Calibration on Different inputs?

[Redbone]

Like most I calibrate through my DVD component input then take the numbers off this and use them as a general guidline for my HD Cable HDMI input. It has been said that inputs vary greatly, am I to believe that the exact settings for DVD not be used for other inputs??

 

[djoxygen]

In my experience (admittedly limited compared to others on these boards) the output of different devices varies dramatically, especially across different types of video connections. As an example, I used the DVE cal DVD to get my set resonably configured for movie watching (progressive, component signal). The S-Video from my DirecTV box is too hot and the blacks are washed out. The component, interlaced signal from my PS2 is pretty hot, but has nice dark blacks.

To split hairs, it's not a difference in the *inputs* of your TV, but in the outputs of the sources.

I just had an idea - maybe we should all lobby our cable/satellite companies to dedicate an unused channel to a rotating set of calibration patterns.

 

[Engine Joe]

Like most I calibrate through my DVD component input then take the numbers off this and use them as a general guidline for my HD Cable HDMI input. It has been said that inputs vary greatly, am I to believe that the exact settings for DVD not be used for other inputs??

On my Toshiba DLP, all calibrations are done based on the inputs. That is, if I calibrate via Avia DVD in my component ins, those calibrations only apply to that input. If I have an input into the HDMI, I'll also need to calibrate that.

Still, the poster above makes a valid point; output sources aren't necessarily identical, either. This can be a problem when you use a receiver so that all outputs go through the receiver and only one input is used on your TV. In those cases, you'll have to calibrate your output sources... if they are designed to do that.

 

[djoxygen]

On my Toshiba DLP, all calibrations are done based on the inputs. That is, if I calibrate via Avia DVD in my component ins, those calibrations only apply to that input. If I have an input into the HDMI, I'll also need to calibrate that.

I perhaps wasn't clear enough. I'd wager that if you had multiple component inputs, the same settings and the same source would look identical. You could recalibrate or simply copy the settings. Unless the product is stupidly designed or poorly manufactured you should get the same results on RGB1 and RGB2.

But if you use Avia or DVE to cal a component input, and then move your DVD player to an HDMI input and cal that, it (sadly) probably won't be a valid calibration for your cable box on the component input.

Although the calibration settings are applied to the inputs, they're only valid for the output of the source you used to calibrate. Mostly because of sloppy manufacturing and design. In theory all component outputs should produce the same voltages for 100% of each color, 90% of each color, etc... but in practice that doesn't seem to be the case, and as EJ suggests, it would be nice if you could cal the outputs of the source devices.