Avia II

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.

It seems obvious once you hear about it but you spend hundreds even thousands of dollars on a new TV, who's to say when it comes out of the box the settings are the best for your environment or up to movie color standards? This DVD uses a video tutorial to walk you through your TV's color, shading, and sharpness settings and even addresses your sound system. In the advanced menu the DVD offers a large variety of advanced test patterns which are explained in the PDF found on the DVD.Personally, when I bought my new 42" LCD TV, I thought everything looked pretty good. My friend had the old Avia disc without the color filters. I decided to buy the new one to get the color filters. After making the corrections, I didn't notice a large change until I switched back and forth. Everyone on my TV looked like they had a slight sunburn and I hadn't even noticed.If you have bought or are considering buying a HDTV, spending $40 on this DVD is a must have as it will optimize your new TV.

We recently purchased new a plasma & a new lcd tv & I wanted to "calibrate" the picture.I went to my DVD rack to look for my old Avia DVD, but couldn't find it.So off to Amazon I go.I found this Avia II DVD & decided to give it a shot.This is MUCH better than the original version.I watched the tutorials & performed each of the tests & was suprised to find that the results were noticeably better than what I had obtained on my own.The only adjustment that I thought was a little off after using the disk was the tint.According to the color strips used for the color & tint adjustment, I had to adjust the tint to +14 on the plasma & + 10 on the lcd.I thought that this was a little high & after watching both tvs, I did notice a LOT of green.I adjusted the tint back down to maybe half of what the disc had me adjust.I can't belive people would pay someone big bucks to come to their homes to calibrate a tv.Hopefully, I won't lose this one.All in all, I would reccommend this product to anyone.After all, you just spent several hundred $$ on a new tv, why not spend $10 a get the best picture out of it as you can.

A complete waste of money. Instead of purchasing the cheapest one, I picked one with the color strips.1) The hue test indicates it should be adjusted more to the red even when already a bit too red.2) The sharpness is best adjusted by sight during programming than with the test patterns on any pattern I've used.3) After setting color saturation, lowering it enough to better satisfy the red push test proved to be a decent maximum setting, although it should really be a bit lower than that.4) This test & the THX test both indicate a higher brightness than should be used. The recommended setting causes a foggy look.The color strips were great because I could use the blue one with the free THX tests.In summary, your eyes alone are probably the best choice. The second best choice would be the free THX test. The THX test indicates the glasses for the test are available online.

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.