|   Sound & Vision Calibration Disc. Any good? | Jay1
Feb 25, 2002 8:12 AM | | Am looking at buying a calibration disc for my home theatre. Am considering Sound and Vision, Avia, and Video Essentials. Have seen tons of reviews on Avia and VE but little on Sound & Vision. Can get Sound & Vision for $ 27.00 canadian or Avia for $69.00 canadian, which would you get? |
| Review of S&V disc | Old_lane
Feb 25, 2002 8:39 AM | | I just got the disc this weekend and used it to calibrate all my stuff. I was actually going to post a review on my thoughts of the disc but since you asked I'll post here.
The disc is okay but not all that great in my opinion. It spends some amount of time describing home theaters and how to hook stuff together which is fairly basic. I thought It was pretty funny that they actually spent some amount of time describing how to hook your DVD player up to a tv (common guys if people can't do this then they can't see your steps on how to do it....duh). The explanations were concise. It seems to be too quickly paced for those that could really benefit from the advice they give. (most regulars on this board would understand all the stuff cause we use it regularly but a novice would probably need to scan back quite a few times to catch everything.
Test patterns for video were pretty good and allows you to change all the remote settings (non service menu stuff). One thing that was bad was that for most of the advanced calibration things they don't tell you what the test pattern should look like they just have the pattern so there's no way to calibrate using the advanced patterns unless you already know what they should look like. i'm guessing you'd use these to calibrate grey scale, convergence etc.
The audio portion was pretty basic. Test tones and phase tones, and tests for sub crossover settings other than that there wasn't too much to this section. They mention the SPL and on the package they say they tell you how to use one but they only mention the device and don't offer any usable input on this.
I haven't used Avia or VE yet but most likely I will in the near future. (Can you rent these from anywhere?) I guess for half the price of Avia or VE you can get some basic calibration done (color, contrast, tint, brightness, sharpness etc) but all in all I wouldn't reccomend this disc of course if VE and AVIA are similar than I'd change my reccomendation but for now I'm making an uneducated assumption that VE and AVIA will offer more seeing as how I expected this DVD to do more than it did. |
| Personally, I liked It | JDaniel
Feb 26, 2002 8:26 AM | | Old Lane - good review, and agree with most of what you said, although I disagree with one point below. I bought the S&V disc for $15 online, and was very pleased with the price & performance. As Old Lane said, it is basic, but I think "basic" is exactly what the majority of consumers need.
"I thought It was pretty funny that they actually spent some amount of time describing how to hook your DVD player up to a tv (common guys if people can't do this then they can't see your steps on how to do it....duh)."
I have to respectfully disagree with this. While some regulars on this forum may not need such basic advice, most average consumers do need it - and there are many novices/newbies that read this forum. I thought S&V did an outstanding job of explaining the basics, such as different types of connections (component vs. S-vid, vs composite) and how to properly hook them up. A good example is that the S&V disc explained the difference between routing video through the receiver vs. directly to the tv. This question shows up regularly on this forum.
"They mention the SPL and on the package they say they tell you how to use one but they only mention the device and don't offer any usable input on this." Again, I thought the disc did a fair job on this, and along with the Rad. Shack instructions, it was easy to understand.
I also liked the fact that both DD and DTS test signals were provided. Thanks to some advice from Terrence, I calibrated my system using the DTS test tones.
The one area that was a little disappointing was the subwoofer section. While a good basic description was given, and test tones provided, it did not do an adequate job of explaining the actual calibration (IMHO). Again, thanks to this forum, and Terrence, for coming to the rescue.
As for my comment on the "average consumer", here's a good example. I loaned my S&V disc and sound meter to a friend. He, like many consumers, purchased a Sony all-in-one system (dvd/receiver combo) with little cube speakers. Not my choice, but it is the choice for many consumers. He just plugged it in and has been using it with the default settings since Christmas. The disc showed two serious flaws in his setup: (1) his sub had never been turned on (i.e. the volume was off in the receiver). He'd never owned a sub before, so he didn't know what to expect. And (2), he had hooked up his speakers backwards (left for right). The pink noise in the receiver just sends the signals, so he didn't realize he had them backwards. The S&V calibration disc actually says (right front, right surround etc.), and shows them on screen in their correct position. Needless to say, his movie-watching enjoyment has increased tremendously.
And as for video adjustments, they walk you through the basics (brightness, sharpness, color, tint, hue etc.). For the average consumer that is probably all they should try on their own anyway.
Long post - sorry, but the S&V disc is well worth $15.
JDaniel |
| Based on Old_Lane's review..... | nick4433
Feb 25, 2002 9:48 AM | | I would save the money and still go with the S&V. Why? Because the VE or Avia does not offer anything drastically different either. |
| thanks nick (NT) | Old_lane
Feb 25, 2002 9:57 AM | | |
| Thanks alot Nick and Old lane for the info (nt) | Jay1
Feb 25, 2002 12:29 PM | | |
| For what it's woth.... | Hocke
Feb 26, 2002 8:49 AM | | I also have the Sound & Vision disc, and I too thought it was a bit basic, but a year ago, before discovering this Board, it would have been the saving grace for me. I actually thought of my parents for example, who just bought a big screen TV, and are thinking about home theater, this would be perfect, and because of the 2 hosts walking you through it, it would be more beneficial for them. IMHO.
The other thing I noticed was the color and hue calibration was much more to my liking than VE or Avia, and that is just my tastes.
Overall, it could use some sound improvements, the sub in particular, because it seems to yield the most questions when it comes to speakers, in this forum and in the general public.
The BIG Bonus to me though was the Dolby Digital and THX trailers, they are entertaining and great for a quick demo of you setup. I got it for $14.00 at DVDPlanet, and have no regrets.
Hope that helps.
Hocke Nut |
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