was finished, I was able to save the settings in the first of the AE1000U's 8 memories. There are also 3 memories for the color profile should you wish to have multiple color gamuts available. My client's sources were an HD cable box and a Toshiba A20 HD-DVD player. The image simply leapt off the screen! Planet Earth in HD-DVD looked simply stunning. I cued up a scene where a colorfully-clad base jumper jumps into a giant cave shaft in the middle of the South American jungle. The blackness of the hole was very impressive. Any stigma LCD projectors might have had about black quality was not apparent with this model. In fact, I measured the minimum black level on a 0IRE field at .02fl. This is in the same range as any plasma I've measured. Max light output was 14fl, plenty bright for a totally dark room and a 10-foot seating distance.

I can't imagine a better projector for a small theater than this Panasonic. Other reviews I've read seem to bear this out. This projector is also the quietest I've ever worked on. You have to put your ear right up to it to hear the cooling fan. The color is very accurate, the gamma is perfect and dynamic range is very wide. At this point, I plan to add an AE2000U to my personal theater. For the same or less money than a quality 50-inch plasma TV, you can go front projection. I guess for me 92 is the new 50! Stay tuned for an article I'm preparing on my selection process for a projector and screen. There are many factors to consider when choosing the right equipment for your theater. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

The Importance of Seating in Home Theater Design

2008-01-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

I recently got the recliners pictured below delivered for my mancave project. I ordered them from the Theater Seat Store. I can't say buying furniture without trying it out first is the smartest thing I've ever done but they looked just perfect in the photos on the vendor's website and sure enough, they are! All seating surfaces are leather and the padding has the ideal firmness. They recline quite far back as you can see and can still be set pretty close to the wall. The chairs are made by Vanguard HTS and are called Charlize.

One warning about Theater Seat Store. They are a good company and their prices are very reasonable. Their shipping method however was not clearly spelled out. They advertise free shipping and it was indeed free. The problem arose when Fedex Freight called to schedule the delivery. They informed me that it was curbside only. The driver would be alone and he would not bring the 2 immense boxes weighing about 150 pounds into my house. I had to arrange for a friend to come over and help me. They do offer a "white glove service" which costs 10% of the purchase price. For that fee, they will bring the furniture in and unpack it for you. If you buy from Theater Seat Store, just be sure to have some strong help available when your seats arrive.

Once the seats were in place, I spent some quality time sitting in them and envisioning the display area at the front of the room. I had planned to build a flexi-rack to accomodate all the electronics with the center channel speaker and plasma panel on top. I say "had" because after staring at the wall for awhile, I had a revelation: why not a projector? I had considered a projector a few months ago and dismissed the idea based on cost and thinking "do I really want to sit 10 feet from a 92-inch screen?" I found a white sheet and folded it so it would match the dimensions of a 92-inch, 16:9 screen (80" x 45"). I taped it up on the wall and had my wife join me for a look. After about 1 minute, she said "why can't we get a projector?" Honest, this really happened. This is a milestone in WAF (wife acceptance factor) history.

I do plan more detailed reports on the projection setup in the near future but for now, here is the updated gear list:

Panasonic AE2000U LCD projector
Carada 92" Brilliant White screen (1.4 gain)
Panasonic BD30 Blu-ray player (just arrived today in fact)
Oppo 980 DVD player
Lumagen Vision HDP video processor
Onkyo TX-SR805 surround receiver
Axiom Epic 60 surround speaker system

As you can see, the seating makes a real difference in how you perceive a viewing environment. Because of my experience, I recommend making chairs among the first purchases. I originally designed this room around a purpose: ultimate sound and light control to allow me to choose any display I wished. The seating really changed my vision from a viewing room into a screening room. Oh yes, the cost, I did mention that earlier. It seems that the sub-$3000 portion of the projector market is white-hot right now. Epson, Panasonic, Sanyo, Mitsubishi and Optoma all have superb units boasting full 1080p and excellent image quality. Thanks to the information at Projector Reviews.com, I chose the Panasonic. My choice of the Carada screen was based on quality for the money. The reviews on it were all exemplary and the value is the best in the business. You can read more about there products here.

I'd better end this article before I get too far off topic. My advice: choose your seating and get it in your theater before you commit to any display. You may find the chairs will tell you how the rest of the room should be done. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Pioneer Plasma 5010FD Calibration

2008-01-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

Much has been written in praise of the current line of Pioneer plasmas called Kuro. These TVs are reputed to have contrast ratios and black levels comparable to CRTs. I can say after spending some quality time with a 5010FD that this reputation is well-earned. The 5010 is part of a line that includes 42 and 50-inch 720p panels and 50 and 60-inch 1080p panels. Each variant is available as an Elite model as well. The 5010 is the 50-inch 1080p, non-Elite version. The glass and video processing is the same across all the 1080p sets. The Elite TVs add more adjustments and more precise setup at the factory. They also have a different screen coating to improve contrast and ambient light rejection. They also add $1000 to the retail price!

My subject today is the calibration of a 5010FD. Sources were a satellite tuner and a Denon DVD player, both connected via HDMI. The client had made no adjustments prior to my visit so I was starting with an out-of-the-box TV. There are the usual picture modes but only Movie and User allow access to all adjustments. These are in a sub-menu called Pro Adjust. I started in Movie mode. All enhancements were turned off. I immediately found a lot of interaction between Brightness, Contrast and the 3 Gamma settings. I also discovered differences in grayscale and gamma between Movie and User modes. Staying with User mode, I optimized Brightness and Contrast and achieved the best Gamma with setting 1. After adjusting Color and Tint with my CA6X analyzer, I found the grayscale to be within a whisker of D65 without having adjusted any Gains or Cuts. These controls are available in service but they just weren't necessary in this case. I really took my time to maximize the overall contrast ratio. In the end, I achieved a perfect gamma of 2.2, a grayscale within 150k of D65 and an ANSI contrast ratio of 448:1. Some of the black squares in the pattern read below .005 foot-lamberts, the lower limit of my meter! 100 IRE measured 21.97 fL with a full field and 49.5 fL with a window. This is the highest contrast I've ever measured. This was with a fully-resolved Pluge pattern and nearly perfect color accuracy.

Moving on to the DVD player, I noticed a change in gamma when I copied my new settings to its input. I tried changing to the Movie mode and things greatly improved. Gamma was back at 2.2 and the grayscale was again within 150k of D65. The player was a Denon 1940, an excellent player in the $350 range. A few tweaks to the other controls to dial in the player and my job was done.

All in all, this was a very pleasurable calibration. This TV is extremely well-made and color accuracy is obviously a priority for Pioneer. I still believe it benefits from professional calibration (of course!). There are interactions between most of the controls and without the benefit of instruments and experience, it's easy to become lost. This is truly a high-end video display. Why not set it up for maximum performance? One side note: this is one of the few displays on the market that supports 24p input, displaying the signal at 72 Hz. This makes it a perfect display for hi-def disc players that output 1080p/24. A new Blu-ray player is the perfect match for this excellent TV. Pioneer has really raised the bar with the Kuro line.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Samsung BD-UP5000 Mini-Review

2008-01-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

I got this player in from Crutchfield sooner than expected. Rumors had it shipping in mid-January but it showed up on December 19 while I was away. I finally had time to hook it up last weekend. I'm calling this a mini-review because I didn't test the player completely. I had no HD or Blu-ray discs on hand. I decided to do a thorough test using Avia Pro patterns and some familiar DVD content.

Overview
This is a dual-format optical disc player. It supports HD-DVD, Blu-ray and DVD as well as CD audio. It features HQV video processing via the Silicon Optix Reon VX chip. It is advertised to support the Blu-ray Final Profile 1.1 as well as Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. It features output at every resolution from 480i (analog only) to 1080p and it will output 1080p/24 to a compatible display. It will scale DVDs to 1080p over HDMI only. The component output will play HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs up to 1080i if the Image Restraint Token is not present (no current titles have this). It has an Ethernet port for interactive content and firmware updates. The chassis is identical to the Blu-ray only BD-P1400 player. A shiny black finish (which shows fingerprints if you even think about touching it) covers the entire box, front, top and sides. Interestingly, my player had many fingerprints on it when I unpacked it. There were no other signs that it was used however. I guess the factory worker who boxed it didn't wear gloves that day! Rear-panel connections include HDMI, Component Video, Composite Video and S-Video. There are optical and coaxial digital audio outputs and stereo and 7.1 channel analog audio outs. The overall look is attractive and would certainly look good in any rack.

Testing
In this section I'll only report what I tested. There are some other issues which I'll highlight later that I didn't test but are well documented on the AVS Forum in this thread. I hooked up to my Samsung DLP via HDMI and connected a coax cable to my Denon 3806 for audio. I powered on the player after the TV to be sure of a correct HDMI handshake. I had read this player was fussy about the EDID of the display so I didn't want to cause any problems. The player correctly reported all my available resolutions. I set it for 720p and set the audio to Bitstream audiophile. This ensured a direct bitstream of Dolby Digital for decoding in the receiver. I began with Lost Season 3 on DVD. I chose this because my wife and I had just spent the last 2 weeks watching this (our favorite show) so it was familiar and fresh on the brain. I immediately noticed a difference from my reference player, the Denon 2930CI. Unfortunately it was for the worse. Blacks appeared somewhat crushed, color was a bit flat and the overall image seemed a tad soft. This surprised me as both this player and my Denon use the same HQV video processor! Sound quality was excellent. I detected no difference in audio from my Denon player.

After about 20 minutes of Lost, I reached for Avia Pro to view some test patterns. My suspicions about black crush were confirmed. The bottom end was mostly gone. I also noticed the grayscale was not a uniform color of gray. There were color errors at several IRE levels. A smooth ramp pattern showed this even more. At least 15% of the grayscale had a noticable color shift. Some parts were blue, some red and some green. I ran a luma pattern that shows black pluge bars on the left and a steadily increasing field on the right. By the 50% level, the pluge bars had disappeared. My TV does float black levels normally but this player seemed to intensify the effect! I was able to cure the black crush by raising Brightness 5 clicks. This did not affect the color shifts in the grayscale. To the player's credit, it aced all the HQV tests for motion processing and noise reduction. Silicon Optix really does make an excellent product. I just don't think it was implemented well in this player.

Another issue which I found inexcusable was the player's lack of an Auto-Squeeze aspect mode. Even cheap players have this. When playing a 4:3 DVD on a 16:9 TV, the player will automatically change the output aspect ratio so as not to stretch 4:3 content. This player will stretch whether you want it to or not! You can change the aspect on your display if you want but not all TVs support a 4:3 mode over HDMI. It's also very inconvenient when you're watching mixed content like DVD featurettes which change aspect ratios midstream.

After verifying the test patterns again with my Denon player (they were fine and dandy), I decided to return the player to Crutchfield. They are an excellent company to deal with. Their 30-day return policy includes return shipping on their dime so I wasn't out a cent.

Other Things I've Learned
There's a great FAQ on this player compiled by a poster on AVS. Click here to check it out. I'll give you a few of the more important points. DTS HD Master Audio is not yet supported. Dolby TrueHD is only output over 2 channels. Final Profile 1.1 is not supported in firmware. These issued are supposed to be addressed with the first firmware update coming in the next few weeks. There have been reports of various Blu-ray titles not working properly with this player. It is interesting to me (and others) that only Crutchfield, Circuit City and Best Buy seem to have this player for sale. Amazon is telling pre-order customers February 15. Could this be some sort of soft launch or public beta? Who can say?

Conclusions
Needless to say, I am disappointed in this player. I really wanted a one-box solution for all movie formats. I've spent the last 2 days re-thinking my new system and I've come to the realization that I'm going to have to live with 3 players going through a Lumagen video processor to achieve the imaging nirvana I'm seeking. The last straw was the discovery that the 5000 doesn't output 480i over HDMI. This is a must if I'm to use it as a transport for DVD. My new plan is to use an Oppo 970 and separate HD and Blu-ray players. I'm leaning toward the Panasonic BD-30 for Blu-ray and the Toshiba HD-A35 for HD. The cost of the Panny/Toshiba combo is about the same as the Samsung 5000 so no loss there. I have plenty of HDMI switching capability with my new Onkyo 805 receiver and the Lumagen HDP. For now, Samsung still has some work to do to make the BD-UP5000 ready for prime time.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Quick Mancave Update

2007-12-15T10:31:00.001-08:00

I'm going to be on the road for the next 2 weeks so I wanted to post a quick update on my progress. I just got in the Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver. I did a test this morning with all speakers connected and audio over coax from my Denon 2930CI player. The test was a resounding success! I didn't do any setting of delays or levels. I spun a few CDs and tried both 2-channel and 5-channel listening modes. The DTS:Neo6 Music sounded pretty good. I may experiment more with the different DSP surround modes once everything is in place in the new room. Onkyo's menu and setup routine is much easier than Denon's. The manual is also better by a large factor. It only took me a few minutes to setup bi-amping and assign the digital input. Onkyo's remote is also far better than the weird unit that comes with the Denon 3806. Eventually though, I'll be running everything in the mancave with a Harmony 890.

I also pre-ordered the Samsung BD-UP5000 from Crutchfield. I heard just last night that one person received a ship notice from Crutchfield on this player so I expect mine soon. All information I have so far confirms that it will output 1080p/24 on both HDDVD and BluRay. It also bitstreams all the new lossless audio codecs for decoding by an appropriate receiver. In my case, the Onkyo fills that task. If you want, it will decode all lossless formats and output them over HDMI or analog if you have an older receiver or processor.

I've been following a thread on AVS about the new Panasonic commercial plasma, the 50" PF10UK. This set will accept 1080p/24 and display it at a 48hz refresh rate. What this means is judder-free images from HD and BluRay discs encoded at 1080p/24. When I add the Lumagen video processor, I'll be able to do this with standard DVDs as well. I'll input 1080i/60 and have the Lumagen do inverse-telecine deinterlacing for 1080p/24 output.

Things are coming along quite nicely and I expect to have some more pictures to post soon. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Mancave Progress Report

2007-12-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have reached my goal of completing the basics of the room by Thanksgiving. I had already finished the painting before my last post. The next step was to install the flooring. My plan is twofold: reduce bass resonance from the floor which is completely unsupported and keep sound out of the living room below. I accomplished this with 3 different material layers. First, a heavy plastic layer to create an air barrier and protect the nice hardwood floor from the next layer, rock board. I had originally thought I'd use sheetrock but when I saw the rockboard, I went for that. It's far heavier and denser than sheetrock. It's designed to be used as the walls in a bathroom. It comes in 3 x 5 sheets. You'll want a friend to help you get it home, each sheet weighs about 40 pounds! It's easily scored and broken to be fit into place. For the cuts around the radiator feet, I used a masonry wheel on my circular saw. On top of the rock board went a layer of OSB plywood. This is to keep furniture feet from crumbling the rockboard through the carpet. I finished off with carpet and pad. Below, you can see the layers. This edge is by the door into the room. I'll be trimming it with wood before the room's done.

My next task was the accoustical treatments. I did a fair amount of research on this subject. There are many companies that sell panels in every shape and size but they aren't cheap. I decided to build my own. I bought my material from ATS Accoustics. They sell all the raw materials you'll need. I got 2 cases of Roxul Rockboard 60 (6, 2 x 4 foot sheets per case). This material is rigid and reasonably lightweight yet very dense. It has a density of 6 pounds per cubic foot. It's comparable to Owens-Corning 705 but about half the cost. I also got 15 yards of burlap and some 3M spray adhesive. The panels were pretty easy to make. I cut 8, 2 x 2 foot pieces for the walls. The material cuts very easily with a sharp kitchen knife. The burlap just glues on and wraps around the back. I didn't use any frames. I hung them on the wall with a few screws to cradle them. You can't attach anything to the Roxul itself, it's too fragile. The screws are under the corners of each diamond shape.

As you can see in the photos, I also covered the windows. The panels fit in via friction. No hardware was required. I put a large enough panel on the bottom of each window that if I wish to install a window AC unit, I can just remove the panel. Once I had the window panels in place, the room really sounded great. It's quite something to just stand in the room and talk. I feel like I have a new piece of gear. I can't wait to have electronics in there!

My recliners are on the way from the Theater Seat Store. I went for the Charlize model. There will be 2 chairs with a common center armrest, black leather of course. I've also got the hardware I need to build a 36-inch flexi-rack. You can see a great article about that here. Thanks to Jeremy Brown for his great article, pics and most importantly, McMaster-Carr part numbers! I will have pics and articles about all the upcoming builds; the flexi-rack, plasma stand and surround speaker stands. Also, stay tuned for gear and lighting updates. Panasonic has just come out with a new commercial plasma that I have my eye on. I'm also still waiting for that Samsung Duo player. The latest rumors have shipping January 15th. My lighting will consist of some floor standing fixtures and an Ideal-Lume bias light behind the TV from Cinema Quest.

Lastly, I am now a Lumagen dealer so one of their fine products will be going in this room. A complete review will be coming soon. Please stay tuned for all updates. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

I'm Building a Mancave!

2007-11-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, the time has come to build a room of my very own. I have a very nice setup in the living room currently but my thirst for high performance has left me wanting more. Here is a picture of my present setup:

It's hard to see the gear in this photo so here's a list:

Samsung DLP TV, HL-R5067W (50")
Denon AVR-3806 Receiver
Denon DVD-2930CI Universal Disc Player
Scientific Atlanta 8300HD Cable DVR
Axiom M60 towers and VP150 center (not pictured: EP350 sub and QS8 surrounds)

It's all installed on a bench I built with a friend. It's great for movies but not so great for music. The main reason being the speakers are too close together and too high. I put them up on the bench to help clear the furniture. You can see the upholstered chair on the right side of the picture. This chair blocks the woofers in the right channel. This rig is in a corner which is less than ideal. Plus, there is a large opening to my dining room on the left and an open doorway in the rear. Sound absorption isn't bad with the upholstered furniture and a large carpet. Also, because I live in a duplex, I can't really run the sound at reference levels. I finally then got the OK from my wife to turn our unused bedroom upstairs into a dedicated theater room.

Here is my blank canvas:

This room is approximately 12'x12' with an 8' 6" ceiling. Not quite a cube luckily! The color on the walls is graphite with just a little bit of shine. I just painted it. I wanted a matte finish but the dark paints from Lowe's all had this finish. It's OK though since I'll be putting up sound absorbing panels and completely covering the windows. There will be carpet too, of course. A ceiling fan will replace the current fixture and I will be building a radiator cover to hide that eyesore. My first order of business will be the floor. This room is directly above the living room and I want to keep sound from going through the floor. To that end, I'm installing a layer of rock board and a layer of OSB under the carpet. This should provide sufficient mass to keep my music and movies from traveling into the room below. This room is also opposite the shared wall in my duplex so high volume won't be a problem for the neighbors.

Here is the proposed gear list:

Onkyo TX-SR805 Receiver
Samsung BD-UP5000 HD/BluRay Player
Axiom M60, VP150, QS8, EP350 surround speaker system
Panasonic TH50-PZ700U 50" plasma TV

I'm also planning more home-built furniture to hold all these goodies. I'll be building a flexi-rack for the gear and stands for the surround speakers and the TV. I'll finish it all off with a pair of theater recliners in leather of course. I'll control it all with another Harmony 890 like I use downstairs. Despite my less than glowing review of this unit, the latest software and firmware seems to be working perfectly. I haven't had to press the Help button in several months. Another piece of gear I hope to add to all this is a Lumagen video processor. I'm currently in the application phase of becoming a dealer for their products. They represent the ideal solution for an ISF calibrator. ISF in a box if you will. A Lumagen offers complete control over color, grayscale, gamma, geometry and even signal timing. And they do this for far less than competing units from Pixel Magic or DVDO. I'm really excited to be able to offer these products. When I get a few in, I'll be sure to post a complete review.

Please come back soon over the next few weeks as the mancave evolves. I'll post pictures and a blow-by-blow as the room moves toward completion. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Samsung LN-T4665F LCD Calibration

2007-10-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

This 46" LCD is part of Samsung's latest line of excellent LCD panels. It is full 1080p of course with a plethora of features. The bezel is a thin piano black and a tabletop stand is included. This panel is well-suited for a 5-10 foot viewing distance and would fit right into a small to medium-sized viewing room.

Calibration of this set was a pleasure as all the necessary adjustments can be made in the user menu. The first step is to engage the Movie Mode. This picture mode opens all the extra adjustments and gives you complete control over image enhancements. There are full controls for white balance and gamma which is quite rare in consumer TVs. Several of the picture enhancement features had interesting results when adjusted. I started with Pluge patterns to set brightness and contrast. I immediately noticed floating black levels. This was defeated by turning off Black Adjust. Once this was done, the TV had perfect DC restoration with no change in black level as the Average Picture Level (APL) increased. When viewing white Pluge patterns, I noticed as the Contrast control was adjusted, the color shifted quite noticeably. This was solved by turning off Dynamic Contrast. I also lowered the Backlight control and set the Color Tone to Warm2.

Color decoding was excellent using the Auto colorspace and turning off xvYCC. This is an extended colorspace that does not conform to any standards currently in use. It will make colors appear blown-out and unnaturally saturated. Measurements showed it to be somewhere between Rec. 709 and the Wide Gamut appearing on some newer TVs. White balance was adjusted to within 200k of D65 with a perfect 2.2 gamma. This LCD has the best gamma and black levels of any LCD I've calibrated to date. I achieved a minimum black level of .028 fL, excellent performance.

The final result was almost a plasma-like image. Color accuracy and saturation were excellent and dynamic range was greatly improved over what I started with. Since this TV is capable of excellent light output and has an anti-glare screen, I would recommend it for rooms without light control. It competes very well with daylight and other in-room light sources. Viewing angle is also above-average for an LCD. I have seen this TV for sale under $2500, a superb value. With the steep drop in flat panel prices over the last year or so, an LCD or plasma is now within reach of many more people. Given the vast adjustability and superb image quality of this display, I would not hesitate to put it in my top 5 recommendations.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Etymotic ER-4P In-Ear Monitors

2007-10-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had long resisted buying an iPod. As a classical music aficionado, I value quality above all else and I just didn't feel the iPod would live up to my expectations of an audio component. I finally caved when I began a new exercise program that pretty much demanded some form of entertainment to get me through. I went for the 80gb video iPod (of course after a few months, there's a 160gb for the same price). After much research, I knew I would need some quality headphones, not the el cheapo earbuds Apple includes. I settled on the Etymotic ER-4P as the best price/performance in-ear monitors. I needed the isolation from the sounds of my Nordic Track and something that wouldn't slide around on my sweaty head like full-size cans. I did try a few workouts with some Sennheiser 280 Pros and I thought my ears would melt after only 30 minutes! By the way, there are also the ER-4S monitors. These are designed for connection to a headphone amplifier or in-home audio system. There are more difficult to drive and are therefore not suitable for use with portable devices. The P can be converted to the S with the addition of a $60 cable from Etymotic that changes their impedance. If you want to use the S with an iPod, it is recommended to use a headphone amp like the ones available from Headroom. I have read the sound quality with this setup is even better but it's not for the faint of wallet. A cheap headphone amp will run you about $200. Of course if you have the means...

I purchased the ER-4Ps from Amazon a few months ago for $175. This is far better than their $299 MSRP. They arrived promptly as everything from Amazon usually does. Included in a very nice plastic case were the monitors, extra filters with tool, and 2 kinds of earplugs, rubber and foam. The rubber ones are very easy to insert but the seal is a matter of luck depending on the shape and depth of your ear canal. This is very important. If you don't get a good seal with these monitors, the sound quality is poor at best. You also need to get them in as far as possible to enjoy their full frequency response. As a popular magazine says, "You don't wear them so much as implant them." I installed the foam tips. These have a small tube protruding from one end. This the end that goes in the ear. They are made of the same memory foam material as regular earplugs. You roll them between your fingers, insert, and wait for them to expand inside the ear canal. I used them this way for over 2 months and loved them. They are very comfortable and the sound quality is simply amazing. There is a level of detail in recordings that simply cannot be heard in a listening room setting. I can hear musicians breathing and shifting in their chairs. On one of my old Solti/Chicago Beethoven recordings, I can actually hear a telephone ring backstage! Podcasts take on a whole new feel as the voices really are in your head!

After awhile, I began to explore the prospect of custom earmolds. Etymotic recommends several labs that will make these for you. As I am near New York City, I contacted Scientific Plastics and arranged a time to have my ear impressions taken. This involves a technician filling your ear canal with a green substance that hardens in about 5 minutes and is then removed. The result is a perfect representation of you entire ear canal. I had no idea it was so deep! A week later, my molds arrived in the mail. They were bored out specifically for the ER-4Ps. It took me a few tries to really fit them properly and get used to them. After a few days I am completely accustomed to them. Let me tell you, the sound quality took quite a leap. The bass response is now stupendously good rather than merely excellent. I can actually feel the lower instruments in my head. The seal and sound isolation is also much improved. Only the loudest sounds can penetrate now. I can't wait to try these on a bus or plane trip. Another tip for top sound quality: save your music in Apple's lossless format. Compression will destroy the transparency, dynamic range and soundstage of any classical recording. My CD collection is smaller than average. I fit about 50 hours of music into 20gb using lossless. Now that a 160gb iPod is available, there really is no reason to compress your music. Pictured below are the monitors sporting their somewhat eerie looking ear molds. Thanks for reading and enjoy your listening!

Panasonic TH-37PX60U Plasma Calibration

2007-10-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Another Panasonic so soon! I guess calibrations go in phases. For awhile it was Sonys. This plasma panel is a bit older than the 700U I wrote about recently. My client has had it about a year and he was ready to unlock its full potential. This 37" TV is a nice size for those of you who have an entertainment center or AV cabinet. It fits comfortably in or on many different types of furniture. If you want a TV that doesn't draw attention to itself, this panel is an excellent choice.

Since this is a 720p (1024x768 native) display, I set my pattern generator for this resolution. I also set the cable box and upconverting DVD player in the client's system for these resolutions. It is always best to feed a display its native format whenever possible to minimize any video processing done by the set. Color primaries measured a bit oversaturated for green and red and near-perfect for blue, typical of Panasonic plasmas. Interestingly, this client had the color temp set to a warmer than D65 level. Most people are accustomed to a bluish tint on their TVs and set the color temp to normal or even cool. This is the first client I've had who actually had become accustomed to a too-warm white balance. I also noticed a fair amount of noise in the various test patterns I displayed. Unlike the 700U, the sharpness control did not help this condition.

After doing rough settings in the user menu, I entered service to adjust white balance, and black/white levels. This was tricky at first as going into service sets the TV to Vivid mode. I was fortunately able to toggle between user and service to force the TV into Cinema mode. Cinema is the only mode that allows different settings for each input. The other modes have global settings. Once I set the Cinema mode, white balance was easily adjusted to within 100k of D65. Setting black level in service also allowed me a much finer adjustment than the user menu. Exiting service, I immediately noticed a huge reduction in noise. The multi-burst patterns were now very clean and sharp. Obviously, color adjustments on this set have quite an effect on overall noise levels. As with the 700U, the noise reduction controls in user had no visible effect. The only other adjustment required was to reduce the color and tint controls a bit to compensate for the oversaturated green and red primaries. My trusty CA-6X analyzer came through once again to help me align the decoder more accurately than I could using filters. To my knowledge, no other colorimeter has this feature. It allows me to adjust the color and tint controls to align the decoder to the measured primaries rather than the reference. This is far more precise than filters which only work if the primaries are correct and you're calibrating a CRT.

As usual, my client and I checked out some content when I was finished. Discovery HD over a Cablevision feed looked stunning (I really love plasmas for HD!). The color resolution was so much better than before. My client commented that he could really see an increased color palette. There's nothing like lifting the veil of image inaccuracy and seeing what the content creator intended rather than what the television's manufacturer intended. Raiders of the Lost Ark from a Sony upconverting DVD player looked great too. This THX-certified transfer is an excellent reference for any player or display. The clarity of this DVD release is matched by few other titles. Now that we're on the eve of having all our movies in hi-def, it's still gratifying to see standard-def DVD done so well.

Just like the 700U I reported on recently, this TV is a top candidate for calibration. The client and I were very happy with the results. He considered it well worth the price and I considered it well worth my time. A properly calibrated plasma is probably the closest we can get to the venerable CRT in terms of dynamic range, contrast ratio and color saturation. I do suggest viewing plasmas in a light-controlled room. Reflections from lights and windows can be seen on the glass screen. The image is plenty bright enough however, to compete with indirect light sources. As my client had his panel in a cabinet, he solved the problem of light reflection quite nicely.

Another happy customer, thanks for reading!

Axiom Epic 60 Loudspeaker Review

2007-09-24T14:56:00.001-07:00

Overview
I'll answer the first question right off: yes, Axiom is one of those internet-only speaker companies. They're based in Canada. Like other Canadian speaker makers (PSB for example), Axiom has access to the National Research Institute. This well-equipped lab provides the best in test equipment to help manufacturers design the best possible products. I first learned of Axiom by reading reviews on the Audioholics website. I spent a lot of time over the past 6 months researching and listening to many brands of speakers. As a classical music lover, accuracy was of paramount importance to me. Axiom is one of the few companies that publishes detailed graphs of all their models online. I was also fortunate to find a local man who had the exact setup I was considering in his theater. After spending an afternoon spinning CDs and DVDs on his excellent setup, I made my decision. I placed my order online and 2 weeks later, the speakers showed up from DHL. All pieces were in perfect condition. Packaging was quite robust and secure. Axiom has a 30-day refund policy if you wish to return the speakers for any reason. They also cover any damage incurred in shipping. In fact, the man who demoed his speakers for me said they replaced a surround speaker he had damaged himself at no charge! All Axiom products carry a 5-year warranty. The system consists of 2 M60 tower speakers, 37" tall, driven by 2 6.5" aluminum woofers, a 5.25" aluminum midrange and a 1" aluminum dome tweeter. There are 2 ports on the back and one on the front. The 27" wide VP150 center channel uses 3 of the same 5.25" midranges and 2 of the same 1" tweeters. They are arranged in a TMMMT layout. This is unusual compared to other center channel speakers but there are definite benefits which I will talk about later. It is a sealed design. The QS8 surrounds are a sealed quad-pole design employing upward and downward firing 5.25" midranges and 2 1" tweeters arrayed at a 45-degree angle. The EP350 subwoofer employs a front-firing 12" aluminum driver and 200-watt amplifier. It is front ported.

Setup
My room is a bit unusual in that I have the couch and the TV in opposite corners. I placed the 37" tall M60 towers on a low TV bench I built myself. This placed the tweeters about 4" above ear level. For movie and TV sound, this is not a problem. For music, I would like to have the tweeters lower. I plan to solve this problem by building a seperate media room in an unused bedroom. More on my future mancave plans soon, stay tuned! Anyway, back to reality. I placed the center channel in a box I have suspended over my 50" TV. The sub was placed to the side firing at the seating area. The surrounds were wall-mounted. They are far from ideally placed but more on that later. All speakers were wired with 12-gauge cable and compression-style banana plugs from Bluejeans Cable. The mains were bi-amped. The sub was connected with a high-quality Belden cable also from Bluejeans. Crossovers were set at 60hz for the mains, 100hz for the center and 110hz for the surrounds. Channel levels were set with my trusty Radio Shack SPL meter. I did go +2db on the center and -2db on the sub after watching several movies.

Listening
Since the bulk of my listening is movies, I concentrated on that for the first few weeks. Let me tell you, if you haven't had a quality sound system for movie watching before, you don't know what you're missing! Even this system, which is far from expensive, blows away any movie theater I've ever been in. Mind you, most movie theaters are not calibrated properly at all. Often, subs or dialog channels are missing or set too low or too high. The last movie I saw in a theater, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was painful to sit through. The dialog was OK but the mains and subs were so loud they approached distortion. I was physically exhausted when I left the theater. With a quality home theater system such as the Axiom Epic 60, you can finally hear a movie soundtrack the way it was meant to be heard in all its detail and ambience. And as my room is far from ideal, I can only imagine how much better it will be in a properly sound-treated room. (Mancave, more to come!) The center channel's unusual design placing the tweeters on the ends, really came to the fore. The sound field for dialog was far wider than traditional centers that place the tweeter in the middle. Plus, the Axiom's tweeters are less affected by the output of the midranges since they are only bordered on one side by other drivers. The surrounds as I said before, are very forgiving of placement. THX spec calls for surrounds mounted on the sides of the seating area, above ear level. Mine are to the side and to the rear. They are also mounted at 90-degrees to one another. Even with this huge compromise, the surround envelope is superb. Panning effects really do make you jump and the sound field is truly 3-dimensional. My favorite track so far is the movie Pan's Labyrinth. The scenes during rainstorms and gunbattles are just incredible. If you watch this movie, be sure to engage the DTS track, it's a little beefier.

Conclusion
This system cost me just over $2500 delivered. Coupled with the excellent Denon AVR3806 receiver and DVD 2930CI disc player, my in-home theater experience has improved by a huge factor. These are truly long-term speakers. Receivers and disc players are in a constant state of flux but good loudspeakers can last a lifetime. Unless I have to fill a significantly bigger space with sound, I can't imagine a better matched system. Axiom does have a larger tower model and 2 more sub upgrades should I feel the need, but I don't! My next upgrade will be the Mancave. I plan to buy another identical system from Axiom and install it in a dedicated, acoustically treated room. Stay tuned for that as I plan to document the entire process of building this room. Thanks for reading and enjoy the view!

Denon AVR-3806 Review

2007-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was finally able to upgrade my audio system to something more worthy of my excellent Samsung DLP display. I had muddled through for about 2 years with *gasp* a Home Theater in a Box from Sony. This system wasn't total crap but since installing the new gear, it's now gracing a landfill. For years I read the advice on various websites saying you should spend at least as much or more on audio as you do on video. OK but that's really hard to do. Of course you want the rockin' display with the most pixels, the biggest screen, you know the drill. It's what guys do. Well after installing this receiver and a 5.1 speaker setup from Axiom Audio, I can see the importance of this advice. Speaking of Axiom, I'll review the speakers and sub (M60s, VP150, QS8 and EP350) next week.

I purchased the receiver as well as a Denon DVD 2930CI from Crutchfield. You can read my review of the DVD player here. I highly recommend Crutchfield as a dealer. Their customer service is outstanding. The electronics arrived in a few days double boxed with generous amounts of peanuts. There was absolutely no damage to the Denon cartons. Crutchfield has a generous return policy and excellent support.

Setting up the unit was fairly straightforward. I'll tell you right now, the manual is terrible. The important information is there but you have to look for it. My advice with any Denon product: read the manual thoroughly before you install. This receiver like most modern multi-channel AVRs has many many options and features. You owe it to yourself to explore everything beforehand so you can get maximum performance from your gear. My main tower speakers are bi-amp capable so I wired them up as such, making sure to remove the jumper between the 2 pairs of binding posts. It doesn't matter which amp powers which drivers. Enter the setup menu and set the surround back amps to power the mains. After setting delays for the various speaker distances, I pulled out my trusty Radio Shack SPL meter to set levels. Using the test tones, I set levels for all channels to a reference volume of 80dB. I set the bass management as follows: front speakers set to small, 60hz crossover, center set to small, 100hz crossover, surrounds set to small, 110hz crossover. This gave the flattest frequency response when measuring frequency sweeps from the Digital Video Essentials audio tests. The only change I made after the fact was dropping the sub 3db. The Radio Shack meter is less accurate at low frequencies so this was as expected. Convenience features are all there such as auto-detect of audio track types, renaming of inputs and assignment of digital inputs. You might notice I've said nothing about the Audyssey auto calibration feature of this receiver. I actually bought this particular unit because of that function. I have every intention of at least trying the room correction in the future. I've just been so amazed and pleased with the sound the way it is, I haven't actually tried it out yet! My room is a bit challenging as well. I live on a fairly busy road. It would be nearly impossible to run the auto setup without a car driving by during the process. Perhaps if I did it late at night... If at some point I engage the Audyssey function, I will post an article about it.

Once all options were set, I checked my Denon Link connection from the DVD2930CI and fired up Casino Royale. Unfortunately, I heard nothing. OK, check connections, check setup, check DVD player (which I had already been using with my old audio setup). There was no light for Denon link evident on the player's front panel, hmm. I pulled out a generic CAT5 cable I had in my office and replaced the Denon cable that had shipped with my DVD player. Guess what? It worked just fine. Swell, Denon's supplied cable (which costs $45 by the way) was a dud and my free CAT5 cable that a friend made up for me worked perfectly. I had wondered if Denon Link was standard CAT5 and now I had my answer. If you want to install your player more than 6 feet from your receiver, you can with regular CAT5 for a few cents a foot. You do want the Denon Link by the way because it will support Direct Stream Digital transmission from SACDs. There is no other player in this price range that will do this. I believe the Oppo players will output PCM over HDMI from SACDs but not DSD. (was that a geeky sentence or what?) All other SACD players require you to use the multi-channel analog outputs. I also recommend using the IR in/out jacks if you have either IR blasters or some type of RF receiver for your remote. It beats sticking those pesky IR emitters to the front of your gear. In fact, I discovered the IR jack on my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable DVR actually works! I now have an IR emitter only on my TV. This is a much cleaner-looking and reliable way to control your components.

Sound quality? Let's just say... holy $@#&! The opening scene in Casino Royale starts with a guy riding up an elevator. The LFE effects are simply amazing. Then as he is confronted by James Bond, the scene flashes back to a fight in a bathroom. The bodies slamming through toilet stalls and other high-impact effects are simply breathtaking. Later during the now-famous chase scene, Bond drives a front-loader through a fence and a pile of iron pipe. The slam of this effect simply knocked my socks off! This is only the first day mind you. I have had this system in place for almost 3 months now and I can say I've never enjoyed movies and TV more. Even broadcast content is hugely improved. By default, this receiver will use Dolby Pro Logic II or DTS Neo6 to pipe all soundtracks into 5.1. This is done very well as you don't really notice the extra channels unless you switch back to straight 2 channel listening. My advice, let the DSPs do their thing, they work really well.

Music listening is equally amazing. For this, I engage the Denon's PureDirect mode. Even though the manual says this is only for analog sources, it still works with anything coming over the Denon Link connection. There was a small but noticeable improvement in the sound stage and the overall transparency of the music. (if you play Redbook CDs, they will play 2-channel whether you use PureDirect or not) I am strictly a classical buff so it's really easy to hear even the subtlest changes when you're trying new gear. I used SACDs of the San Francisco Symphony playing Mahler's 5th Symphony and the Kirov Orchestra playing Shostakovich's 5th and 9th Symphonies. I love multi-channel music and this setup really shone in this capacity. I'll expand on that more in next week's Axiom speaker review.

I believe this model is now being replaced by the AVR3808CI. From my research, it seems to the be the same receiver with the addition of HDMI 1.3a and decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. If these formats are not a factor, the 3806 is $300 cheaper so grab one while you can. I can tell you I am extremely happy with this unit and plan to use it for the forseeable future.

Panasonic TH50-PZ700U Calibration

2007-09-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity this past week to calibrate this latest Panasonic plasma. The PZ700U is 1080p with 2 HDMI inputs and a slot for an SD memory card to display photos. This display is not only one of the best plasma panels available today, it is also by far the best value. The only brand at this level is the Pioneer Elite line and you'll pay more than double the price for the same screen size.

There are 4 picture modes available, Standard, Vivid, Cinema and Custom. Only the Custom setting allows different settings per input. Selecting the Warm color temp got me within striking distance of D65. One interesting thing I learned concerned video noise reduction. There are 3 controls that address noise reduction and none of them seemed to affect the image at all. I was viewing 1080i multi-burst patterns and even though the 1-pixel pattern was rendered perfectly, I could see just a bit of noise around it. I finally removed the noise by turning up the Sharpness a few clicks from off. In fact, the Sharpness control at full blast didn't introduce any ringing in the image. My conclusion is that Sharpness on this TV affects noise and not edge enhancement. Another factor is the HDSize control. There are 2 options. Number 2 combined with Normal Aspect will give a 1:1 pixel map. The first option introduces about 3% overscan which is in spec but it breaks up the 1 pixel multi-burst. Bottom line, the sharpest and cleanest image comes in the 1:1 pixel mode.

Grayscale tracking showed a Delta C* error of 5-13 before calibration and under 1 after adjustments were made in service. I was also able to improve gamma and black levels by working the sub-brightness adjustment. I noticed when adjusting Brightness in the user menu that there would be a certain point where the gamma curve would change visibly on one side or the other of a particular number. Just below this point was the sweet spot for the final Brightness setting. After exiting service, I loaded a few Blu-Ray titles into the client's PS3 for some real content analysis. The first thing we noticed is there was still some downward room to be had in black levels. I settled on another 3 clicks lower on both the PS3 and the SA8300HD cable box sources. Like the majority of consumer displays, the black levels float somewhat depending on the average light level of the image. The adjustments made in service greatly reduced this tendency. For example; before calibration the darkest Pluge pattern would actually change after a few seconds. The lighter bar would at first be visible then disappear. After calibration, the pattern remained stable. The change in different light output levels also had less of an effect on black level. Even though this set is decent before calibration, this improvement alone is worth doing a full calibration.

The color-related aspects of the picture were excellent all around. Primaries are dead on for blue and slightly over-saturated for red and green. This is not visible in content. A slight lowering of the Color control aligned the decoder fairly well. Using my Progressive Labs CA6X allowed me to adjust the Tint to correct secondary color errors with respect to the measured primaries. This is much more accurate than using filters. Filters are only useful if they match the displays actual primaries and this is quite rare.

In conclusion, I would rate this as one of the finest HDTVs I have calibrated to date. It's the closest in dynamic range and clarity to the legendary Sony XBR960 CRT, my benchmark. Given the amazing price point of this TV (around $2500), there is no better value to be had, period. There is certainly no 50-inch LCD of any decent quality that sells for as little. And I have yet to encounter an LCD that can reproduce the blacks this TV can. I was so impressed with this display that I'll be adding one to my own theater in the coming months.

Logitech Harmony 890 Remote Control Review

2007-04-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I purchased the Harmony 890 a few months ago after programming one for a client. I was impressed with its ease of setup. I was especially interested in its Smart State feature that remembers the input and power states of your components. This is very helpful when a ccomponent doesn't support discreet commands for power and input. Many products lack discreet code support, most notably cable and satellite boxes.

The reason I haven't written about this product until now is I wanted to give myself time to thoroughly learn all its secrets before forming an opinion. The truth is, it's easy to do a basic setup but troubleshooting is less than intuitive. You begin by installing the included CD to your computer. You can use the front end software provided or log in via the Logitech website. Either way, you have to install the CD. The web front end is much faster however. Use the CD to create your account, then log in from the Harmony website. The software runs through a setup wizard to configure the remote. Logitech's IR code database is the largest in the business, over 170,000 components. In the unlikely event you have something that's not there, you can learn the codes from the factory remote. The wizard walks you through Activity setup where you program how things are to be turned on and set for different functions like Watch TV, Watch DVD, Listen to CDs, etcetera. You can also create custom buttons for each activity with labels shown in the LCD screen. There are 8 buttons available and multiple screens if you have more than 8 custom buttons. You can also set any hard button on the remote for any function from any component in the activity. Once you've programmed everything, it's time to update the remote via USB. Here's where I have a major complaint. The 890 includes a Remote Extender which supports RF control and sends the IR codes to the components via stick-on emitters. Every time you update the remote, you also have to update the extender. You can't have it plugged in the wall when you do this. This is a colossal pain especially when first programming since you'll want to tweak your setup at least a few times.

Once I had things working the way I wanted, the Harmony worked well for a few weeks. Then I started having trouble with Activity startup. Components would not always turn on or switch to the right input. This seemed to be random. It's like each component would take its turn not coming on. One positive here is the remote's Help key. If something unexpected happens, press help and answer the questions on the remote's screen. Usually, it will fix itself and you'll be back in business. To address this, I adjusted the various delays for each component. You can adjust the power on delay, input delay, inter-key delay and inter-device delay. Tweaking the inter-device delay seemed to fix the problem although it still happens occasionally.

Another major issue I have with this product is the ever-changing software. Logitech frequently updates both the front-end software and the remote firmware. Usually this results in some problems being fixed, new problems being created, some features added and some features removed. For several weeks, the Favorite Channel feature was disabled for no apparent reason. I can't imagine why Logitech can't stabilize this package and stop messing with it.

The bottom line with this product: for the price, it can't be beat. No other universal remote offers this level of functionality for less than $300. I like the physical design. I like the software interface. I don't like the random and unexpected glitches. I don't like the frequent software updates. I don't like having to unplug the extender every time I want to update. I want to love this remote. If Logitech would stop messing with it, I think I could. I do plan to keep using it. I can't justify dropping 3 or 4 times the money on something better.

Denon DVD-2930CI Review

2007-02-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

I spend so much time helping clients with their cool AV toys that I sometimes forget to satisfy my own needs for nifty new gear. To alleviate this, I've recently made a major upgrade to my theater: a shiny new Denon 2930CI DVD player! I had been using a no frills progressive-scan Sony player for about a year or so while wondering what to do about new formats and the dropping price of quality video processing. When Denon announced the inclusion of the HQV Reon chip in their new player, I knew where my AV dollars would be going next. Thanks to Crutchfield, I've now had this player sitting in my rack for about 2 months.

As with all Denon products, this player is built like a tank. It weighs 17 pounds and stands just over 4 inches tall. It occupies a full 17 inches of rack width and 16 inches of depth. I connected it to my Samsung 50-inch DLP with a Bluejeans Cable HDMI cable. I'm currently running the audio through an optical cable to a Sony receiver but soon I will be utilizing the Denon Link connection with a Denon AVR-3806. I set the HDMI format to RGB and 720p to match the native resolution of my display.

My first order of business was to pop in the GetGray calibration DVD and view a few test patterns. Since my Samsung TVs color management settings and white point (adjusted in service) are global, my primaries, secondaries and grayscale tracking were already calibrated. It’s good to know I can get consistent results from HDMI or component inputs on this set. I tweaked the black and white level settings to resolve the pluge and ramps patterns properly. Since this player offers image positioning controls, I centered the picture using an overscan pattern.

I couldn't wait a moment longer to run through the HQV torture-test disc so in it went. Needless to say, it aced every test. I honestly don't know what the differences are between the Reon and Realta chips are (the Realta is found in the Denon DVD-3930CI and 5910 players), but it would seem that for a mere $849, I had achieved video processing quality previously found only in players costing far more.

Moving on to actual content: I picked some of my worst quality DVDs to try like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Babylon 5. No, they didn't look like HD but dynamic range was hugely improved. There was absolutely no trace of jaggies anywhere! I really looked hard too! Once I put in high-quality DVDs like Lost or James Bond Ultimate Edition the image was simply stunning. It truly approached a high-quality HD feed. In fact, I would rate it higher than some HD content I've seen on DirectTV. Color and dynamic range are simply in a new league with this player. And did I mention the sound? My current speaker system is far from state-of-the-art and I heard an immediate difference. Imaging and clarity were much improved. I can't wait to run some SACDs through this thing! That will have to wait until I've installed my new Axiom speaker system. Stay tuned for that in about a month. One footnote on Denon Link: besides the HQV chip, Denon Link is the other big reason to choose this player. This is the only non-Sony product that I know of that will play SACDs over an all-digital connection. Paired with Denon's AVR3806 receiver, this player will send all sound formats digitally. My system now has no analog sound interconnects whatsoever!

I know many people are waiting to see the results of the format war before buying a new disc player. I almost did myself. I finally reasoned that eventually, there would be players that could read both formats as well as standard DVDs and all types of music CDs. There has already been a press release about a decoder chip that reads both HD and BluRay and LG Electronics is currently advertising a player that incorporates it. I feel it's only a matter of time before Denon releases players that read every currently available optical disc with HQV processing and SACD over Denon Link. When that happens, I'll be upgrading. For now, I am thrilled with my 2930CI. To beat this level of image and sound quality, you would have to spend at least three times as much money. There will be support and demand for standard DVD for years to come. Why not enjoy them with the best player you can afford?

Sony KDL-40V2500 LCD Calibration

2007-01-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is Sony's least expensive 1080p LCD TV. It retails for $500 less than the next model up XBR. The extra dough gets you another HDMI input (3 versus 2) and a few more image enhancement features. Otherwise, it's the same panel and backlight. The 40-inch TV I calibrated is perfect for a bedroom or small den. With the high-resolution image, the ideal viewing distance is about 6-7 feet.

After beginning with the basic pluge patterns to set brightness and contrast, I then turned to the backlight control. With all the LCDs I've done so far, the best black level detail is to be found with the backlight turned to the Minimum setting. There is still plenty of light at the high end and daytime viewing is fine. In fact, I calibrated this panel in a fairly bright room with a large side window. I always recommend against using the Day/Night sensor. This feature changes the backlight levels depending on the ambient light. Sounds great in theory but in practice, the change is far too drastic resulting in very washed out blacks.

On to the service menu: I got a nice surprise here. Sony service menus are usually a collection of binary codes and very terse abbreviations. I always go in with reams of notes from my colleagues. This set is too new however so I didn't have quite as much backup as I would have liked. Wouldn't you know it, Sony decided to include a clear, graphical menu with clearly labeled controls for grayscale, image positioning and other features. I was able to achieve a Delta C* under 1.0 from 30 to 90 IRE with humps to 1.6 at 20 and 100 IRE. This is an extremely accurate grayscale tracking result. These settings were global for all inputs.

Returning to the user menu, color controls were left at defaults as the gamut and decoding were quite good. The green primary read as oversaturated but this was not evident in actual content. The best gamma (2.1) was achieved with the gamma control turned off. All other Advanced Video menu items were turned off except Black Corrector which was left at Low. The TV resolved a 1080i multi-burst pattern perfectly without any help from image enhancement settings.

The resulting image was very smooth and life-like. Details in DVDs played on the client's Oppo were crisp in both bright and dark scenes. Color and clarity from the 8300HD cable box were excellent on high-quality feeds like PBS and INDHD. All in all, the set was quite responsive to ISF calibration. It responded favorably and rewarded my efforts with an extremely accurate and clear picture. If you're looking to save a bit of cash over an XBR, the V2500 is the TV for you.

Sony KDL-46XBR2 LCD Panel Calibration

2006-12-16T17:43:00.000-08:00

With the recent price drops on LCD panels, more and more clients are requesting calibration of these sexy thin TVs. Even though they've been around a few years now, it's still cool to see a TV that's only 3 or 4 inches thick. This calibration was for one of Sony's top-of-the-line new panels the 1080p KDL-46XBR2. This TV has all the necessary calibration controls in the user menu to include grayscale, gamma and several interesting noise-reduction controls. Since my client was switching his satellite box and DVD player (a superb Marantz DV-9600) through a receiver, I only had to calibrate the HDMI inputs on the TV.

Most Sony TVs have a DRC palette control which only works for 480i signals. This TV allows the DRC controls to work on all scan rates. I was able to fully resolve the multi-burst patterns with the DRC controls and use less of the traditional edge-enhancements. The end result was a super-clean noise-free image from all sources. Of course, I set the satellite box to always output 1080i and the DVD to output 1080p. By the way, if you spend enough money on an upconverting DVD player, it really does approach HD quality. It's not quite there but it's darn close.

The color and tint controls required no adjustment so I moved on to grayscale. I got the tracking within 100k of D65, excellent performance. I spent a lot of time checking each gamma setting and finally settled on medium. This coupled with reducing the backlight to its minimum setting gave me deep, detailed blacks and a gamma curve of 1.93. By the way, this panel has a nearly perfect color gamut. Primaries and secondaries lined up beautifully right out of the box. I'm glad to see a TV that makes color accuracy a priority over excess light output and over-saturated colors.

Needless to say, the resulting image was stunning. This is by far the best LCD panel I've worked on to date. It seems like I've had quite the rush on Sony calibrations lately but they really do make some fine hardware. With the amount of control available, this is one of the more ISF-friendly TVs out there. It's a pleasure to achieve such good results without burning incense and chanting to the video gods for guidance. As an added bonus, my client had me calibrate his XBR960 CRT. I've covered this set in a previous post but I'll say it again, this is the last of the truly great CRT TVs. It's hard to beat its rock-solid image with accurate color, excellent geometry and of course dynamite blacks. Two excellent TVs to calibrate in one house, it was a video geeks dream come true!

Hitachi 51F510 Calibration

2006-12-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

CRT-based displays are a dying breed. This is unfortunate because they still do some things better than even the best fixed-pixel TVs. Principal of these is blacks. A good CRT can render the smoothest and blackest blacks unmatched by even the best plasmas. You can't beat a display that can turn off areas of the image for a true black. Even plasmas must send a little current to every pixel to maintain response times. CRT does not have this limitation. After spending about 6 hours with a Hitachi 51F510, I can see why some people are hanging on to their older sets.

This TV was about 3 years old and had been well-cared for by its owner. He had removed the reflective screen cover, which not only causes major glare but it creates a color shift as well. He also lined the interior of the TV with light-absorbing Duvetyne. This dustless fabric prevents any internal reflections in a rear-pro cabinet and in some cases can really improve black level detail. He called me in to not only calibrate the set but also to work on the geometry and convergence.

The Hitachi has all the necessary controls in the Service Menu to adjust overscan and centering. I touched this up first then proceeded to the Convergence Menu. Rather than using the Magic Focus which sets the convergence hands-off, I did the 117-point adjustment with the TVs internal grid pattern. I worked out from center aligning red and blue to green. After 2 laps around the screen, I was done and the grid was tack-sharp.

Calibration followed with settings in both the User and Service Menus. There is full color management and color decoder adjustment available with color isolation. I was able to tame the red push pretty well and get the primaries right on spec. After adjusting the grayscale in the service menu, I touched up the color decoder again and I was finished. A long process but well worth it. This client had hoped to get some more life out of this TV rather than buy a new one and I was able to help him do that. CRTs do require a bit more work but the results are well worth the effort. I expect he'll be hanging on to this set for quite awhile longer!

James Bond Ultimate Edition DVD Sets

2006-12-01T17:16:00.000-08:00

I have always been a big Bond fan. I owned most of the movies on tape and watched them until they wore out. When I finally went to upgrade to DVD versions, I discovered that all the movies were out of print except Die Another Day. What a treat it was when I found out about the newly-remastered Ultimate Editions. All 20 movies in 4 sets for about $60 each on Amazon. I just received the first 2 volumes (3 & 4 ship December 12).

Today I watched Diamonds Are Forever. These DVDs are advertised as 4k Lowry Digital frame-by-frame transfers. This means the film is scanned at 4000 lines of vertical resolution. They are then down-rezzed to the standard 480i DVD resolution. The result is quite simply the best DVD I have ever seen. I just couldn't believe I was watching a 35-year old movie! Not only was the color and dynamic range stunning, the clarity was razor-sharp as well. There wasn't even any film grain! When I see DVDs of this quality I have to ask myself: is there really a need for HD-DVD and BluRay when standard DVD has such potential? If more movies were mastered with this kind of care and precision, the world would simply be a better place.

Equal in quality to the images was the sound reproduction. All the movies have a remixed soundtrack done in Dolby Digital and DTS. The original films were monoaural and stereo. It's just incredible what can be done with such old material. I recently ordered a Denon DVD2930 and AVR3806 from Crutchfield. I can't wait to install these components and watch more of these Bond flicks. These discs have given me more than enough reason to watch all these wonderful movies again and again. Bond fans rejoice!

Sony KDL-40XBR LCD Panel Calibration

2006-11-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of calibrating a 40-inch version of Sony's 720p LCD panel, XBR model. This set is a superb value for an LCD offering excellent image quality and adjustability for a reasonable price. As I've said in other posts, 1280x720 is still a lot of pixels and a properly calibrated 720p TV can look every bit as good as a 1080p TV for less money.

This panel has an excellent contrast ratio. I measured 910:1 on a 4x4 ANSI checkerboard pattern after calibration! This is the highest ratio I've recorded to date. Unlike other Sony TVs I've calibrated, some of the options in the Advanced Video menu actually improved the image. I left Live Color on (Low setting) and chose the Wide Color Space. Usually, these options put the primaries way outside spec but in this case, the primaries weren't too far off. It was then on to the service menu to adjust grayscale. My first pass had the tracking pretty good but Delta C was not to my liking. After more tweaks, I got Delta C under 1.0 from 20 to 100 IRE. I was very happy with this. Dark scene quality took a big jump despite having no control over the gamma curve. I couldn't quite get it to 2.2. I finished by setting the backlight control, which is independent of the brightness and contrast controls. I lowered it quite a bit on the DVD input, down to 3.

The final result was quite improved especially showing dark content. Black levels are a weakness of any LCD but this panel looked quite good in that regard. I strongly suggest some sort of bias lighting to improve the viewer's perception of black levels. This set was in a room where the panel had an open staircase behind it. This provided a bias light of sorts. If your panel is on a wall or stand, getting some 6500k lighting behind it will greatly improve image quality. Actually, this method works with any type of TV.

Another Sony TV successfully calibrated!

Samsung HL-R5067W calibration

2006-10-29T06:30:00.000-08:00

The Samsung DLP rear-projection TVs are in the product category of "well-kept" secret. Why? Because they have the greatest potential for truly stunning picture quality. Even the HLR series which I'm writing about today, which has the fewest adjustments of all Samsung DLPs, will blow away nearly every other TV I've worked on when properly calibrated. This is a 720p model which is now discontinued. It has 2 component and 1 HDMI input. Picture out of the box is fair from a color standpoint. Banding and macroblocking are evident in both dark scenes and fine-gradient images like sky and hazy mountains. A few tweaks in the user menu will improve black and white levels immensly. The default contrast is set to mega-torch mode. A 100 IRE full-screen actually hurts the eyes.

As with all Samsung TVs, you have to go right to the service menu to perform your adjustments. The reason is all user menu settings are reset to defaults when you do this. Fortunately, everything you need is in there. I begin with the CCA menu. First a warning, don't try this at home! To use the CCA properly requires the use of a colorimeter to set the baseline for the light engine. Simply changing the target values will not adjust the color accurately. I worked in a totally darkened room to be sure of accurate measurements. After setting the baseline, I worked the targets until primaries and secondaries were nearly dead-on spec. Only red wouldn't quite hit the bullseye. I suspect I am being limited by the actual color wheel segment colors. After engaging WB_Spread to send the settings to all inputs, I moved on to grayscale. This is set for each input in the DNIe menu. Since the color management is so good, I barely needed any adjustment here. When I finished, I was within 100k of D65 from 20 to 100 IRE, superb performance. I only wish this display had an iris. I couldn't get a gamma better than 2.1. The curve tracks almost perfectly though with a slight rise from 20 to 60 IRE. Once service menu adjustments are complete, I exited to the user menu and made the final tweaks to black level, white level and sharpness. Since only color saturation was available, I increased that to compensate for the undersaturation of the red primary.

With calibration complete, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Many people have complained that with the HLR series, you can't defeat the DNIe. To see if its effects were still degrading the picture, I turned on the demo mode. Surprise, surprise, both sides look the same! This is with sharpness set to 40 on the DVD input and 20 on the cable TV input. It seems that fixing the color inaccuracies and getting the gamma closer to 2.2 eliminates the negative effects of DNIe.

Based my experience to date, I would recommend a Samsung DLP over other rear-pro sets. With an ISF calibration, it simply won't be beat. As long as you aren't one of the 1% of people that see the rainbow effect, you won't be disappointed with a DLP and ISF calibration. Even with the wildly varying quality of standard-def content, the picture is simply incredible. With hi-def or a good DVD, you will be amazed. I can't wait to get my hands on one of the newer Samsung 1080p sets!

Enjoy!

Sony LCD Rear Projection, KDFEA10 Calibrations

2006-09-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to calibrate 2 different Sony KDFEA10 LCD RP sets, a 50 inch and a 42 inch. These are excellent values for 720p HDTVs. They are discontinued now but many dealers still have them in stock. They have 2 component inputs and 1 HDMI input like other TVs of this type. Calibration is through the service menu and is global for all inputs. Grayscale can be set very precisely to track within 150k of D65. To adjust the color decoder, there is a "color axis" setting. This appears to rotate the gamut almost like a clock. There are about 50 different settings. I used the color analyzer to find the most accurate one. Once the grayscale and decoder is set, final tweaks are done with the iris controls. This varies the black level enough to affect the grayscale so I had to compromise to keep each input close to spec. In the end, I left the iris on its minimum setting for the component inputs and medium for HDMI. I also set different parameters for Black Corrector, Gamma and Advanced Iris to adjust for the grayscale shift through HDMI.

This TV was fairly difficult to work on because all the settings were interacting with each other. Luckily, the service and user menus are accessible at the same time. I went back and forth for quite awhile to get the results I wanted. I wound up with a great looking TV when I was finally done. I wish I could hide that awful Vivid picture mode. It's so bright and blue it's painful! Once you've become accustomed to a calibrated image, Vivid is downright offensive!

I still see these sets for sale at the big box stores. The prices are quite low. They're probably one of the best bargains for an HDTV right now. Even after adding the price of a calibration, you've still got a 50 inch HDTV for under $2000.

Sony XBR960 CRT Calibration

2006-09-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had the priviledge of calibrating an Sony 34-inch XBR960 CRT. This is probably the last truly great CRT HDTV. It has been discontinued but there are still some deals out there. MSRP is around $1800 but they can be found for under $1000. The first thing I noticed is the excellent black level. Not only are the blacks really black but it was totally stable through the different APL Pluge patterns. I had superb notes on this TV's service menu so I dove right in. Grayscale is adjusted for the Neutral color temp at 1080i. Then you adjust offsets for the other scan rates and color temp presets. A complete set of decoder controls is also available. Once again, I was able to use my Progressive Labs analyzer instead of filters to really achieve accuracy. I also adjusted the image position and overscan. When I had finished, the gamma curve was a perfect 2.2, not 2.19 or 2.21 but 2.2! Grayscale tracked within 200k of D65 with all Delta C* points below 1.

Needless to say, the customer and I were very pleased. He is very proud of this set and it was my pleasure to calibrate it for peak performance. Even though CRT is nearly gone from the marketplace, there is still a large base of customers with quality sets that have yet to realize their full performance potential. I look forward to the next one.

Sound and Harmony remote setup

2006-09-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, I completed work on a customers home theater system. After calibrating his Sony A2000 on a previous visit, I spent about 8 hours total wiring a receiver, DVD player, Tivo, VCR, Xbox into the TV and surround speaker system. The speakers are interesting, they're Definitive Technology BP-2000s. The mains and center have built-in 15 inch subs with their own amps. The remaining drivers have high, mid and low wire terminals as well. My customer was going for mega bass so I wired the left and right subs and bi-wired all three front speakers. We fired up Super Speedway. With the subs turned up to half it was an earthquake! He says, "I need more." I went to the point of distortion and backed off a bit. At this point, my ears hurt and his enormous leather sectional was shaking. He said, "that's the bass I've been waiting for!" He'd had these speakers for several years and never wired them correctly. Once I got his Denon AVR-5700 configured, it was armageddon in there!

I completed the job by setting up a Harmony 890 remote for him. This is a slick piece. Logitech's code base covers over 175,000 products. Take that URC! I had it up and running in about 2 hours. I'm going to get one of these for myself. It supports RF so you can put your rack in a closet or behind the couch if you want.

Bottom line: the customer was happy, I was happy, I had fun. It was my first time doing an entire system setup. From here on out, I'll have a price schedule for sound system and remote control setups. I know there are a lot of people out there that need help with these products. They're so capable and so complicated. Why spend thousands of dollars on technology and not get the maximum performance possible?

Followup work on Sony KD-S60A2000

2006-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

I first calibrated this TV about 2 weeks ago. Nice set but the color tracking is not quite as good as the KD-SR60XBR1. It does have excellent black level stability and far less edge enhancement artifacts though. The image quality from a good source is excellent. I was able to tame the red push with a little tweaking of the hue control and my trusty Progressive Labs analyzer. My customer just installed the HR-250 Tivo. The quality from this feed is spotty. Some channels like HDNet look fantastic. Others are just soft. Here in NY, all HD channels are fed over the dish, not over the air. I think quality has suffered as a result.

I'm also doing an audio setup and remote control setup for this customer. He has an excellent Denon AVR-5700 and some impressive DefTech speakers with built-in amplified subs. The wiring is a bit unusual but I've got it figured out and I'll be finishing it up next week. I did a basic setup on a Harmony 890 remote. This is a very well designed piece. I'm going to add one to my home very soon. After going through about a 20-minute process on the internet, the remote was programmed with the basics. All I have to do is reconfigure a few screens on it and I'll be done.

Sony KDS-R60XBR1 Calibration

2006-09-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do one of the Sony SXRDs for awhile and I just got my chance. Boy what a nice TV! It's quite a light cannon out of the box. It also adds major edge enhancement especially when scaling up DVD output from 480p. I put up the opening of Star Wars Episode I to see the text scrolling in the beginning. The letters had large white borders around them! The yellow color was almost completely covered. Needless to say, the sharpness was the first thing I worked on. I worked with this control and all the other enhancements available. I wound up turning everything off and dialing the sharpness down to almost the bottom. I could still resolve the 1080i pattern just fine without and extra video processing.

After setting the correct black and white levels, I moved on to the grayscale controls in the Advanced Video menu. I was able to achieve superb tracking (within 100k of D65) on both the component and HDMI inputs with a slightly better result on HDMI. The grayscale was so good, I barely had to touch the color and tint controls afterwards. The secondaries were almost perfectly aligned. Like other Sonys, this set did have a red push but it was easily tamed with a tweak of the hue control. My Progressive Labs analyzer makes it a breeze to get proper color and hue settings rather than using filters which are unreliable with displays other that CRT.

In the end, I increased the contrast ratio from 160:1 to 204:1 (measured with an ANSI checkerboard at 16 points on the screen). Color and grayscale were about as close to perfect as you could ask for. Super TV and even better with calibration.

Lost Season 2 DVD Review

2006-09-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I just got this set in the mail last Thursday and my wife and I have already watched 14 episodes! We're fans to put it mildly. There's no need to go into the specifics of the show, it's covered in a myriad of places on the internet. These DVDs are quite simply the best transfers I have ever seen! Of course, the original is shot in HD which helps. Honestly though, the difference between these DVDs and an HD broadcast is minimal. The sound is also top-notch. All scenes on the beach really show the surround effect with the wave noise enveloping the viewer. The balance of music, dialogue and sound effects is also superb. Dynamic range is excellent with no one element being either too loud or too soft.

From what I hear, these DVD sets can be found either online or in big-box stores for between $35 and $45. I say get 'em while they're hot! If you're even contemplating becoming a Lost fan, you won't be sorry!