Friday
Dec032010
Dec 3 Podcast #455 Interview with Ray Coronado THX Certified Calibrator
We often talk about professional calibration on our show and when Ray reached out to both of us to offer his assistance in calibrating our newly purchased projectors we thought it would be good to have Ray on our show.
Ray is THX certified for both video and audio and has 10 years of experience. You can find Ray at his website:
SoCalHT and can be reached at (818) 396-7457
Ray is THX certified for both video and audio and has 10 years of experience. You can find Ray at his website:
SoCalHT and can be reached at (818) 396-7457
Dolby Ultimate Home Entertainment Contest
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Today's Show:
News:
- 2010 Reliability and Service Survey: HDTVs
- Is Microsoft preparing to compete with Netflix?
- Is Wireless Surround Sound Next for Sonos?
Other:
- TuneIn Radio
- Yamaha RX-A3000 7.1-Channel Audio/Video Receiver
- Rii Portable 2.4GHz Mini Wireless Keyboard Handheld Rechargeable Keyboard Touchpad for Laptops Notebooks Computer IPTV Car PC Wii PS3 HTPC
Reader Comments (13)
This is about the miss informed Best Buy employee comment from a listener email. Normally as a rule of thumb you automatically assume BB employees have no clue what they are talking about, but the employee was some what correct. Samsung did put a feature on some of their 3D TV's that will convert 2D images to 3D images on the fly. Granted, this may not be the best way to view content in 3D, but you could potently watch everything in 3D if you really wanted to.
Hi Dennis,
This is true. I missed that Samsung added this feature on their 3D TVs. Braden and I saw the technology at CES last year. It would add depth to some content other content looked just weird. I'll correct my statements on the next show.
Thanks for keeping me honest!
Ara
not really happy about the way this "contest" is run, it excludes most of your audience.
Very interesting and informative interview! One issue that was brought up was being able to calibrate every component in the video chain. It makes perfect sense to first plug a calibrated signal generator directly into the television in order to calibrate just the display itself. Then plug the signal generator into the processor/receiver and measure the display in order to determine whether the processor/receiver made any change to the video signal. In a perfect world, of course the processor/receiver would pass along the signal with no change what-so-ever.
I think it is worth pointing out that a handful of processors/receivers come with ISFccc certification and have the required menu selections in order to calibrate the video processing of the processor/receiver itself. Off the top of my head, I don't recall exact models, but I do recall Onkyo/Integra having ISF certified processors/receivers for sure.
Once you are sure that both you display and processor/receiver are calibrated, it then falls to the source components. Here, you will likely be at the mercy of the source components' outputs, but at least a disc or USB thumbdrive with test patterns on it can help you determine whether or not the source component is outputting a reference-adhering signal. It is also worth noting that several disc players have calibration options. The Oppo players, for example, allow you to do some basic calibration adjustments of the player's output.
So the whole point here is that, if you are really serious about having a complete system that adheres to industry standards for video, you must simply select your equipment carefully and look for components at each link in the chain that allow for calibration. I actually think that a professional calibrator's greatest benefit could be in helping a client to purchase equipment that the calibrator either knows to already perfectly pass the signal along or at least has the necessary adjustment capabilities in order to do so.
Looks like Podcast Ally is not sending conformation emails again this month..
Being a Best Buy home theater employee myself, I always cringe when I hear Best Buy employees get slammed on podcasts. I also realize that much of the criticism is based in truth and there is an unfortunate number of undereducated employees attempting to sell devices they don't understand and detailing features they don't fully comprehend. I've tried to be a force for education at my own location, especially regarding the basics of audio and video theory. It's my opinion that an understanding of the theory behind the technology is a good foundational tool for learning what the features of a/v devices actually do and why they do them.
That said, I have to chime in about the 2D to 3D thing as well. It's my understanding that almost every 3DTV (at least that Best Buy carries) has the option to convert 2D to 3D; at least, that's been the case with every 3DTV I've either read the specs for or actually tried it on the TV. As far as Samsung goes, all their LED-LCD 3DTVs have the option for 2D to 3D conversion, as do the the C7000 and C8000 plasmas. I'm unsure of the conversion capability on the C490 and C680 plasmas and the C750 LCD 3DTV. Likewise, everything I've found regarding the Panasonic VT20 and VT25 3D plasmas shows they can convert 2D to 3D. Again, I'm unsure on the GT series 3D plasmas, since I haven't had a chance to interact with one.
As a disclaimer, none of my statements are meant to represent any position of Best Buy, but merely the opinions of a part-time home theater employee.
@Austin There are definitely Best Buy employees who know their stuff, just as there are Best Buy employees who don't! The problem is that, unless - as a customer - you already know what is right and wrong, you have no way to tell them apart! It's a terrible shame because we just end up erring on the side of cynicism :(
The thing is, I have no problem with any salesperson who says, "you know what? I'm not certain, but let me find out so that I can get you the correct information". Case in point, you mentioned the Panasonic plasmas and how you weren't sure about their 2D-to-3D capabilities. As it so happens, the VT20/25 models can NOT do any 2D-to-3D processing. But the newer GT25 models DO have 2D-to-3D processing. As you said,
most 3D TVs offer 2D-to-3D processing. So it is a little bit ironic that the best 3D TVs (those being the Panasonic VT20/25 plasmas) offer NO 2D-to-3D option.
Being unsure or a little off about a particular feature is no big deal IMO. Where I get pissed at any AV employee is when I hear them spouting off blatant untruths in order to bilk a customer out of way more money than they need to spend! No where is this more common then when cables are being sold. I hear things like, "you need this 'Ultra High Speed HDMI cable because your TV is 240Hz and the cheap HDMI cables can't handle that" - or other blatant lies to that effect. That kind of stuff gets my blood boiling!
Rob, thanks for correcting me on the Panasonic 3D lineup. I totally agree on the employees who mislead customers in order to move more merchandise. It bothers me on a fundamental level, so I refuse to knowingly give any customers false information about the products they want and need, especially cables. Hopefully my convictions don't ever land me in any trouble!
"most 3D TVs offer 2D-to-3D processing. So it is a little bit ironic that the best 3D TVs (those being the Panasonic VT20/25 plasmas) offer NO 2D-to-3D option"
more importantly it simply does not matter, 2d to 3d conversion is not something that can be done well on the fly, hell those expensively done 2d to 3d movies like clash of the titans looked awful after millions of dollars and countless hours of slow conversion, the idea that a cheap 5 dollar chip doing real time conversion is worth your time is a total joke. that is the type of features companies slap on to tick a marketing check box, it is time and resources they should have spent on other areas of the tv.
as for best buy sales, just how much expertise do you expect from minimum wage slaves? you go to best buy, you paid for the level of advice you get.
Furthermore only the plasma 3d tvs are really fast enough to do full resolution 3d. Making the claims of the competitors 3d conversion abilities even more pointless. Lcds being slow actually lose resolution when displaying 3d.
@fred For sure, the "real time" 2D-to-3D processing does not look good or convincing with most content. But there are a handful of instances where it's actually kind of neat. Certain videogames, for example, look kind of cool with the processing turned on. It's certainly not something I'd use all the time. But it can be kind of fun to flick it on and see what it does to the 2D picture :p
I agree that plasma really is the only way to go for 3D. It's such a shame that, not only do all the 3D LCDs suffer from debilitating cross-talk, they also all have glossy screens! I hate this super-reflective, glossy screen trend. I was hopeful that Vizio would continue using matte screens on their XVT series, but the XVT3D models have burst that bubble :(
Hurry up and announce the winner to the contest!!!
One feature that gets lost in the more is better mentality. 2D to 3D conversion 95% of the time looks like crap.