Cost of ISF calibration?

Rowdy S13

Rowdy S13

Audioholic Chief
About how much am I looking at to have my tv ISF calibrated? What are the big bennifits?

Thanks,
Sean
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Rowdy S13 said:
About how much am I looking at to have my tv ISF calibrated? What are the big bennifits?

Thanks,
Sean

Depending on the TV/projector. Probably $300 minimum.

An ISF trained person will get the most out of the set. Just way too many areas to cover.
Just be warned though that the intensity may be a bit down as the color temp will be where it should be, not where the company sets it to wow people in showrooms.
 
I

InTheIndustry

Senior Audioholic
The ISF techs in our area aren't big fans of my company. I don't see a big benefit in spending $380 for them to calibrate a 42" - 50" plasma/LCD which is what's common these days. That's usually more than 10% (closer to 20 really) of the cost of the TV and I have yet to see any difference of value over using a good disk calibration system. Obviously they don't like this because I don't give them as many referals as my competitors do (except for the bigger dedicated theaters). Just to try it I paid for an ISF tech to calibrate a 50" Panasonic 50U series TV for a client. He spent a good amount of time on it and everything, but after he left the customer and I decided to switch everything back to factory and set it until it passed the eye test... I know I know, videophiles hate the eye test, but perception is reality isn't it?

All that being said, if you are droping $5K or more on a projector it's without question worth getting it ISF calibrated. I highly suggest it on all of our projector installs and will sometimes pay for it myself (basically including it in the bid at no charge) on a complete system project. It makes the projector look better and ultimately my business look better. I'm in full support of ISF on projectors and plasmas bigger then 50".
 
Bryce_H

Bryce_H

Senior Audioholic
I got mine done just before the Superbowl. I have an Epson 550. The projector was pretty close but biased toward green. Afterward the picture definately looked better (i.e. it passed the eye test). It was $325 for 2 inputs (in my case HDMI and component). Most quotes I received were 225 for the first input and 100-125 for each additional input. A couple of notes - make sure they have a HD signal generator and some sort of color analyzer (not an optical comparator - it can be done this way, but it is more dependant upon the skill and expereince of the tech). I think it was money well spent. I had done both Avia and DVE and had gotten the basics good - contrast, black level, etc. but the tech was able to get my color temp dead on. I'll try to remember to post the before and after report he sent me tonight when I get home.
 
Jack Hammer

Jack Hammer

Audioholic Field Marshall
How does a professional ISF calibration compare to the buying the Spyder Pro calibration kit and doing it yourself? They both cost about the same initially.

Jack
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
InTheIndustry said:
I know I know, videophiles hate the eye test, but perception is reality isn't it?
".

No different from the 'golden ear' reality then:D
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
mtrycrafts said:
No different from the 'golden ear' reality then:D
Having a golden ear would probably give you a headache and neck problems, certainly wouldn't be very good for listening to music.:D
 

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