Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Any experience with projector calibration?

Thanks Nick, I've bookmarked those links.

I would agree with michael d totally on this one. Projectors like many types of monitors, can shift over time so having the ability to repeat the process again is advantageous. Until you have some sort of device to measure these changes, you can never really see the gradual changes with the naked eye. If the RS45 has a multi-point grayscale calibration system in the service menu, then you really won't need to spend the considerably extra cash on something like the Lumagen to do an accurate calibration. You would then only need the calibration software(Chromapure/Calman), a meter and a good calibration disc, like the one that has already been suggested(AVS HD709) and your set.

Certainly, there is a learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite addictive and it is amazing the improvements you can make. I have the Chromapure Software(much cheaper than Calman and easier to use especially for the novice)and an Eye Display 3 Pro meter which is useable for all types of display devices. You are probably looking at another $500 or so for this, but you will spend almost all of that on one professional calibration alone, should, of course, you wish to do that.

The discs like Spears and Munsil, Wow, THX calibrations etc. are OK for basic calibration of color, tint, brightness etc. but when it gets in to the ability to attain considerably more accurate levels of multi-point grayscale, which is vital for color accuracy along with Gamma and color management accuracy up and down the total luminance scale, in order to achieve this much greater accuracy, the above equipment would be required.

my TV-monitor is now about 4 years old, and it's only about 6 months ago that i realized some settings had changed, because of component aging.
i had to adjust image "position" upwards by 3 notches to center it,
and black level had to be decreased by 1 notch, to bring the image to the way it was before.

it is a slow but continuing process.

I re-read through the Calibration for Dummies, and I've also been going through some of the RS45 calibration thread at AVS. I will be able to adjust each grayscale point (what is it, like every 10%) as well as some others. I was told that honing in on this and the gamma will make amazing differences. Since the Rs45 doesn't have a CMS, I will be more limited with colors, but I guess they are more than acceptable once the rest is dialed in.

I am REALLY thinking hard about getting a basic setup of something like the Eye-One LT and using ColorHCFR since it is free. If I get good results, my investment is like $150 in the meter. If I decide I want more calibration options, I can buy ChromaPure for another $180, but with somewhat limited controls for color (again, no CMS on the RS45), I don't know if I would gain much more than just being easier to use.

Of course, I will have to wait anyway. We are over budget on our basement finishing, and I still NEED some things, like an equipment rack and movie storage, materials for my screen wall (screen material already ordered), bass traps, etc. Good thing that the rest of the basement minus the baseboard trim is already purchased/done now.

I just am getting excited about being able to watch movies again after almost exactly 1 year of not watching anything at home since we packed up the previous house (and my Axioms) a year ago this weekend.

You can also get a Radiance Mini that will add calibration functionality. I use the XS and Chromapure's auto cal feature (requires a Radiance or DVDO Duo, not sure about the Mini). All I do is hit the Start button, and within ten minutes I have a pretty good gamma curve, good grey scale and gamut. I then tweak each for another half hour and I'm done. I have not had to revisit gamma or gamut as the bulb ages, but I do have to tweak grey scale about every 150 hours. The Display 3 Pro meter is a joy to use. It does surprisingly well at lower IRE for such a cheap meter (pro meters run upwards of 5K). The i1Pro meter I was using was terribly slow, but slightly more accurate. I think you will be much better off with the Display 3 Pro than the LT. It's not that much more money. The Pro version is calibrated to a reference meter. Also, if you think you may migrate to Chromapure, I think you need to by the meter from them to make sure it will be licenced to use with the software. Not sure about that, but I'd check before buying anything.. Same goes for Calman. Calman is a great software, but they've become way too proud of their software over the years as they got more popular.

One feature I love, and highly recommend you make sure the 'free' stuff has is an offset function. This allows you to take readings off the screen, then take the same readings off the lens. The software then applies an 'offset' to each measurement so that you can take all further readings off the lens, making the process much, much faster - but in a sense, you are still calibrating to whatever you actually see reflected from the screen.

Hey Casey, I'm glad to hear you are using the same gear that I am. Nice to know someone here can help me verse having to deal with AVS.

The fact that you have 10 or 11 point gray scale calibration built in to your projector is two-thirds of the battle, even without a more sophisticated CMS. The multi-point grayscale capability will allow you to make substantially more accurate adjustments to the benchmark in both grayscale and gamma settings which will, in turn, right from the beginning give you better and more accurate color even without any other adjustments. I might suggest in time, if your budget eventually allows, secure the Chromapure since it has calibration tables that has a system of adjusting color accuracy even without a CMS, along with continual free upgrades.

(michael d) FYI, you do require a licence from Chromapure if you buy the meter from them, however, unlike Calman, you can use the meter with other software. If you buy the meter and software from Calman, you can't use the meter with anything else. Also the Display 3Pro has to be purchased from one of the software vendors, since the generic unit won't work with either Chromapure or Calman.

I can't seem to find the Display 3 anywhere online except for the places selling the software and then they want to bundle it. That jumps my dollar investment from $150 up to near $435 (shipped). If I could see the price for it alone, then maybe I would jump on it and still hold out for the software later. Of course, like you mentioned, it might be next to impossible to get a software license if I buy it elsewhere.

EDIT: B&H sells the Pro for $250. Still a 66% increase in price to jump.

Casey - Have you tried using Chromapure's internal test patterns? I tried a couple times without much luck. I don't really need them, and use the XS's patterns, so I didn't spend much time trying.

That question leads me to a point worth mentioning.... And that's using a DVD or BR for your pattern source. This can be a time consuming and frustrating endeavour. With a test pattern generator that the software talks to, all you do is click on the button in the software for whatever you want to read and it then toggles the generator to display the pattern (as with the XS). After having this ability, I can't imagine having to use a DVD for a pattern source, other than post cal verifications. Gamut wouldn't be a big deal, but a 21 point grey scale would be a PITA.

Although I don't have the link, check this site "CurtPalme.com". They are an authorized Chromapure distributor and will offer the Display 3 separately. Because I already had the software with another type meter, I purchased the meter(Display 3 Pro) directly through the Chromapure website and although it might not be shown as such you can E-Mail Tom Huffman directly through the contact menu and he will give you a price. Be careful of the B&H Photo unit because, as I mentioned previously, it is a generic unit that won't work with the software. With either Chromapure or Calman you require a licence for their software for the meter to function(around $90.00) that is not included in the B&H Photo unit which, although considerably cheaper, as is makes it essentially useless.

I have tried the internal patterns from Chromapure, however, you are dealing with the potential limitation of an inaccurate laptop or PC in its internal color and gray scale. On my laptop, the patterns, compared to my other sources, were tilted too much towards the green. I also found when projected on the screen(only windows patterns),they were a little too small.