I guess I should have said "adjust" rather than "calibrate". Adjusting the default controls gets you 9/10 of the way there. That'll be a better picture than most people have. The last 10% is half setting the color of white, and the gamma curve. Those two can't be done with simple patterns and filters, you need a colormeter to do those.
But yeah, $17 to get 90%, that's great. I'd recommend watching the tutorials and just paying attention to what is being said. Don't worry about adjusting anything the first time through. Once you understand the basics, then go back through and make the adjustments.
I think they'll mention it on the disc, but some of the controls interact (they shouldn't but they do), so after you've done the big 4: brightness, contrast, color, and tint, it helps to double check them again to see if any one shifted another.
I actually prefer adjusting displays over audio. With audio it is always a bit of a guess if things are right. Once you've learned how the video patterns work, you'll have no doubt when you've got the controls in the right place; it's just obvious.
