Search - Avia II on DVD

Helps, but doesn't fully solve setup issues

Daniel H. Hamilton | Harwich, MA USA | 01/08/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The biggest flaw in this DVD is that its instructions do not necessarily match the setup options available on your TV. Terms like color and white level and sharpness and red push are used but not fully explained, so if your TV uses slightly different terms, like tint, you may be left having to guess how to produce the desired changes. Real pros will go right to the service menu, but the rest of us are left fumbling.

I realize that nobody is expecting Oscar-winning thespians in a setup DVD, but these two guys couldn't deliver a line in a UPS truck. Still, the guy with his shirt un-tucked clearly looks the couch potato part and I get warm feelings of trust when I hear him speak, based on the many hours he obviously spends in front of a wide screen.

On the plus side, even their somewhat hurried cue-card presentations of color and TV technology are nonetheless good enough that you can probably skip the test patterns and follow advice such as turning down the sharpness (which most people adjust way too high) and get a decent picture using your own eyeballs.

But that brings into question the price. I don't feel ripped off, but neither would I quickly recommend spending this amount of money when you can find much of the same info (absent the useful test patterns) online for free."

Unimpressed

Lisa M. Roller | MN, USA | 01/20/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I own the original DVD and thought I would update to this 2nd version. A mistake. The quality of the DVD is poor in both video quality, menu quality, and it comes free of charge with some bugs. The explaination of the test paterns was better in the original, in fact, after attempting to use this DVD, I went back to the original to make sure I had not screwed things up too much.

Bottom line - if you have access to the original buy it, borrow it... But if you do not, this one is better then nothing."

Vast improvement on tv color

Ryan W | 03/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My sharp aquos looked good as soon as i got it out of the box. About a month later, i decided to take the plunge and purchase this calibration dvd. After viewing the test patterns and using the color filters, i noticed a significant difference in how much better the color is. i didn't notice so much of a difference in the other settings as far as sharpness and contrast go. Even after setting the brightness with the dvd, i ended up bumping it up just a bit for daytime viewing.

I didn't get much out of the audio adjustments on my surround sound system. i got more out of the adjustments from simply using my receiver manual and remote.

In the end, after seeing other folks LCD tvs, i can tell mine has been adjusted properly with the test patterns. This was something i didn't notice until i saw someone elses tv and it was obvious the saturation needed to be adjusted.

All in all, it was a good investment. Not quite sure it was worth the $35 or so i paid for it, but my tv looks even that much better now that i have used it."

Beginner explanations, good patterns

Cliff The Engineer | Fremont, CA USA | 07/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The explanations are pretty basic/simplistic. As others have said, I could have used way more explanation on the contrast/brightness. I also have the DVE blu-ray, which has its own problems, but the explanations are much more detailed.

What brought it up to a 4 was the patterns at the end. There is a PDF which explains how to use the patterns, and they are useful. If they had a PDF that better explained the details of contrast etc., that would have brought it up even more. They say on the video that various things like links etc. are on the DVD, but I only found a PDF explanation of the extra patterns, and a glossary."