New ControlCAL Display Profiles

I've added a bevy of new tools to my kit of late to include all the latest display profiles from ControlCAL.  This gives me ISF mode and service menu access to the following models:

Panasonic VT30, DT30, VT50, DT50 and WT50 (all sizes)
Sharp Elite TVs X5 60 & 70-inch
Sharp non-Elite models 847, 844, 845, 745 Series (including Costco equivalents)
and 844 80" and 745 90" models

I can still activate and calibrate ISF modes on all Elite Pioneers 7th, 8th and 9th generations plus non-Elite models 5010, 6010, 5020 and 6020.  And I still offer patching service for KRP monitors which has made many clients very happy!

I've also upgraded my Accupel pattern generator to the latest DVG-5000 model which supports 3D patterns.  Any TV that has separate modes for 3D content can be calibrated independently of the 2D modes for the highest accuracy in all content.

If you're looking for help with any of the above-mentioned displays, or any other display for that matter; please contact me via email or phone.

As always, enjoy the view!

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

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!

Pioneer Plasma 5010FD Calibration

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!

Panasonic TH50-PZ700U Calibration

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.