Using Calibration DVD's??

[Redbone]

It seems to me that the calibrating Discs are all geared toward DVD playback. I think others like myself were lead to believe it calibrates the TV for all formats like Cable TV, VCR, Digital Cable and HDTV. With this in mind I must ask how do we properly calibrate the TV for Digital Cable and HDTV sources?? I have recently been told that because the DVD settings are calibrated properly it does not mean that those same settings will be optimal for Digital cable and satelite viewing.

Also how much different calibration wise are the non DVD sources i.e Digital cable, satelite and HDTV compared to DVD? What should we be aware of when trying to calibrate for sources other than DVD?

Thanks

 

[Rex]

I dont know, but I have the Aria Disc and I (tried) to calibrate my LCD TV last night with it. Something Ive never done before and was quite interesting.

 

[Audioholics]

There is actually a bit of a quandry out there in that you are supposed to calibrate a system, not just an input. So, with a calibration DVD you are essentially calibrating your DVD path (plus audio which is not dependent upon TV input, etc.)

Unfortunately, the best way to calibrate a cable or antenna HDTV system woudl be to have a dedicated channel that is running ISF content. That's not going to happen anytime soon as far as I can tell, so the next best thing is to use he DVD to calibrate the input for that device.

Remember, on most TVs/displays each input retains its own calibration settings. In other words, if you calibrate your component input for DVD, but use s-video for cable - you have done nothing for the cable input. The next best thing in this case is to hook up the calibration DVD to your s-video input and calibrate that way.

Make sense?

 

[BMXTRIX]

Hawke is dead on - While there is no perfect way to handle VHS & HDTV inputs, your best bet is to use your DVD player on the component, S-video, and composite inputs and run through the complete setup on each input.

There actually are HDTV digital tapes out there for HD digital VCRs that allow you to calibrate inputs for 1080i and 720p, but since you end up using your cable/DSS for HDTV the final result still isn't perfect.

One of the bigger ideas is to know all the concepts within the setup that you need to get used to and to know what to look for. With enough practice, you will get a lot better at picking out what details you need to adjust on your own when viewing regular TV/cable/HD and you can make some of those adjustments on the fly. It's not as good as a dedicated - or for a freakin' concept, a weekly one hour session, of video calibration on HD-Net or INHD.

 

[Redbone]

Thanks for the replies it was helpful with the other inputs. Trying to figure out how I can tune the cable connection though, don't know of any devices that play DVD and can output to a a coax cable input on the back of a TV?

My HD input is through HDMI which my current DVD Player does not support oh well back to the drawing board.

 

[tdenny]

So if I have cable HD and my DVD player running through DVI to my projector what would be the "best" way to calibrate? Any suggestions?