ISF Calibration Services
Why do I need to calibrate my new TV? Don’t they already look good right out of the box? TV’s manufacturers are “optimizing” the TV’s to look great and catch your attention in brightly lit showrooms. By doing this, colors become extra-vivid and unrealistic and the TV will actually lose picture resolution. HOWEVER… chances are the lighting conditions in your home are not the same as an electronics store showroom.
Why does room lighting matter? Your eyes are constantly making adjustments based on ambient light in the room. If you are in a dark room environment, having your TV’s brightness levels too high can be uncomfortable to watch and can result in eye fatigue and headaches. If you are in a brightly lit room- you will want a higher brightness level in your TV- but not sacrifice the contrast in your picture. We calibrate to ensure you get the most picture detail in dark areas, as well as bright areas. We will optimize your picture to match the room lighting environments- both light and dark- to make sure that you are SEEING ALL OF THE PICTURE that you paid for.
Color accuracy. The next time you are in a TV showroom (even ours) look at all the different brands of TV’s as a whole. What you will notice is that each TV’s color is different. Red may look oranger on one TV, and pinker on the next. Which color of red is correct? That is where calibration comes in… we calibrate your TV colors based on standardized colors- so ALL of the colors you see on your TV are as accurate as possible. By accurate, we mean that we optimize your TV to match the way the camera saw that image- or the way the producer intended the colors to look- not the way the TV decided to make it look.
Go Green. Another benefit of video calibration is that your TV will be using less energy than standard “out of the box” mode. In fact we can show you an example of how your calibrated TV will actually be using 40%-50% less power. With Plasma TV’s you will also benefit from them generating less heat after calibration.
Why doesn’t the manufacturer just calibrate them at the factory? Again, because EVERY room is different, it’s not possible to account for all variables. However, some manufacturers are now calibrating their TV’s for a dark room and offering them in their premium models. Many manufacturers are also adding controls to their TV’s that allow calibrators to really get in and tweak their TV’s to look the best they can. Look for TV’s with ISFccc certification to know that you are getting a TV that can look it’s best after calibration!
