I am intersested in getting some kind of certification to do video/audio calibrating. What are good ways to start and how much will it cost? I live in Tennessee (US). Also I have a Dell 4100 MP DLP projector. I primarily use it to play the xbox 360, but I also use it to watch DVDs with my toshiba dvd player. I have been looking at some calibrating discs mainly Avia and DVE. Which one is best or is there a newer one out? I really don't want to spend over $100 on a disc ($50 is better though to to limited budget at this time). I saw a deal on amazon for both discs for like $52. Is it benificial to use both discs to calibrate or will one throw off the other and give me a bad result in the end. I am so freakin lost right now. I would also like to calibrate my surround system.
Also I am trying to figure out my lighting situation. What kind of lights to use and where to place them. My room is a rectangle that is about 15' wide 21' long and a 12' ceiling. I have a pull down screen with the projector mounted on the ceiling (my screen is 106 inches but i only use about 87 inches). It hurts my eyes to have it totally dark in the room but the lights i put behind my chairs seem to reflect light on the screen and mess up the picture. I never dreamed it would be this hard to perfect my system, but I want it to be the best it can be. If anyone can recommend books I can read to learn about how tvs work, and just how it all works. I love my theater and I 've always been the type to want to understand how everything actually works rather than just except hey it works who cares. Sorry to have so many questions in one thread, but I have been searching so many sites it's nice to find a cite that lets me ask exerienced people questions. Thanks and I appreciate any input you can give me.

[Anim]

Why not put some of those upside down lamp shades on your walls that aim light upwards and just put a dimmer switch on the room so you can lower the light for movie viewing?

As for certification I imagine you would need light, noise and colour detection units (hardware) to calibrate too standards.

But then you need to understand the physics of how light sound and colour all work to perfect your system.

Take a look at some of the more expert reviews like the ones done by CKL
e.g.
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/20...-ckl/index.htm
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/20...o-z4/index.htm
http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/20...X200/index.htm

To see how he reviews the quality of projectors.

Anim

[cyberheater]

If you must have lights then the golden rule is to make sure they're not pointing anywhere near the screen of bouncing of the walls onto the screen.

Small shielded (on one side) low wattage desklamps should do the trick or maybe small swivable/tiltable spots in the ceiling.

[guido]

Behind the screen is best if having any lights... with the ambient not being greater than 20% of peak.. well according to DVE if I remember rightly.... you will need decent screen material though with effective blackout backed.

Otherwise over the seating area... which is what I have.. 6 spots in ceiling, dimmable in two sections... the four nearest the screen and the two over the seating area. Whilst watching films generally keep the two on over seating area on lowest dimmer setting and the other four off.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Does the image hurt your eyes because it is too bright (quite likely as that pj is very bright, especially for an 87" screen)? If that's the case, it might be better to dim the image by fitting an ND2 filter onto the projector lens so that the brightness level is nearer to theater levels rather than tv levels and more in keeping with a dark room environment. Using the screen at full size should reduce the image brightness enough so that it doesn't hurt your eyes so much - try it and see. If you prefer theater levels, you may find that increasing teh image asize and using an ND2 will get you closer to theater brightness and remove the eye strain all together.

Having lighting on and positioned behind the screen is normaly used for tv rather than front projection, and is referred to as bias lighting, so try a search on the subject, but it's a bit of a balancing act getting it right as you've already found - it can drastically reduce the black level and contrast of the image, and you have to make sure it does not effect your eyes iris so that it makes it hard to see shadow detail.

If you want to get into calibration, you could have a quick look at the basic calibration 'sticky' at the top of the page (I prefer Avia myself), and then if you want to get into colour calibration and learn more, read up on the SpyderTV package and how it can be used as a proper greyscale calibration tool - it's more advanced but there is some info on this forum about it, as well as lots more over on avsforum.

HTH

Gary

I owned the 4100mp and while the projector is not as bright as the manufacturer's specs say, it is too bright for a dark or dim room. What I thought for a long time was too much ambient light washing out my picture was actually the projector putting out too many lumens. I always ran mine in eco mode to cut down noise for one as that thing sounds like a freight train and two to cut down the lumen output. 'Movie mode' was always best as for me it had the best color and lumen output for movies. As for X-box or other consoles, I never found a good mode that satisfied me completely but had a pretty nice customized mode to handle it.

Canned lights in the ceiling are best, but as others have suggested, small lamps would work well close to the seating and far from the screen and any light colored walls that reflect light easily. You can get creative and cover the side of the lamp shade with some decorative pattern that cuts down the light travelling horizontally. That will help the screen out.

I have been trying to find an ND@ filter. Do you have any recommendations as to where to get one or better yet what kind, brand to get. I have a Dell 4100 MP DLP projector. Man I am so lost but I can't take the eye strain much more.

[Miniholic]

Hoya are quite a well respected brand, you could try someone like www.ritzcamera.com although any local camera dealer should be able to source one.

You will need to know what thread size you need though (this may be written on the lense if you are lucky.

Just checked as Ritz are the only US camera company I know, but they don't stock Hoya.

This is what you are looking for, but i don't know this brand.

http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs...004%3Bc5849493

I recently bought a Hoya filter for my camera from Digital Rev on ebay for a fraction of the retail cost, so that could be an option for you.

[Gary Lightfoot]

I recommend Hoya too - especially the HMC range as they have very little effect on the light passing through other than what is intended. I normally reduce a pjs advertised lumens by around 40% to get a figure closer to what you will get in reality, and even then an ND2 will still allow you more than cinema levels of reflectance on your size screen. An ND4 may be a tad overkill. I personally don't like to have any lights on im my room as they will compromise the image in some way, so if you can get the lumens down and watch with the lights off that would be the best result IMHO.

I've used these people before (in the USA) with no problems and good prices:

http://www.2filter.com/welcometo.html

Liek Miniholic I've also got used filters from Ebay and at good prices compared to new so definitley worth a look.

Gary

[Miniholic]

Originally Posted by Gary Lightfoot

Liek Miniholic I've also got used filters from Ebay and at good prices compared to new so definitley worth a look.

Gary

Just thought I'd clarify, the ones from Digital Rev are new, not used. I bought a 77mm Hoya UV HMC filter for £12 shipped, when retail over here is around £40.

And thanks for the link Gary, I'd not come across them in my travels.