Next, the software will have you adjust the TV’s brightness to its maximum setting, followed by another measurement. Then the program takes a reading from the sensor and logs it.
#FREE HD CALIBRATION DISC TV#
The software then prompts you to set the TV to its “standard” preset, then adjust brightness to its mid-point - for many, this will be the number 50. Such was the case with our LG G2 display, which expresses color adjustments in terms of red and green numbers, rather than positive and negative numbers on a sliding scale. In some cases, you may have to do some translation since some TVs don’t follow the same guidelines as outlined in the software. For instance, it wants to know whether the brightness setting works on a 50-point or 100-point scale, along with which numbers represent the minimum and maximum settings. The Spyder4TV software begins by getting a little information about what the TV’s picture settings menu looks like and how it works. Once the disc loads, you’ll select “test patterns” from the menu and the adventure will begin.
Ideally, you’ll want to use a Blu-ray player for this process, but Datacolor does also provide a DVD. This computer will need to have had the Spyder4TV software installed and ready to run. (For us, this usually ended up being a black hooded sweatshirt.) The disadvantage to this approach is that the covering obscures the screen, thus making it difficult to navigate through the TV’s menus to the correct settings section.ĭangling from the sensor is a USB cable, which needs to be plugged into a computer (PC or Mac). Since that wasn’t always possible for us, we chose to cover the sensor and the screen surrounding it with a black-out cloth of some sort. After tightening the straps appropriately, the sensor should be suspended and held against the TV’s display panel at the center.īesides proper positioning, the sensor requires complete darkness. To do this, you place the sensor within the web’s plastic cradle and draw the elastic bands round each corner of your TV. To get the best readings, the Spyder4 sensor needs to lie flat against the center of your TV screen. The Spyder4TV HD package includes a tri-footed Spyder sensor (colorimeter), a “web” cradle for the sensor with long, adjustable elastic straps, and four discs featuring test patterns on Blu-ray and DVD (NTSC and PAL) and computer software (which is outdated and will direct you to Datacolor’s website for a download). But what is the user experience like and how do the end results stack up against those achieved by a pro? We put the Spyder4TV HD through several tests and we have the answers below.
#FREE HD CALIBRATION DISC FULL#
It uses a light and color sensor that you strap to your display using a spider web-like apparatus, a Blu-ray or DVD full of test patterns, and a computer program to direct you through the process, validate the results, and store them. You can invest $100 and 25 minutes of your time into a device that will walk you through the calibration process step-by-step and take measurements to validate your results, thereby adding an element of objectivity to an otherwise subjective DIY project.ĭatacolor’s Spyder4TV HD offers TV owners that last option. You can roll the dice on an ISF-certified calibrator whose service may cost half as much as the TV and hope for a positive return on your investment.Ĥ. You can plop down $25 for a calibration disc and another $200-worth of your time as you decipher terms like “Chroma,” “Whiter-than-white,” and “Gamma.”ģ. You can wing it, armed only with your eyeballs and raw gut-instinct to guide you through a labyrinth of picture settings.Ģ. To achieve this state of TV nirvana, you’ve got a few options:ġ. There’s a whole menu of picture settings there just itching to be adjusted so that your new TV doesn’t just put out a great picture it puts out a stunning picture. Aside from that, we seem to have this intrinsic need for our cool tech-gear to perform at its absolute best.Īnd so it is direly important that you don’t just uncrate your expensive, sleek new TV, hang it on the wall and call it good. It stands to reason, then, that we would also want the rectangular thingies that beam colorful lights at our eyeballs to look as pretty as possible. We have a natural tendency to want to look at visually appealing things as we move through our lives, so we paint the walls in attractive colors, decorate our homes and grow beautiful flowers. You don’t have to be a high-end home theater enthusiast to see the value in adjusting your new TV’s picture settings.
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