Calibration Services

Video Calibration

Have you ever bought a new TV that looked great in the showroom, got it home, switched on and realised that the picture was not how it had looked in the shop? Hardly surprising, as most viewing at home is not done in a room that is lit with fluorescent strip lights. The type and intensity of lighting in the viewing room alters the perceived image and the display needs to be calibrated accordingly. Time to dig out the User's manual and reset the picture settings ? contrast, brightness, colour, sharpness and so on. It sounds so easy in the manual but, with a few exceptions, by following these instructions you will still end up with an excessive amount of contrast and unnatural looking colours.

The Hollywood studios used to employ calibrators known as 'the men with the Golden Eyeballs' - years of practice and an ability to judge when colours were 'just right' made them invaluable in setting the monitor screens to perfection. Mere mortals find it more difficult but help is at hand.

Over the years various test patterns have been developed that ease the calibration process and gradually these have become available to the public. DVDs such as Avia Guide to Home Theater and Digital Video Essentials contain these test patterns but despite comprehensive instructions many people find them difficult to use without a lot of practice.

An experienced user of these DVDs can accurately set the main user controls but the picture can still be further improved with an ISF calibration:

TVs, plasma, LCD screens and projectors all produce white light by combining red, green and blue in a certain combination. The exact combination determines the white balance. The film studios have agreed a standard to which their lighting and cameras are calibrated, known as D65 or 6500 K, and to reproduce an accurate image the display device must be calibrated to this same standard.

How is it done? Using a Colour Analyser linked to a laptop computer the amount of red, green and blue contained in the shades of grey between almost black right up to full white are calculated. These are compared to the reference D65 standard and adjustments are then made within the service menu of the display device to match the display to the standard. We use state of the art test equipment to perform the calibration and the reporting software enables us to give clients a printed 'before and after. graphical report proving that the display has been calibrated to D65.

Please click here to view sample report

Video Services:

Level 1 - Basic Video Service

This will include the following:

Optimise component inter-connection using existing cables.
Advise on ways of improving, if appropriate.
Set up user controls for brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness on display device.

Level 2 - ISF Calibration

In addition to the Basic Video Service check display geometry, measure greyscale and capture data to laptop, calibrate greyscale to D65 and produce full report.

Charges

Basic Video Service £90

Basic Video Service and ISF calibration of up to 2 memories (see details below) :

Plasma / LCD screen £250
Direct view TV £175
Rear projection TV £250
Projector from £250

Additional memories (each) £40

Memories - many display devices are able to store individual settings for each input and / or signal type and each has to be calibrated accordingly. Some source devices (DVD players etc.) and external processors / scalers also have programmable memories. Please contact us with a full list of your equipment before booking an ISF calibration to receive a firm price quotation.

Travel
Travel is charged from Telford in Shropshire at the rate of 45p per mile (return journey).

Payment
Payment is due on the day of calibration and can be made in cash or by cheque provided it is supported by a guarantee card.

VAT
VAT is not chargeable on our services.