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SpyderHD Walkthrough, Part 2

How To Calibrate Your HDTV
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After measuring your TVs default white and black levels, the actual calibration begins.

The first step is Contrast. A white field is displayed and you take measurements at both ends of the control’s range. Then, SpyderHD zeroes in on the correct setting for you. It can take up to seven readings to generate a recommended number.

Step two is the Color Temp adjustment. The same white field is measured while you change the color temp presets on your TV. SpyderHD picks the one closest to D65. We’re a little disappointed that there’s no way to adjust the RGB sliders most televisions have. In our experience, it’s rare that a preset can’t be improved with the two-point white balance controls.

After each measurement, you’re told to either change a particular setting or move on to the next adjustment.

Brightness is adjusted the same way, except with a black field pattern. We’re used to setting brightness on HDTVs by eye with a PLUGE or low-luminance step pattern, so this method is new to us. After seven measurements, Spyder HD decided level three was correct. We verified this with our own black level pattern and it worked just fine.

The last adjustments are to Color and Tint. For these, you go back and forth between four different patterns, so take our advice and use the chapter skip buttons on your player’s remote rather than returning to the disc’s main menu each time.

After seven measurements, SpyderHD suggested a setting of 17 for our Pioneer’s Color control. This seemed quite high. But after viewing the flesh tone photo at the end of the wizard, we were convinced.

Tint is adjusted the same way: seven measurements of two different patterns. It’s similar to looking through a blue filter the way we did with the Spears & Munsil disc; SpyderHD simply lets the meter do all the work.

At the end of the measurement run, SpyderHD suggested a setting of 5 for the Tint control.

Finally, you’re shown the complete set of values. They’re automatically saved to your computer so you don’t have to write them down. Clicking Report pops up a PDF document showing the changes you’ve made. They aren’t traditional graphs. Rather, they show the display’s before and after state, and what measurements were taken during the process.

The pattern disc has several graphics to help verify your new settings. The photo of the five teenagers is especially useful for checking the all-important flesh tones. Even though we were surprised by how much we were told to raise the Color control, the results looked fantastic.

The biggest feature offered by SpyderHD is the ability to calibrate an HDTV without training or experience. All you have to do is follow the on-screen instructions, which are very clear and concise. The process is efficient and only took me about half an hour. I would like to see some sort of advanced mode to walk me through a gamma and grayscale calibration. Almost all HDTVs have gamma presets and a two-point white balance control. It seems a shame to leave that extra performance boost on the table.

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  • 1 Hide
    youcanDUit , October 6, 2014 4:57 PM
    aww... i thought i was going to be able to calibrate with this. i am sad now.
  • 0 Hide
    Paul NZ , October 6, 2014 5:06 PM
    Nothing to calibrate here. Connect it it works
  • 3 Hide
    vmem , October 6, 2014 10:57 PM
    Thanks for the detailed and great write up. it is inspiriting as always

    Though honestly, for the "average" consumer, I find it hard to justify spending $350 to calibrate a $500 or so monitor set up and maybe a $800-1200 TV. I feel this is the type of thing you have to really get into (and end up doing it for free for your friends and family)
  • 0 Hide
    rdc85 , October 6, 2014 10:58 PM
    Well I'm using the pic for calibrating the monitor right now :D ...

    looks like my brightness and contrast slights off
  • 1 Hide
    crisan_tiberiu , October 6, 2014 11:00 PM
    the question is: why arent the producers calibrate the TVs right out of the factory? why? is it so hard to make a preset for the TVs? 99% of the TVs that come out of a factory will have the same "crappy" default settings. And sorry, i wont spend 350$ to calibrate my TV ^^ no way
  • 0 Hide
    shahrooz , October 7, 2014 4:39 AM
    well the first time I saw a calibrate your something's screen article was a year ago. Back then I found out "one does not simply calibrate the screen of something"
  • 2 Hide
    Onlyrgu , October 7, 2014 5:21 AM
    I prefer AVS HD 709 - Blu-ray & MP4 Calibration
    And its free
  • 0 Hide
    The_Icon , October 7, 2014 6:56 AM
    This is something I have been wanting for a long time now. Is there any good free tool to calibrate both the HDTV and my monitor? The TV is connected to my PC as well.
  • 0 Hide
    vmem , October 7, 2014 8:45 AM
    Quote:
    the question is: why arent the producers calibrate the TVs right out of the factory? why? is it so hard to make a preset for the TVs? 99% of the TVs that come out of a factory will have the same "crappy" default settings. And sorry, i wont spend 350$ to calibrate my TV ^^ no way


    They do calibrate the TVs (any manufacturer worth their salt anyway). the problem is two fold: first all TVs / monitors are relatively low margin because the market is highly competitive. unless you're paying a premium for "professional" monitors such as the Dell ultrasharp series, most panels will be calibrated the 'easy' way to some factory pre-set that is considered "good enough".

    the second thing is that everyone's lighting conditions are different. maybe your room is brighter than mine and you like having the traditional type of bulbs that have a yellow / orange hue and I use white light bulbs. these things have a huge impact on how your TV looks, so at the end of the day the consumer will always need to do some calibration if you want perfect color reproduction.
  • 0 Hide
    bic , October 7, 2014 10:07 AM
    Go get the free software on avsforum.com.
  • 0 Hide
    RedJaron , October 7, 2014 12:41 PM
    Quote:
    Though honestly, for the "average" consumer, I find it hard to justify spending $350 to calibrate a $500 or so monitor set up and maybe a $800-1200 TV. I feel this is the type of thing you have to really get into (and end up doing it for free for your friends and family)

    Agreed. Writing a DIY that can be done for under $50 would be very appreciated. $350 is more than I paid for my 42" screen years ago. I know it wasn't the top-end model, but I'm willing to bet most people have TVs under $800 and aren't willing to spend $100s more to calibrate the screen.
  • 0 Hide
    emccalment , October 7, 2014 1:10 PM
    Just like everyone else I open this article thinking, "This sounds great! I'll definitely follow this!" Then I see $350 and stop reading right there. It's officially a waste of my time. Why are people satisfied with the discoloration? Because $350 isn't a joke. There have been mention of some free products above. Do a write up on one of those and I'm there.
  • 1 Hide
    stephenriddle , October 7, 2014 1:48 PM
    How does the spears & munsil disc compare to others like the Disney WOW calibration disc
  • 0 Hide
    Evolution2001 , October 7, 2014 1:59 PM
    I find that most HDTVs / Projectors have the reds oversaturated. For example, watching an awards show with a red carpet or someone wearing all red, the over-saturation causes it to 'glow' and wash out all contrast so it looks like a solid mass of red blob with a human head moving on the screen. And for the US people reading this, October in the NFL is especially harsh with all that electro-pink on the screen.
  • 1 Hide
    ceberle , October 8, 2014 5:11 AM
    Quote:
    How does the spears & munsil disc compare to others like the Disney WOW calibration disc


    Spears & Munsil has a lot more patterns available than the Disney disc plus better instructions in my opinion. That being said, you can achieve similar results with the Disney disc so if you already have it, I'd suggest giving it a try before buying S&M. If you're happy with the way your TV looks afterward, you just saved $30!

    -Christian-
  • 0 Hide
    brenro , October 8, 2014 8:53 AM
    350 bucks and I still can't calibrate gamma or gray scale?
  • 0 Hide
    10tacle , October 8, 2014 3:37 PM
    I've been using the Datacolor Spyder4Elite ($249US) for a couple of years now. Best money I've ever spent. Yes, it is expensive, but it has calibrated my three desktop PC's monitors (two gaming rigs, one video/photography rig), three HDTVs, and two laptops. To me it was worth spending that much rather than wasting my time going out on the web and finding color calibration settings that others find "optimal" that I may not.

    With that said, do not expect your games to look a whole lot better on your PC monitors after being calibrated by one of these. These tools are more for photography and video color accuracy more than anything else.
  • 0 Hide
    wiyosaya , October 10, 2014 1:49 PM
    Quote:
    I prefer AVS HD 709 - Blu-ray & MP4 Calibration
    And its free

    Thanks - I will have to check this out.
    Quote:
    Just like everyone else I open this article thinking, "This sounds great! I'll definitely follow this!" Then I see $350 and stop reading right there. It's officially a waste of my time. Why are people satisfied with the discoloration? Because $350 isn't a joke. There have been mention of some free products above. Do a write up on one of those and I'm there.

    Amen!
    Quote:

    With that said, do not expect your games to look a whole lot better on your PC monitors after being calibrated by one of these. These tools are more for photography and video color accuracy more than anything else.

    For complete accuracy, the display has to be calibrated to the source. Where anyone, as a calibrator of devices, will gain the most is that if you have a source of some sort and calibrate it to the same reference to which your display is calibrated, then the ultimate in benefits is possible. In other words, take a picture of a standardized reference, show that picture on your display, then calibrate the display so that the picture of the standardized reference looks exactly like the standardized reference itself, then repeat for every source, e.g., scanner, still camera, video camera, etc, and pray your display has enough memory slots for those calibrated settings because you will need to switch to the matching setting when changing from one calibrated source to another.

    As I understand it, the reality is that no two video sources, such as different BR discs, one TV network or another, are calibrated to the same reference. Thus, Joe Kane's interpretation of NTSC - "Never Twice the Same Color."

    For viewing video sources over which one has no control, it is still worth calibrating to some reference because that will get rid of the "eye-catching" settings to which most manufacturers set their displays so that the average consumer will go "wow" when viewing the display in a showroom and thus, at least as the manufacturer hopes, buy the display.
  • 0 Hide
    AntoniusVII , October 15, 2014 9:48 AM
    I have used the Spears & Munsil calibration disk, it is $30 well spent. I highly recommend it.
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