Yet another calibration question (Plasma)...

[RedBank]

I did a search on the forum and there are quite a few posts on calibration, however I didn't see any specific to my situation...so please forgive me if this has been covered.

(this part can be skipped, it is just an intro)
First off...I am new to the forum, however I have been an audiophile all of my life (37 yrs). I was recently gifted a 50" Plasma. I hooked it up to my very old school 5.1 receiver and am fairly happy. However...out of the box...the colors on this set are off the chart. I have never seen such horrible settings. Everything is too pink/purple. I am about to get an entirely new receiver and speakers (looking for something between $800-$900). Blu-Ray of course even though I don't watch movies all too often. I watch TV quite a bit and I will be looking to get the whole Netflix/Pandora thing going.

(main question coming up)
I have read about two calibration DVD's; Avia 2 and DVE. I desperately need to do something with my settings on this TV while I get the funds together for the receiver et al.

Right now my setup is:

• Sanyo DP50749 50" Plasma (720p) booooo I know...but it was a gift
• Panasonic SA-HT1000 5.1 Reciever (700W)
• Cisco/Comcast HD RNG 200 Cable Box
• 1.4 HDMI gold plated cable going from Cable box>TV

What do I do???

Does anyone I advise I get either one of these calibration DVDs before I get my system? (which one)

Or should I just wait to get my setup and use the Blu-Ray player? The colors are good on some channels...but when it is bad...it is just baaaaaaaad.

Suggestions are welcome...thanks in advance!

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the new TV!

Before we get into the calibration part, I'd like to poke at something that you mentioned:

The colors are good on some channels...

Are the ones that look good in widescreen, and the ones that look bad in 4:3? I'm asking because I use over-the-air broadcasts and when the stations convert widescreen high definition to 4:3 (for reasons that I have yet to fully understand), the colors get all jacked up. I've seen it flip from native widescreen to 4:3, and I know it's their conversion that is causing it. I noticed that you have cable, but that might still apply because the cable company is getting the feed from that stations.

I wanted to ask because perhaps it's not the TV that is causing the issue, but rather the source material. That goes to your question about waiting until you have the blu-ray player.

 

[Ares]

Well I have the same thing here,In Chicago some of the broadcasts are done in HD and some are not they are up converted to met the standard. Now I don't know how it works in the rest of the country but that's how it's done here. From what I can tell it looks like the Major networks do not have this problem it's just my local channels. Take a look and see if it is the case for you guys as well.

 

[Adam]

Mine happens when the local stations reformat the original broadcast. They do this for shows from the major network (such as "Oprah", which I'm guessing is in widescreen originally) and they do it for local news. Sometimes they mess us and do it for prime time shows, but not that often. Perhaps on cable they show the original material and only convert it for over-the-air thinking that people who want free TV all have 4:3 televisions.

 

[Ares]

I guess they figure if you watch free t.v. you can't afford one of those.....new MTV's no that's not it, is it OCD tv's wait that's not it OH! it's HD tv's yeah that's it.

 

[RedBank]

Thanks for the quick responses...

Adam & Ares...this is basically what is happening to me as well (the 4:3 situation). I am in the process of going through the channels one-by-one to see what channel is actually doing what, hoping to find a logic to it all...bit I think that is the problem.

I have a problem though...I have HD Newbphoma...I can't stop watching the 200 channels (the HD channels here in Comcast land in NJ). Now that I have witnessed HD from my own couch...I don't know how I am going to watch anything else.

So basically the calibration DVD's are not "all that"??? I guess my TV isn't as bad out of the box as I originally thought. My concern is, even though I am going to get a Blu-Ray player...I won't be using it all that much (so I say now). However, I do watch TV quite a bit when I get home from the office.

I guess I really don't have all that much control over the situation if the problem is coming from the source and not the TV

So the Avia 2 nor the DVE calibration DVD do not apply to my situation and are not really needed?

 

[Adam]

I still think that a calibration disc can help you in making the display look even better, but based on what you're saying, your display isn't fundamentally messed up. We just didn't want you to think that you got a bad display - it's the source material that's the issue. However, calibrating the TV can often get you an even better picture.

Some members here also recommend breaking in a plasma display using images such as the ones linked here. You can download them for free (click the link that says, "Free Download Available In 3 Formats!"). I used the images themselves on an SD memory card and ran a slideshow on my plasma because my Panasonic has a card reader. Others have used the DVD version.

 

[Ares]

I agree with Adam it's the source material and as well I would recommend for you to still calibrate your TV, there are more benefits to a calibrated TV then just a better picture.