Woohoo I've been ISF'd .

fallwood · 05-09-2006, 11:09 PM

Well what a day me and piers had with my Bl**dy Z4 , the damn thing just wouldnt behave it's self. It calibrated fine 1st time and then decided that it didnt want to play ball and started doing all manner of weird things, after many many hours of repeated testing and re-calibrating he finally managed to knock it into shape .

Now that my eyes have had a rest (staring at test patterns for 6 hrs plays havoc with your vision) I fired up the pj to give it a good test, I can confirm that it now looks better than ever , colours look great and shadow detail is improved, the image is still surprisingly punchy and bright, I expected it to be quite muted as per other reports.

I must complement Piers on his patience and determination ,he just gritted his teeth (and cried a bit

) and stayed until the job was done. I have to say that anyone who says these guys are making easy money by fiddling with a few settings have absolutely no idea what they are talking about , worth every penny IMO.

Once again many thanks to Piers for a top notch service.

T0rNaDo · 05-09-2006, 11:13 PM

we want pics !

and why did u choose a Z4...

thxs

fallwood · 05-09-2006, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T0rNaDo

we want pics !

and why did u choose a Z4...

Pics of what ?, the screen. I dont generally do pictures as its not relevant to the actual image being displayed, the camera could be out , your display could be out so I dont see the point, Im not trying to be a miserable git and if you really want some I'll get the camera out and take a few.

I chose the Z4 because it isnt a panasonic , I had 3 pannys and all suffered from serious failures inside 8 months, Z4 came with a 3 yr warranty and free bulb , its been rock solid reliable since I got it last november.

Oakleyspatz · 06-09-2006, 7:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallwood

Pics of what ?, the screen. I dont generally do pictures as its not relevant to the actual image being displayed, the camera could be out , your display could be out so I dont see the point, Im not trying to be a miserable git and if you really want some I'll get the camera out and take a few.

Yes I agree, Digi pics may not represent an accurate representation of the projected image but what it could do is show the changes made with a before/after image. Although the camera may well be wrong, it should be consistently wrong so any changes in the two images would be down to the calibration of the PJ and this could be noticed in the screenshots.
But as it sounds like you didn't take any pre-calibration shots, taking some now would be pointless!
How do you find screendoor on the Z4? People say it is noticable especially compared to the AE900.

T0rNaDo · 06-09-2006, 8:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallwood

I chose the Z4 because it isnt a panasonic , I had 3 pannys and all suffered from serious failures inside 8 months, Z4 came with a 3 yr warranty and free bulb , its been rock solid reliable since I got it last november.

ok fair enough, i guess really one should be infront of the screen to see for them self wot the pic is like.... a photo isnt really way of telling..
well i think il take the plung and go for a Z4. i found a site doing it for £1,136 with free bulb voucher,free dead pixel check and free delivery.also comes with 3 year warranty.
i think that seems a good price.

Piers · 06-09-2006, 10:03 AM

Fallwood,

Thanks for your kind words (blush, blush).

Yesterday was some day - left home 8.45 am returned home 11.25pm.

Glad to hear that the end result made it all worth while.

T0rNaDo · 06-09-2006, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piers

Yesterday was some day - left home 8.45 am returned home 11.25pm.

wow a long day getting a Z4 set up right..

hope i dont have to call you out , if i decided to get a Z4..

are you local

Oakleyspatz · 06-09-2006, 11:29 AM

It's saying something that it takes a professional 15 hours to get a Z4 to look any good!!!..(only jesting!)

bravogolf · 06-09-2006, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piers

Fallwood,

Thanks for your kind words (blush, blush).

Yesterday was some day - left home 8.45 am returned home 11.25pm.

Glad to hear that the end result made it all worth while.

I'd love to get someone over to tweak my Z4 but unfortunately/fortunately am based in Ireland. Do you know perchance of any Irish companies offering a similar service?

Keith Hurst · 06-09-2006, 2:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravogolf

I'd love to get someone over to tweak my Z4 but unfortunately/fortunately am based in Ireland. Do you know perchance of any Irish companies offering a similar service?

A search on imaging science reveals...

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf_se...dlr_status=CAL

They mention Magohan and O'Neil who's website is certainly now defunct. It appears that one Paul O'Hale used to post on this forum also and he might be able to help but unfortunatgely his last post here was over 2 years ago

Anyhow, best of luck.

KH

sniffer66 · 06-09-2006, 2:21 PM

Fallwood

Do you have a scaler/VP attached ?

Mr.D · 06-09-2006, 2:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravogolf

I'd love to get someone over to tweak my Z4 but unfortunately/fortunately am based in Ireland. Do you know perchance of any Irish companies offering a similar service?

You could buy yourself calman ( an excel based calibration app) and colorfacts Spyder2 sensor and do it yourself. Would take you a bit of time to learn what to do compared with hiring in a pro but you should be able to get very good results once you are familiar with the process and theory.

bravogolf · 06-09-2006, 3:10 PM

Cheers WeeJockPooPongMcPlop and Mr. D

squibbly · 06-09-2006, 4:30 PM

So Fallwood, are you going to share your new settings with us?

Granted the environment, screen et al would be different, but I'd be keen to use them as a starting point.

Mr.D · 06-09-2006, 4:49 PM

There is no starting point , there is only calibrated or not calibrated. You might as well put in the settings from a completely different model. And unless you want to mess about in the service menu you would get better results with a test disc like DVE.

fallwood · 06-09-2006, 5:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sniffer66

Fallwood

Do you have a scaler/VP attached ?

I run a htpc with theatertek and ffdshow, looks luuuverly.

fallwood · 06-09-2006, 5:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squibbly

So Fallwood, are you going to share your new settings with us?

Granted the environment, screen et al would be different, but I'd be keen to use them as a starting point.

If Piers doesnt mind then I will gladly share my settings, as MrD states its a bit pointless really as all pj's are different. We tried Rones settings and they werent even close on my pj, standard living settings were much closer and only needed minor adjustements to calibrate.

just wondering · 06-09-2006, 5:12 PM

what kind of ballpark figure was the cost , it can't of been cheap with the mileage , i've found in general i'm happy with the colour etc , withs rones settings tweaked and played around with , just out of interest are rones settings and your new settings totally different or where rones settings about 75% right ?

will you be able to resist giving it just a little tweak .

fallwood · 06-09-2006, 5:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by just wondering

what kind of ballpark figure was the cost , it can't of been cheap with the mileage , i've found in general i'm happy with the colour etc , withs rones settings tweaked and played around with , just out of interest are rones settings and your new settings totally different or where rones settings about 75% right ?

will you be able to resist giving it just a little tweak .

Now then geeezaaah hows it going. Il give you a bell right now as my keyboard batteries are packing up. Read above post as t how far out rhones setting were.

bravogolf · 07-09-2006, 10:02 AM

Hey Fallwood, you have the Z4 then? Do the settings relevancy change much when using a direct DVD player as opposed to a htpc?

squibbly · 07-09-2006, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallwood

If Piers doesnt mind then I will gladly share my settings, as MrD states its a bit pointless really as all pj's are different. We tried Rones settings and they werent even close on my pj, standard living settings were much closer and only needed minor adjustements to calibrate.

Would still appreciate them if possible. ROne's settings are HTPC specific, so results will be hit and miss when using a DVD player. However, my Pioneer 868has 2 output settings, one of which is normal DVD and the other the same output as HTPC (from memory it is something to do with a wider signal range - I'm sure someone else knows the technical terms). Set to this the image is great, set to normal DVD, it is too dark and red.

Hence, I'd be happy to give your calibrated settings a go. You know we all like to tinker, whether it's pointless or not! And the feedback from fellow members would be interesting and might spur us on to a professional calibration.

bravogolf · 10-09-2006, 9:29 PM

Hey Fallwood, just wondering you got the OK to share those settings? Also, did you get it calibrated via HTPC?

fallwood · 10-09-2006, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravogolf

Hey Fallwood, just wondering you got the OK to share those settings? Also, did you get it calibrated via HTPC?

Got the all clear to share the settings so here they are. You will probably have to change brightness/ contrast/color as they may differ depending on your source. By the way these settings are for VGA as thats what I run my HTPC over, Im getting HDMI done next time Piers is up this way (didnt have time to do 2 inputs)

Living settings

brightness -7
contrast +2
color -11
tint 0
colour temp low1
red +9
Green 0
Blue -1
sharpness -3
Lamp controll low
gamma +1
lens iris -44
Gain R -1
Gain G 0
Gain B -2
Offset R +2
Offset G 0
Offset B -10
Gamma R 0
Gamma G 0
Gamma B 0
lamp iris auto

Creative cinema settings

brightness -12
contrast +1
color -12
tint 0
colour temp low1
red +9
Green 0
Blue -4
sharpness -3
Lamp control low
gamma +1
lens iris -44
Gain R -10
Gain G 0
Gain B +4
Offset R +14
Offset G 0
Offset B -11
Gamma R 0
Gamma G 0
Gamma B 0
lamp iris auto.

bravogolf · 11-09-2006, 9:06 AM

Cheers Fallwood, appreciate that

When you get the HDMI settings (as that's what I'm using) can you send them my way too via PM or something (providing Piers is ok with that?)?

fallwood · 11-09-2006, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravogolf

Cheers Fallwood, appreciate that

When you get the HDMI settings (as that's what I'm using) can you send them my way too via PM or something (providing Piers is ok with that?)?

TBH flicking between vga and hdmi I cant see any difference colour wise, brightness/contrast are different but colours look the same to me, give it a try and let me know what you think.

bravogolf · 11-09-2006, 10:37 AM

Will do mate, will adjust the settings tonight and let you know

squibbly · 11-09-2006, 11:18 AM

Thanks Fallwood, I'll have a play. Didn't realise you were HTPC, too.

Do you know what CR you were getting with that?

fallwood · 11-09-2006, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squibbly

Thanks Fallwood, I'll have a play. Didn't realise you were HTPC, too.

Do you know what CR you were getting with that?

No idea what CR was , I'm not that interested in figures as long as it looks good. Next time piers is here I will get him to give me some figures.

Ive been a htpc user since way back in the ninetys, Ive had a pc through my tv for as long as I can remember, I first started with dedicated pc to tv convertors/stand alone cards costing hundreds of pounds , you could only get them from specialist companys back then so that should give you an idea how long I've been at it.

bravogolf · 11-09-2006, 7:26 PM

I tried those settings Fallwood

For me, it's hard to know if it looks better (most of the pre sets looks good to me) but do you find the black looks more grey than usual? It's the Living settings I tried, btw. I wanted to get the last episode of Sleeper Cell before the missus came home

fallwood · 11-09-2006, 7:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravogolf

I tried those settings Fallwood

For me, it's hard to know if it looks better (most of the pre sets looks good to me) but do you find the black looks more grey than usual? It's the Living settings I tried, btw. I wanted to get the last episode of Sleeper Cell before the missus came home

Hi, you will need to set brightness/contrast using DVE or similar as it will be different depending on your source. I find that the blacks in creative cinema are better for dark scenes as it keeps shadow detail better, living seems more punchy but doesnt look as black if you get a dark scene.