Is it necessary to calibrate an LCD flat screen TV?

Question

I just bought a new Samsung 650 52" LCD flat screen tv at Best Buy and the salesman at the store said after about a month it would need to be calibrated. I had bought a Sony 40" LCD flat screen a couple of years ago and it had never come up. Is this something new?

They want to charge me about $300.00 and I don't know if that is a good price or not. Also how do I know if the technician is qualified to do this type of work.

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

The overwhelming majority of consumers such as yourself do not need a display calibration; professional display calibration is far more a luxury than a necessity for consumers, especially if your viewing habits are more casual than critical. Best Buy, it should come as no surprise, has a bad habit of overstating the case when it comes to display calibration.



Most of today’s better quality fixed-pixel displays, including Samsung’s A650 series HDTVs, have specific picture modes and settings that will provide acceptable gray-scale (aka white balance) and D65 (6500 K CCT) color performance directly out of the box - often much better than the displays manufacturer’s offered to consumers not long ago. You should also be aware that some consumers who receive professional display calibrations and/or optimize the picture fidelity of their display are unhappy with the results, often feeling the video image is dull, soft and lacks punch. When it comes to video image fidelity ‘better’ is purely subjective, accuracy is not.



You also need to be aware that unless you are using some sort of side-by-side visual reference standard for color accuracy, such as a high quality, professionally calibrated display or a calibrated ‘color critical reference grade’ professional monitor, then it is highly unlikely that you would be able to tell if the white point and gray scale tracking on your display is inaccurate, especially if you take the time to properly optimize your display settings for your specific viewing conditions. (Be careful when it comes to local A/V dealers demonstrating non-calibrated and instrument calibrated displays side-by-side. The non-calibrated display is very likely to have not been properly configured and/or optimized in order to exaggerate the difference between the two displays.)



If you find yourself within the small group of consumers who value the utmost in color accuracy (providing your viewing environment is also ‘optimized’ for critical viewing,) and/or you have the disposable income to spend, then a professional calibration may be worthwhile, assuming you do not have any color vision deficiencies, etc. You also have at least one cost-effective alternative to hiring a professional calibration service and that is to purchase your own inexpensive colorimeter, (which can cost less than the cost of a typical professional calibration,) such as various models from Gretag-Macbeth, Datacolor, etc., and learn to calibrate your own display(s). However if you’re like the remainder of the population you can either save your pennies and accept what the display manufacturer provides OR you can rent or purchase one of the display optimization (aka “calibration”) discs such as Avia from Ovation Multimedia or one of the Digital Video Essentials discs from Joe Kane Productions. By the way, owning a Samsung A650 series HDTV provides you with a very convenient, worthwhile feature often found on professional-grade broadcast monitors, and that is Samsung’s “Blue Screen” mode. Samsung’s Blue Screen mode, along with the proper test pattern from one of the display optimization discs (and/or a TV broadcaster or MSO who periodically transmits a standardized color bar pattern, such as the SMPTE Color Bar pattern¹,) is used to help optimize the color controls on your HDTV.



What I recommend for a person in your situation is that you start with the least expensive solution and work your way toward the more expensive solutions as needed. Start by renting or purchasing one of the aforementioned display optimization discs (please use the display calibration resource listed at the bottom for detailed info) in order to properly and accurately optimize your display settings. If the resulting picture fidelity is acceptable then you should take comfort in knowing that you saved yourself a nice chunk of change. However if you’re dissatisfied with the results, i.e., you feel the picture is dull, lacking or both then professional display calibration and optimization may not be for you; either way you saved yourself money. (Note: I strongly advise that you do not use the highly problematic subjective “calibration” procedure outlined on the Flat Screen TV Guide Website.)



If after all that you still decide that you want (or need) a professional display calibration you will be best served by hiring a knowledgeable, independent, certified professional calibration technician who has the proper knowledge, training, calibrated equipment and experience. (Please take advantage of the resources I’ve listed below for help in finding a competent professional calibration technician.)



As you are aware some Best Buy stores, through their Geek Squad unit, are currently charging approximately $300 for a two-hour ISF display calibration, which is at the higher-end of the price range for a ‘professional’ calibration of a direct-view display. Though the ISF program has improved over the years since I first attended back in 1994, simply attending an ISF training class is insufficient to become a competent calibration technician. At this point I would be extremely reluctant to recommend (or utilize) Best Buy’s calibration service unless they were able to convince me that their technicians possess the proper knowledge, equipment and experience to perform the task competently.



################ RESOURCES ################



CNET’s dark-room picture settings for the Samsung LN52A650

http://reviews.cnet.com/9602-12576_7-0.h...

CNET Review: Samsung LN52A650 Flat-panel TV

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/s...



Just purchased a Samsung LN-T4066F TV and wondering if anyone knows the ideal calibration settings for it?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

How to calibrate an HDTV?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Calibration LCD TV?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Is it really important to have calibration on an LCD television?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

I purchased a Sony 52" XBR4 LCD TV on Best Buy?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...



¹Why do TV screens have colors after sign off?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...



Display Calibration Resources

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhpmqnbb_4...

 

Answer 2

It's a rip off. Most can do a reasonable job on their own. Remember, settings may change with signal input and room lighting. Try here - it's free and this process satisfies 9 out of 10!  http://flat-screen-tv-guide.com/how-to.h...

Answer 3

that is completely unnecessary, unless YOU think the picture needs tweaking