The Chuck Williams ISF tour of Ohio
April 21st to April 28th
Sunday April 21st
AM:
Robert Sato
The result: picture looks great. I must've been watching it too dark for the last 4 months & also wasn't using sharpness control properly. He showed me the difference on the SVM settings through the checker box pattern & SVM @ zero is the best.
PM:
Donn Boyd
Chuck completed the calibration on Sunday (21st) for me. The set looks
great. Thanks for all your help.
Monday April 22nd
Bob Slepecky
After Chuck's work the picture looks awesome
I got the set in January & did the basic AVIA stuff myself; more like I 'tried' the basic AVIA stuff. As Chuck pointed out I was watching it too dark (maybe the burn-in thing really scared me ... at least that's the excuse I'm sticking to 'cause I need to save face from the constant complaining the past 4 months from my spouse ).
Here are some things I observed:
- as mentioned above I was watching it too dark; I was about 11 clicks from center on the contrast whereas Chuck found 9 clicks to be about right for my set.
- SVM @ zero seems the best ... Chuck used the checkerboard pattern from AVIA to show me the difference.
- it's easier to do manual focus with one person holding the screen while the other reaches into the dials.
Now I need to hurry & put up that RS antenna I got on Saturday. The set gets most use for DVD viewing but I recently got OTA STB. I used to have E* but decided to cancel ... 10 months worth of E* will pay for the OTA STB (we weren't watching much E* & hated having to either get a 2nd dish+STB for HD content or keep expanding or stretching the 4:3 stuff.
Finally, we can enjoy the set as it was intended to. Thanx Chuck for the fine work.
PM:
Fred DeGrandis Jr. fdbowie@ameritech.net (feel free to email me with questions)
Just a quick update for my fellow members of the tour.
Chuck came to my home today to ISF my display. I will get to what he did in a little bit.
First off, I am AMAZED with what he did. Chuck may think that I am a little nuts, because I kept swearing at my display,because I had absolutely no idea how good this could actually be.
I have read all the hype around the boards, talking about how good Chuck is, and what wonders he can work with displays, but nothing could have prepared me for what the end result was. As he was connecting the component cables to my Set Top Box, a black and white image appeared. I started laughing because it was so amazing. He said "Fred, I haven't hooked them all up yet, but the black and white image was amazing.
On HD.net, the Peter Arnett Taliban show was on, and there was a man on the screen. You could make out every single one of the facial hairs on his head. He then hooked the rest of the component cables in, and it looked outstanding.This is what HDTV really should look like. If you have read some of Chucks customer testimonials over at the spot, you may have come across words like "window like" meaning it looks like you are watching people through a window. I now know what these people were talking about. It honestly looks like you are really there!
I am amazed with Chucks work, and I would not hesitate to have him back again(when I need a tune up in a couple of years:)) I had chuck give me "The Works", and let me tell you that he made my Mits sing.I am honestly amazed at how good this looks. While operating on my display, Chuck let explained everything that he was doing, and even got me involved a little.(He let me look through his color bars to show me how messed up the color decoder was)
For those of you thinking about having on of the GREATS out to your home, I can honestly say, this is truely a no brainer! I am going to watch my display now. I will post more feedback in a little. IF there is someone in Cleveland who is thinking about buying a Hidef display, I invite you to visit my home to see this work of art.
Chuck is truely an artist, and I am so fortunate to have had him come to my home and work his magic.
Enjoy your calibration everyone:), I know I did.
Fred M. DeGrandis Jr.
Tuesday April 23rd
AM:
Ted Brady
Well, Chuck made it back today about 10:15am. This time, with the pj on the floor, he was able to do much more indepth work, and voila, the fan mod worked. It's MUCH quiter now!
We carefully and tentatively lifted the behemoth back up on its ceiling mounts so he could begin his calibration work. My PJ has quite a few hours on it and Chuck and I determined that the green gun is at the point where it's still very functional but too old to put a full ISF color calibration investment into it. So instead he did a manual grayscale adjustment, tweaked the heck out of the five aspect ratios (HDTV, NTSC anamorphic, 4:3, wide and 4:3 large), gave me a new 720p one to get ready for my yet-to-be-purchased HTPC scaler, and basically just neatened things up. The pj was in pretty good shape before he came, so the difference is not startling, but it's pleasantly much more focused with better geometry (although the 4:3 settings look a little keystoned tonight...we never tested them with a signal...nothing I can't adjust). All in all, six hours of good tlc and a much quiter home theater environment.
Thanks again, Fred, for putting this together.
PM:
Dr. Harold Mars
I found him to be most professional and competent. As he put it,
> ...he speaks to the equipment, and they respond.
>
> After he finished the calibration and isf,we looked at some of the
> superbit version of the Fifth Element,and it was extremely sharp and
> detailed. The color palate was different from what I was used to, as
> it appears the set was overweighted in the red, and now is closer to K
> 6500.
>
> I have not yet had the opportunity for extended and critical
> viewing, but what little I saw last night makes me feel that
> the process was well worth it.
>
> Best regards
>
> Harold Mars
Thursday April 25th
AM:
Richard Bray
I definitely don't have any problems with Chuck's service. He was here around 3.5 hours and worked everything I had requested. My wife and I can't believe the video we are watching is coming from the same TV. I didn't expect much improvement in the high definition format (it was already so good); but it may have improved the most. The colors now in high definition are amazing and also look much better in the other formats. The improved focus even helped my satellite standard definition picture. Someone would have to see the "before and after" to understand. My words aren't adequate.
Thank you very much for all your hard work coordinating this effort. You went significantly "above and beyond" normal expectations for this type amateur/volunteer project.
PM:
Dave McWilliams
Wow. Now I know why you were so excited about getting Chuck out to our neck of the woods. I even think my wife will see the difference. :)
Thank you for putting this tour together, Fred. Chuck did his usual great work, and I am one happy camper.
Saturday April 27th
PM
Randy Van Fossan
Yes, it is a beautiful thing. It damn near makes a grown man cry.. hehe..
Chuck is a consumate professional. He did an excellent job, explained everything in detail that he was doing and was very thorough. He even checked his work twice. I must say I am thoroughly impressed.
He made my mits sing. My wife and kids said WOW!!. I told Chuck that it was worth every penny.
I also put a litle humor in when He hooked up just the one cable and it was in B&W and I said, "Damn, that's a good picture". He just laughed and mentioned that someone else on the tour said the same thing. I told him that I read your post / email and was just joking... :O)
Sunday April 28th
AM:
Gary Scott
Everything went great. Chuck was a real professional. My projector looks incredible. Thanks again for organizing the tour.
Gary
PM:
Jaswant Madhavan
Chuck was here as promised. He put everything right on my TV. It has made a world of a difference. The colors are brighter and more true now. Money well spent.
Thanks
Jaswant
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Customer Testimonials
"Afer spending the money the question of course is, was it worth it. YES, YES, YES. WOW! The manual focusing seemed to sharpen the red gun.The fixed "Red Push" is just amazing. Because now the saturation is at the correct level the colors are vibrant and true. The grey levels were off some and that being corrected also made a difference. DVD's and HD are stunning. The color correction and no red push make for an unbelievable HD picture. I hate to admit this, I watch progams I don't even really like just to watch HD sometimes!
Throw in having the settings all calibrated for the midway point and you have one great TV.
To many I know this is no revalation. But to anyone wondering about getting an "ISF" calibration done I cannot describe the enjoyment you will get."
tampa8
Contributing SPottie
Member # 3240
"All I can say is now I know what yellow looks like. I actually stop and look at the yellow flowers outside of my house and remark that my TV can now produce the same color for the first time. The funny thing is that I have known of the Red Push for over a year now by reading the Spot but I didn't really recognize it in my TV until I had my color decoder properly set. My recommendation is to do everything you can to have your set calibrated by one of the guys who can adjust the color decoder via the software. Chuck fixed the focus, adjusted the color decoder, grayscale, adjusted the sharpness/edge enhancement, corrected the geometry, overscan and other things I can't immediately recall all within about 3 hours. As you can tell, Chuck knows his way around the Mitsubishi menus. He was very eager to explain what he was doing and point out the before and after for all the steps. The I2C device is an incredible tool. Along with his laptop and Sencore signal generator, my set is calibrated to perfection.
The biggest improvements were having the focus set and the color decoder correctly adjusted. HD looks incredible. This was the best addition to my HT I could have made. The TV look very good before Chuck came over but now it looks fantastic. You really won't know the full potential of your set unless you have your set adjusted by someone who can bring out the full potential of your TV. Like I said in the beginning, now I know what yellow looks like."
Chris_B
Contributing SPottie
Member # 162
"Chuck was here a week ago and I agree....this is the best money ever spent
on my HT setup!!!"
DL242
Editor
Member # 3334
"Let me second that motion! For all of you out there who are considering having your set ISF'ed by someone like Chuck, do yourself a favor - Do It! you really need to put it in the proper context. It is like buying a piece of high-end HT equipment. If you could go out and buy a 'box' that would ensure that your set gave you the absolute best possible picture it is capable of, wouldn't you? Of course you would - you already have made a substantial investment, what's another ? And believe me, after you see what your set is capable of you will think that is a steal.......
CHUCK ROCKS!!!!"
Michigan State Mike
Contributing SPottie
Member # 6614
"Chuck did an ISF calibration on my 65907 this past weekend and let me tell you the difference is AMAZING!!! If you're thinking about getting your set calibrated, do it. The difference may not be quite night and day but its pretty close. I thought my set looked pretty good before Chuck did his magic. Well, I was wrong. I just can't get over how much better HDTV and DVD's look now (cripes, DirecTv almost looks pretty good. Well almost). Anyway, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on how pleased I am with my set now. We spend the big bucks on these things, we might as well spend a few more $$$ to get them to look as good they can (we certainly can't depend on Mits for that)."
mks
New SPottie
Member # 7807
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