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Futureshop salesman insists on TV calibration

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Deal Addict
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Oct 17, 2005
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Futureshop salesman insists on TV calibration

I was at a Futureshop today and the salesman was showing us the differences between calibrated and non-calibrated screens.
I completely understand that Futureshop operates on commissions and therefore I can't ever be 100% sure if they are trying to sell me something that I need or not.
He insisted that ANY TV that I buy from them or from anyone needs some kind of hi-tech calibration that isn't available for the home user to set up on their own.
He said it's totally different from just adjusting settings in the menus and that it can only be done with the "$10,000 briefcase" that the Futureshop technicians bring to your house.
This calibration, he says, is to change the TV from the "store display" settings to more watchable home settings that have better color ranges and less extreme contrasts.
He said it would be something like $150 to get it calibrated along with the $300 charge for them to set up the tv at my home (which I never even said that I wanted).
He was talking about selling me a floor unit since they didn't have more of that specific model available and that since it had been on for 9 months already in-store, it had been running long enough to allow for the calibration to be done.
And of course he suggested taking the extended warranty plan because it was a floor model.

Aaanyway, my question is whether this guy was full of BS or if this calibration (that no home user can supposedly do on their own) is actually necessary to get optimal picture output once we've purchased the TV.

Thanks for any input.
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Nov 24, 2012
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Look up your model online and find people who calibrated the same model. Use their settings, that's what I did.
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Jan 27, 2006
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You should insist on buying the TV somewhere else....
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Solsearchin1 wrote: Look up your model online and find people who calibrated the same model. Use their settings, that's what I did.
the salesman addressed this with me when i asked. he says that the settings available to the home customer aren't the same as what their calibration techs do - he says they attach external equipment to the tv and the display will show something like a BIOS screen while they calibrate settings.

so he's basically saying that anything the user can do at home with their contrast, colour levels, temperature, etc...is not the same as what the futureshop technicians do when they "calibrate" the screen for the user.

is there any way that he is correct?
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craftsman wrote: You should insist on buying the TV somewhere else....
this isn't helpful. are you saying that you know for certain that he is wrong and just trying to sell me services that aren't needed?
i'm fine buying elsewhere and i don't like the pushiness of commission-based salesmen. but i'd still like to know whether anything he said could have been true in some way.
Jr. Member
Feb 14, 2010
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Beaumont
I used to think that calibration was a bs upsell. Now that I have purchased a tv renowned for image quality my opinion has changed. The question is wether it's worth the money to you. Many would never notice that their tv was out.

A cheaper approach would be to get the Disney WoW calibration disc, or find settings online for your specific model of tv and try those. You could always get the calibration done later if you wanted to.
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Sep 24, 2007
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scottyboy2k5 wrote: the salesman addressed this with me when i asked. he says that the settings available to the home customer aren't the same as what their calibration techs do - he says they attach external equipment to the tv and the display will show something like a BIOS screen while they calibrate settings.

so he's basically saying that anything the user can do at home with their contrast, colour levels, temperature, etc...is not the same as what the futureshop technicians do when they "calibrate" the screen for the user.

is there any way that he is correct?
this is true, they do attach a device to the screen to calibrate (something you wont have access to). i had this done, since they were willing to drop the price of the tv more than the cost of the service. it was already on sale as well.

had to return the tv within a week, no problems getting them to come out and calibrate the new one.

bottomline, do it if they are going to negotiate the tv price down more than the cost of the calibration package. otherwise, google it and DIY.
Jr. Member
Feb 14, 2010
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Beaumont
scottyboy2k5 wrote: the salesman addressed this with me when i asked. he says that the settings available to the home customer aren't the same as what their calibration techs do - he says they attach external equipment to the tv and the display will show something like a BIOS screen while they calibrate settings.

so he's basically saying that anything the user can do at home with their contrast, colour levels, temperature, etc...is not the same as what the futureshop technicians do when they "calibrate" the screen for the user.

is there any way that he is correct?
He's not lying. They tweak the tv to fine tune colour settings.
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Yes, he's correct in you can have your set calibrated professionally. This involves going into the hidden advanced service menu and using specialized equipment/training to do this. This will provide a picture closest to "reference quality" that can be done on your TV set.

certified ISF calibration is something you can have done and it will cost you several hundred. http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/ ... -it_Page-2


Firstly: I wouldn't trust any random FS technicial to do it correctly, if I wanted this service done, I would pay somebody who has a proven track record of providing a good calibration.

Secondly: I don't believe that this is at all necessary, you can achieve excellent results if you get a cheap calibration Bluray disc and do it yourself. Having lived with a set that was calibrated, I appreciate that it was better but in the end, it didn't really increase the enjoyment of the set compared to the calibration I did myself with a simple calibration procedure you can follow on a DIY disc

Thirdly: some TV's already have a "high accuracy mode", this is a mode that is supposed to provide the best picture quality according to reference standards. Try to use that mode first. The more expensive the set, the more likely it has such a mode (e.g. THX mode, or some kind of Cinema mode). Also follow the recommendations of reviews such as soundandvision.com, or cnet, they often calibrate the TV, and provide their recommended setting for your model. If this is available, it's a great starting point.
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Dec 21, 2012
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scottyboy2k5 wrote: the salesman addressed this with me when i asked. he says that the settings available to the home customer aren't the same as what their calibration techs do - he says they attach external equipment to the tv and the display will show something like a BIOS screen while they calibrate settings.

so he's basically saying that anything the user can do at home with their contrast, colour levels, temperature, etc...is not the same as what the futureshop technicians do when they "calibrate" the screen for the user.

is there any way that he is correct?
No they don't lol. The guy brings a universal remote which automatically connects to your TV. He then goes into the settings and fidgets with them till it looks right to him? At least that's what the guy did for mine..for free lol.
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Dec 3, 2004
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Screen calibration is a real thing. Not just for TVs.

A cousin of mine has a A/V business who did mine without a fee - and I in return calibrated his computer monitors with the tools that I have.
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Mar 1, 2004
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Buy this and do it yourself.

http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-v ... der4tv-hd/


As your TV changes it will need to be re calibrated. If you change the type of lighting in the room, the TV needs to be re calibrated. Paying FS the amount that this device costs to calibrate the TV only once when it's requirements keep changing is insane. Your neighbours will offer you money to calibrate theirs which will pay for the thing.

Or...

http://www.thestar.com/business/persona ... d_300.html
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Feb 16, 2006
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It's true that a tech with the right equipment will tune a TV, using parameters available via the TV's service menu, so that its' colour and gamma is more accurate per standard and it's brightness is set for the room. Your TV's image using a reference source will be noticeably different after a calibration. But how often do you watch a video from a reference source? Overall your Blu-Rays will have more accurate flesh tones, more detail in dark scenes, etc etc. So.... do you spend a lot of time watching movies from a Blu-Ray or via pay for play? Do you just use your TV for watching the news and sports? If yes, then do as Solsearchin1 suggests.

FYI... the tech's usually use a spectrophotometer (about $1200) to calibrate HDTV's and sometimes also a colorimeter (about $300) as the spectrophotometer is not as good as the colorimeter for calibrating black levels.

Serious digital image editors usually calibrate their computer monitors with a colorimeter - I use one with my PC monitors. There are versions of these colorimeters that you can buy for less than the price of their calibration fee. You probably won't do as good a job as an experienced TV "tuner" but it will likely be better than the factory settings.

i.e.

http://www.xrite.com/

http://spyder.datacolor.com/tv-calibration/

.
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Calibration is nice, but unless you have a professional reason for it I'd say do it yourself or don't do it.

Best test is to turn on the TV and ask yourself if you are happy with the image. if not, adjust some settings. In the rare event you still can't get it to your liking then it may be time to consider calibration, or buy a different TV.
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scottyboy2k5 wrote: this isn't helpful. are you saying that you know for certain that he is wrong and just trying to sell me services that aren't needed?
i'm fine buying elsewhere and i don't like the pushiness of commission-based salesmen. but i'd still like to know whether anything he said could have been true in some way.
It might not seem helpful initially until you think about it.

Any salesperson who insist that you do something (normally an extra purchase) without being able to educate you, the consumer, enough is generally in it for the attachment rate/bonus. You should find another outfit who will do the job.

What it basically comes down to is the variation in all electronic components and how it affects the end product. All TV sets are made from various components - screen, tuner, signal processing units, power supplies... And each of those units will have a certain amount of effect on the end image quality. Also, each of those components are completely, 100% identical to each other - there will be some variation from the manufacturing process. Since each component is different, then each copy of the final product is slightly different.

The manufacturer's know about this variation and really have two choices - address each variation on each set (ie test each set and correct for the variation via software) or create an "good enough" configuration for all sets. Needless to say that most if not all manufacturer's choose the second option over the first due to cost. They don't set/create a store configuration/image quality - it's just a general configuration that came out of the box.

What calibration does is it tries to correct for those variations post-factory by adjusting the controls available to the customer. Not all TVs are calibratible to the same level. Some TVs just don't have the consumer accessible controls/adjustments to do a good job. Some TVs only have some of the controls/adjustments. The higher end sets will generally have those controls/adjustments.

Do you need the service? Most people will say no. Will it make a difference to what you see? Sometimes - it depends on the how much of a variation your set is off from "ideal". Should you get FS to do it? No - there are certified professional available for a few bucks more that will do a much better job.
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Aug 22, 2006
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I'd tell him to get bent and buy the TV somewhere else.
Unless you're going to be reproducing colors for print and need identical colors there's no reason to pay for this.
Or if you're a color snob, but you'd probably already have the calibration equipment yourself.

For the average person, there's no real reason for it.
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Nov 21, 2008
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Solsearchin1 wrote: Look up your model online and find people who calibrated the same model. Use their settings, that's what I did.
I did this with my latest plasma TV. The picture setting looked good and I tweaked it to my liking. IMO the contrast is great, the colors are natural, and skintones are the most accurate I've seen on a display panel.

I used recommended settings for an older LCD TV and it worked pretty good too.

Spend the extra money on getting a better display panel.
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Nov 11, 2009
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Google MP4-2c calibration and download the videos for a quick and dirty calibration. You can complete the basics without any tools.
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Phewl81 wrote: I used to think that calibration was a bs upsell. Now that I have purchased a tv renowned for image quality my opinion has changed. The question is wether it's worth the money to you. Many would never notice that their tv was out.

A cheaper approach would be to get the Disney WoW calibration disc, or find settings online for your specific model of tv and try those. You could always get the calibration done later if you wanted to.
Thanks for your input. I guess you're saying that I can try the cheaper options first and see if it's good enough. If it's not, then I could pay for calibration later...who would you recommend I goto for that service if I put it off a while?
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warpdrive wrote: Yes, he's correct in you can have your set calibrated professionally. This involves going into the hidden advanced service menu and using specialized equipment/training to do this. This will provide a picture closest to "reference quality" that can be done on your TV set.

certified ISF calibration is something you can have done and it will cost you several hundred. http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/ ... -it_Page-2


Firstly: I wouldn't trust any random FS technicial to do it correctly, if I wanted this service done, I would pay somebody who has a proven track record of providing a good calibration.

Secondly: I don't believe that this is at all necessary, you can achieve excellent results if you get a cheap calibration Bluray disc and do it yourself. Having lived with a set that was calibrated, I appreciate that it was better but in the end, it didn't really increase the enjoyment of the set compared to the calibration I did myself with a simple calibration procedure you can follow on a DIY disc

Thirdly: some TV's already have a "high accuracy mode", this is a mode that is supposed to provide the best picture quality according to reference standards. Try to use that mode first. The more expensive the set, the more likely it has such a mode (e.g. THX mode, or some kind of Cinema mode). Also follow the recommendations of reviews such as soundandvision.com, or cnet, they often calibrate the TV, and provide their recommended setting for your model. If this is available, it's a great starting point.
Thanks for all the information! Is it fair to say that the home user is capable of finding the same settings that the calibration process would result in? I'm not sayng that the home user would be able to properly judge what the correct settings are....just whether, in theory, the settings available to the home user can be adjusted to achieve the same results as an optimal calibration? Does the calibration process access and adjust settings that are somehow completely unavailable to the home user?
Thanks again!

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