Is it worth Paying for Calibration

My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?



Thank you

Tony

A crock. You can buy orrent a calibration disc and get the picture
looking great for very little.

On Jan 20, 7:38*pm, Anthony Lisanti wrote:
*My friend just bought a TV from best buy. *They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. * They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. *This sounds like a crock to me. * Any opinions?

Thank you

Tony

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:38:53 -0500, Anthony Lisanti
wrote:

My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?

What credentials does the calibrator at Geek Squad have?

"they can access stuff normal users can't"

Check out: http://www.imagingscience.com/ before you let just
anybody mess around in the service menu.

I would never be agreeable to having someone from Geek Squad calibrate
my TV. Particularly since for about $250 you can get someone ISF
certified.

A_C

Just get any of the Disney / Pixar DVDs (such as Monster's Inc.) there are
built in calibration functions built into the extras on the disk.



"Anthony Lisanti" wrote in message
...


My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?



Thank you

Tony

On Jan 20, 6:38*pm, Anthony Lisanti wrote:
*My friend just bought a TV from best buy. *They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. * They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. *This sounds like a crock to me. * Any opinions?

Thank you

Tony

I recall reading that it was worth the money back in the days of the
CRT rear projection TV's. However, with a plasma or LCD flat panel I
would think a calibration disc would be sufficient.

-beaumon

On Jan 20, 7:25*pm, wrote:
On Jan 20, 6:38*pm, Anthony Lisanti
wrote:

*My friend just bought a TV from best buy. *They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally
calibrate
his TV. * They told him they can access stuff normal users can't
and
he should do it. *This sounds like a crock to me. * Any opinions?

Thank you

Tony

I recall reading that it was worth the money back in the days of
the
CRT rear projection TV's. *However, with a plasma or LCD flat panel
I
would think a calibration disc would be sufficient.

-beaumon

If you have a PC connected to the TV, the Nokia monitor test is free.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...tor-Test.shtml

GG

"Anthony Lisanti" wrote in message
...


My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?



Thank you

Tony

He got ripped off.

In article [email protected], says...

"Anthony Lisanti" wrote in message
...


My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?



Thank you

Tony

He got ripped off.




Yeah, I swallowed the line and went and paid to have it done. I wrote
down all my settings that I had done by one of my setup DVD's and the
results?

So close that at most they were one step off, higher or lower. My
"eyeball" settings were very close too. I had done them before the setup
DVD arrived, and I had it pretty close even then. I tended to like the
pic slightly darker, and the color level one click down from what the
supposedly "ideal" settings were.

Total waste of time and money, IMO.

I found a review of my TV online, with settings, and they must have been
color blind. Talk about overdone! Looked horrible on almost anything I
watched. Everyone looked like they were badly sunburned. Totally
unrealistic.

BDK

On Jan 20, 11:25 pm, G-squared wrote:
On Jan 20, 7:25 pm, wrote:
On Jan 20, 6:38 pm, Anthony Lisanti
wrote:

My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally
calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't
and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?

Thank you

Tony

I recall reading that it was worth the money back in the days of
the
CRT rear projection TV's. However, with a plasma or LCD flat panel
I
would think a calibration disc would be sufficient.

-beaumon

If you have a PC connected to the TV, the Nokia monitor test is free.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...EO-Tools/Nokia...

GG

Good program. I've a couple programs I've been using, one of which is
interesting (from following the directions in the help file),

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/V...ickGamma.shtml

but primarily a gray-scale brightness/contrast type thing - picture
clarity.

"Anthony Lisanti" wrote in message
...


My friend just bought a TV from best buy. They talked him into
paying $200 for their geek squad to come and professionally calibrate
his TV. They told him they can access stuff normal users can't and
he should do it. This sounds like a crock to me. Any opinions?

There's no question that a professional calibrator with professional
equipment and a knowledge of the service menu codes and how to use the
service menus can do a much more accurate and thorough job of calibration
than can the average owner. I would first question the credentials and
methods of the Geek Squad calibrators. Geek Squad is a large outfit and they
may very well have a few ISF certified calibrators in each of their
divisions...I do not know.The service menus do provide more adjustment than
the user menus and while one can most likely find the codes to access the
service menus on the internet, there are many pitfalls within those menus so
they are not for the faint of heart and one should write down any settings
within those menus before they start screwing around. It helps to set up a
video camera on a tripod and tape your calibration efforts (the numerical
settings and menu names) as you perform them so you have a reference to go
back to if you screw something up. I can also say that with a good
test/calibration disc, most technically and visually proficient owners can
approximate a television to look much better than it did on the showroom
floor.

Of course you can tune up your car yourself if you like but most of us with
the disposable cash would rather pay a mechanic who has all the tools and
training.