While I DO have digital video essentials, I find it slightly confusing and difficult to use...I mean most of the steps are ok, but for the life of me I can't get the "color" part correct...blue is good, red is ok, and green is completely off.

I know I can have this done proffesionally but it costs like $400.00

Is it worth it?

Hi, Jordan;

Having gone thru tons of A&V posts and forums over the last couple of years, I've come up with a couple of conclusions on just that very thing!!

First of all, I have no personal experience in the area of TV calibrations, just from what I've read in numerous forums.

But... if done properly....Like Night and Day!!!

Also, calibrators are like Lawyers,(OK, not to offend any Layers we may have in this forum, calibrators are like common Lawyer cliche's) you can get a good one, or...

How can you tell....? Does your TV look like a well cleaned picture window when the calibration is complete?

You got a good one!!

But yes, from what I've read, a good calibration is worth it, when done by a reputible individual!!
Rich.

I second the recommendation. Watching my RPTV before and after calibration was like night and day. If you are looking for a reputable calibrator, I believe hometheaterspot.com has a message board that you can search through. Personally, I was very happy with the service provided by Eliab from www.avical.com

you can also try and get the service manual and try to calibrate it yourself.

but if you break it...............

I had mine calibrated by a professional, $150, I think it was well worth it. The guy who did it, Terry Paulen, is a friend of my dad's, so he gave me a discount. Terry writes a monthly column for Widescreen Review Magazine "one Installers Opionion" and he has a business installing high end HT systems.

He told me most TV's come from the factory with the brightness turned up really high, so the picture looks good in a showroom. But this greatly reduces the life of the CRT. He connected my TV to a laptop and made all kinds of adjustments that the regular consumer does not have access to. The pictuer quility is better, colors more accurate.

DO IT!

Here's a bit of trivia for ya:

According to most of the forums I've read, the term for the brightness being set so high from the factory, is, "The Torch Mode"!!

Look for ISF certified individuals/businesses with calibration hardware & software.

http://www.imagingscience.com/about.htm

Greetings,
I would second the opinion on Eliab at Avical. Outstanding work, and he is more than willing to take the time to explain what he is doing and why he is doing it.
b.

Frankly, I wouldn't trust some guy messing around with the inards of a very expensive, brand new TV. If he totally messes it up, I would think that the manufacturer's warrantee would probably be voided. Anyone who is considering this is probably asking for a nightmare. I would think that one would be better off adjusting the set as it was intended to be. Furthermore, If I spent the kind of money they want for TV sets these days and had to pay another $400 to get the picture quality I was expecting when I purchased the set, it would probably be time for me to stop watching television.