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Lee Gallagher
Advanced Audio Visual

Gregg and his staff did an incredible job. I have previously taken ISF training and have passed the test. However, I never felt comfortable with the hands-on side of the work. All I can say is that I came back with a new found confidence and can now comfortably offer ISF calibration services to my clients.

I liken the experience to Gerry Lemay’s HAA Level II class for audio, where we received some really great hands-on experience. Also, the arrangement that Datacolor has with LionAV for second-tier tech support for ColorFacts is huge and having access to calibrators who have seen it all is valuable beyond description.

I have started to spread the word with my HAA brethren that if they want great video calibration training, using a great product, that this is the course to take.

Regards,
Mike Orlowski

Prather Warren
Innovative Home Media LLC

I had the good fortune to attend remarkable 3-day training class in which a cadre of custom a/v dealers, end-users and manufacturers and I all learned how to calibrate video systems to THX standards and present the results of our calibrations. Instructors Gregg Loewen and Mike Chen taught us how to measure quality objectively, using signal generators and analyzers (costing anywhere from $100 up through $25,000!) and subjectively, by judging colors of human faces on screens.

Gregg and Mike then led us through hours of hands-on practice in calibrating displays and video systems. Each of us spent time gauging and adjusting the contrast, brightness, color hue and intensity of various front projection, flat-panel, and rear-projection displays. We each went on to adjust technical settings such as gamma, resolution, and precise altering of discrete color components, bringing all into alignment with industry standards. Most importantly, we all saw firsthand how well-engineered sets gave us the greatest degree of control. Proof of this came with report printouts attesting to these sets’ precision. In virtually all cases, customers get what they pay for when selecting displays equipped with these fine adjustments and selecting a competent calibrating pro to adjust them.

Gregg and Mike took care to help us understand each piece of system equipment is a link in a chain. Top-of-the-line source devices and processors, improperly set-up or adjusted, will break the quality chain. A weak link, such as an inexpensive upscaling DVD player with a poor onboard scaler, can serve up a too-soft picture on the most pricey 1080p-resolution projector! Some well-selected devices, installed and adjusted properly, recover quality in signals. We saw how one excellent signal processor set free a $30,000 projector’s ability to show more gradations in the bright parts of images, in a test pattern and then from a human model’s white clothing. In the latter, invisible folds, textures, and buttons were suddenly revealed .

We practiced on some run-of-the-mill retail displays and saw dramatic image improvements. Alongside these were value-added brand displays featuring more extensive sets of controls – these controls included precise gamma setting, 10-step grayscale level adjustments, and 18-parameter color management systems. Such toolsets let us recreate far more natural-looking pictures. They also generated before-and-after measurement graphs attesting to what our eyes already could notice: natural and easy-to-watch brights; deeper blacks; accurate grayscale a; colors matching both nature and broadcast standards.

Gregg and Mike attested to how educated customers enjoyed their equipment far more. Good calibrators coach clients on how to spot color nuances, brightness and contrast ranges, and resolution variances. Also, they note: much in the same way a top-tier sports car owner should be educated to get periodic engine and suspension tune-ups, a video system client should expect a post-calibration visit six months or so after the initial calibration, and every year thereafter. All displays and equipment change over time. Bulbs (in both projectors and LCD displays) and colored phosphors (in plasma displays) show their age by drifting the image’s range and hue. While gradual, their effect is predictable. Also, new equipment – whether replacing old or added as a new element in the system – needs both careful selection and its own calibration so it can measure up to the system it serves.

Dealers and custom audio-video integrators who want to distance themselves from big-box retailers should strongly consider offering calibration as a value-added service. Calibration and customer education satisfies clients, provides them more enjoyment, and affirms their entertainment budget is well spent. Dealers who attend Gregg Loewen’s THX video training put their education and training budgets to wise use, too. Like me, they’ll gain confidence and add to their professional capabilities in designing and recommending a/v systems and their elements.

Dave Fink