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I have used other HDTV Calibration disc, but this disc by far has been much more useful and more in-depth.
This DVD has an hour long monologue using 1931 charts on history of TV sets including block diagrams and equations. If you just want a test pattern and audio to walk you through the setting then no way. Do you really want a 20 minute lecture on history of TV to set your color level and Hear the kelvin temperature sale defined to set gray level. If so this is for you.
There are videos that explain DVD technology, how to setup your room to watch DVDs optimally, how to setup your sound system in very broad, basic terms. This DVD probably has to be one of the most confusing things I've ever seen in my life. You will likely suffer an anurism trying to figure out what Joe Kane is trying to do here. I can't figure out who this disc is for:-Calibrators will not use this disc because its too cluttered to find reference patterns.-Normal people won't be able to decipher what he's trying to say and will get frustrated.-AV Geeks will be disappointed at the uneven quality of the disc's explanations and patterns.
Also, some of his explanations throw out terms that he never explains (like Average Picture Level). I wanted to recommend this disc to people, but I just can't. Since I'm a bit of an AV geek, and read AV forums quite a bit and peruse many av websites, some of his explanations are helpful (his explanation of color temperature finally helped the concept click in my head), but a lot of the test patterns simply aren't explained in the reference section. This disc, in many ways, feels like a highly abbreviated version of a professional training seminar in home theater calibration with the lecture torn into pieces and scattered about on this disc.
You'd probably learn far more about calibration by running the THX Optimizer on Star Wars or the Monster calibration disc. The basic test patterns are explained well enough that someone who sorta followed the directions and re-watched most of the disc *might* get it after the the third time through. And I've seen Battlefield Earth.If your'e an average guy who wants to learn how to do a basic calibration, run away from this disc very quickly. However, later when they explain (some) of the test patterns on the disc, tons of terms, diagrams, and pictures are thrown at the user in short order with very little explanation as to what they mean.
I hear he explains more stuff, and if he does, this disc might be useful for average folks).Much of the material toward the beginning of the disc seems to be that way. Further, at the time of this writing this disc is really old (close to 10 years), so large portions of the explanations have really outdated pictures/CGI. NB: The BluRay version of DVE might be better, so maybe check that out.
I think the average person will find it somewhat frustrating to use. This item is very detailed but very technical.
I had a hard time finding the test signals I was looking for, and I wish it gave better instructions on how to adjust your TV settings to improve the viewing experience.
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