Has anyone ever heard of calibrating a t.v.?

Question

im trying to buy a samsung 40'' lcd hdtv and best buy is trying to charge me 300 dollars to "calibrate" the tv. they say if i don't the tv will only last 4 years at the most, but if i do the tv will last twice as long. is this actually a good thing to do or are they just scamming me?

Answer 1

A technician can come out and calibrate your TV.  It is done all the time and the purpose is to give you a better picture not to make the TV last longer.  Calibrating the TV is a good idea, but it is not going to effect how long the TV lasts.

Calibration is NOT only done at the factory - it is done by qualified TV techs in homes every day.

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv/lc...

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6463_7-5085...

Answer 2

Actually calibrating a TV will give you the best performance and picture quality.  If you are gonna spend 300.00 hire a qualified isf tech whose only job is calibrating TV's.  They go through constant training to keep up with the latest technology.

I wouldn't trust the people at BestBuy to even just plug in my TV (they are complete morons which is evident by a member here named MikeA.) who calls himself a BB HT enthusiast, everyone of his answers has been so off the mark, I wouldn't trust him to pick up my dogs messes.

Now you can eaily buy a calibration disc yourself.  It's not as in depth as an isf calibration, but will help you adjust your picture for the room it is in.  It will help you adjust the Tint, Hue, Color, Brightness, Sharpness and Contrast to give you a stunning picture. They cost about 15.00-30.00

I have found that fixed pixel displays normally don't require an isf calibration as much as front and rear projection TV's, but a HD calibration disc is a good investment.  You can buy one at Fry's Electronics called DVE Calibration on Bluray, if you don't have bluray then buy a standard calibration disc.  I prefer the Sound and Vision Home Theater Tune Up disc which is very user freindly and guides you step by step to calibrate your TV.

As mentioned most TV's come from the factory set to "Torch mode" so they look good in showrooms and having the brightness turned up so high will decrease the life span on the TV (but not down to 4 years) maybe by half life if kept that bright, so maybe 15 years.  After turning the Contrast and Brightness down your LCD should last on average 25 years till it reaches it's half life brightness level (or 60,000 hours watching 5 hours a day).

I never trust the techs at Best Buy and when I do wander in there to buy a movie, I am amazed at all the BS they tell customers, just jaw dropping at times.

I have installed over 150 HT systems ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to a couple hundred thousand dollars and I still chuckle when the people at Worst Buy feed me BS.  This guy here name MikeA. is one of the worst, he has given this site so much misinformation that anyone who would listen to him would seem to me to have the worst possible picture and sound and at a huge expense to the consumer.

Answer 3

This is one of the biggest money making scams perpetrated on the buying public by BB. Any brand new TV that needs calibration is a TV NOT worth owning. LCD TV's do lose color accuracy with age and will need professional color calibration at some point in their life, but not new, out of the box LCD HDTVs. Save your money, skip the calibration and buy your TV from another reputable retail outlet that will not scam you like BB!

Answer 4

To answer your question directly, NO, I have never heard of calibrating a TV.  Although I have heard of aligning or adjusting a TV, but not calibrating.  Calibration is a term used in test equipment that will be used to measure other electronic equipment, i.e. Oscilloscopes, DVM's, Test Generators, Spectrum Analyzers, Power Supplies and Signal type Generators.  TV's, nah.  Although, with these new type TV's, I do wonder about that.  Hmmmm

Answer 5

Sounds like a scam to me.  Calibration is only done in the factory and by qualified techs... not someone at Best Buy.

The only thing they can do is to sell you an extended warranty.

Honestly, I'd call Best Buy corporate and report this store.

Answer 6

tvs are shipped to look their best in the show room where you have bright lights.  calibrating a tv is often overlooked but can make a big difference it should be done to increase the bulb life of a projector and to give you a better picture based on your room and sources

Answer 7

Plasma longevity is much less of an issue with current technology than it has been in the past. Plasma manufacturers now advertise 30-60,000 hour half-lives (time until the picture reaches half its original maximum brightness) as the useful life of their sets. This equates to 10-20 years of life if your TV is on 8 hours a day. If you run your set at less than maximum brightness and contrast (which you should) you can expect the higher end of these numbers. Since this is a gradual effect you can often compensate for dimming plasma by re-calibrating your settings.

LCD technology is actually more of a "sudden death" scenario than plasma in that when the backlight burns out suddenly, it must be replaced. However LCD backlights *can* be replaced (as long as they remain available) while plasma panels can't be effectively recharged or repaired once they lose brightness.

Having said that, plasma is still a bit of a touchy technology in terms of power, heat output, and fragility. It's one of the few types of A/V component I would buy an extended warranty for.

Beyond that, each technology has advantages and disadvantages. Plasma has deeper blacks, more accurate color and faster response to rapidly-changing pictures and is better for optimized viewing (such as a movie room), especially at screen sizes above 40 inches; LCD is lighter, less fragile, more energy efficient, can provide a brighter picture and is better for bright rooms and much other non-critical viewing.

A good link for comparisons is below

11 months ago

Source(s):

http://bestbuy-cnet.com.com/4351-12658_7...