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 Content A |
Ease of Use A | Value A
Recommended!
Joe Kane Productions (JKP)
DVD International
2008 | Reference | NR |
Region A
720p, 1080p | Dolby TrueHD
Summary: To get the most out of any
HDTV, you have to get either get a professional ISF-certified calibration
or a calibration disc. The professional calibration can easily cost $200-$300
as it takes a trained professional few hours to do a complete
calibration.
For the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home theater enthusiast, there are
calibration discs that should get you close enough, for
about a tenth of the price of a professional calibration and a
little bit of your time.
Created by home theater guru Joe Kane, the Digital Video Essentials
(DVE) High Definition (HD) Basics calibration disc is the best there
is among DIY calibration discs. If you are short on time, use
this calibration disc to set the brightness (which also sets the blackness level),
contrast, color (with the included Tri-Color optical filter), and
sharpness settings on your HDTV. Do you ever notice that the
picture and dialog are slightly out of synch with your home theater
system? If your AV receiver has an audio delay adjustment, use
the included A/V Timing test material to make this adjustment with
confidence and ease. With just these settings alone, your
viewing experience will be much closer to the viewing experience
that the director intended.
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Pros:
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Easy-to-navigate menu system(leaps and bounds
better than the 1997 Video Essentials DVD)
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Just about every test pattern that you will
need to get great results from your HDTV
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Includes a Tri-Color optical filter to set your color
adjustment accurately
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Includes good overview of home theater: the
home theater environment, audio and video
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Cons:
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Contents: a single Blu-ray disc, Tri-Color
optical filter to calibrate color settings, a 12-page fold out booklet
that shows you how to best hook up your home theater equipment and lists the disc content,
which is as follows:
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Introduction to HD: opening banners,
communication system, program production, bringing HD home
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HD In Detail: a 90-minute tutorial that
provides an overview of HDTV, including the viewing environment, and
the audio and video elements.
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HD Video Calibration: adjustments for brightness, contrast,
color, sharpness, display resolution, and geometry to get the most
accurate picture
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Basic Video Setup Patterns: PLUGE with log gray
scale, reverse gray ramps with steps, with and without horizontal
phase shift, color bars with gray reference, SMPTE color bars with
gray scale, overscan, pixel phase, geometry, reference for maximum
ambient light
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Audio Test Signals: full bandwidth pink noise
(stereo), frequency sweep, 15 Hz to 22 KHz, band limited pink noise
(stereo), 440 Hz calibration tone, subwoofer phase check,
multi-channel levels & balance, pan around the room
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Advanced Video Test Patterns (available in
1080p and 720p resolutions): PLUGE with Log Gray Scale,
PLUGE with Color Bars,
Reverse Gray Ramp with Steps with/without Horizontal Phase Shift,
Color Bars with Gray Reference,
SMPTE Color Bars with Gray Scale,
Overscan,
Pixel Phase,
Geometry,
Safe Action – Safe Title,
20%/80%/100%/40%/60% Window with New PLUGE,
SMPTE RP 133 Resolution Chart,
Raster Quick Reference,
Full Amplitude Vertical Multiburst,
Safe Action – Safe Title,
Luminance Zone Plate, Circular, Slow Phase,
Chroma Zone Plate, Circular, Slow Phase,
Verify Matrix,
A/V Timing,
100%-to5% Window with New PLUGE with 5% steps,
Video Black with New PLUGE
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Demonstration Materials (also available in
1080p and 720p resolutions)
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montage of images from NASA
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mix of 24 frames video & 1080p
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restaurant sequence with various video mastering
techniques:
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1.78, 4K down conversion to 1080p
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1.78, 1080p transfer
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1.33, 4K down conversion to 1080p
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1.33, 1080p transfer
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room ambiance
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model with chip chart on grainy film stock
Blu-ray released 3/25/2008 | Reviewed
9/7/2010
List $29.98
Support this site (order from our links):
Calibrating your TV is one of the best things you can do to enhance your
home entertainment experience as it will improve the picture quality
from your
Direct TV, Blu-ray/DVD player and any other device.
Additional Info from the Joe Kane
Productions web site:
program notes,
Blu-ray
notes.
Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
BDP-S570 Blu-ray disc player, Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 3-LCD
1080p 16:9 aspect ratio front projector with custom screen, Onkyo TX-NR5007
THX Ultra2 certified A/V receiver with 145 Watts/channel, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker,
Mediabridge Ultra HDMI cables available from
Amazon.com, Monster Cable Original speaker cables, and Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack. For internet streaming and content, we use a Motorola SB5100
cable modem and
Netgear WGR614 wireless-g router
for our home network. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the
Digital Video
Essentials (DVE) HD Basics Blu-ray disc.
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