middie8 Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 has anyone used a dvd test disc to set up their home theature? is it worth the $50+? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wife-said-no Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 Look around, you can find AVIA or Video Essentials for cheaper. Also, try the place you do business with. I got my copy of AVIA for free. Now to you question. I wasn't so sure if it would help. I did my TV first. My wife, who couldn't tell the difference in the TV and Home Theater, noticed the difference in the way it looked. Then I did my audio. I noticed the difference right away. It is like listening to an orchestra tune their instuments. At first they are off and sound funny and tehn all of a sudden they sound all together and harmonious. ------------------ Come on honey why can't I spend some more money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLee Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 I also found the AVIA DVD to be very helpful. It's amazing how far off the "factory defaults" were on my TV! All of the audio tests are great for getting the most out of your HT. AVIA is available for $34.95 at: http://www.alphadvd.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domain Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 I recently purchased Video Essentials at a local Suncoast for $34.95, and I have to say it was money well spent. As Stevelee said, the difference between uncalibrated vs calibrated is amazing (or *can* be amazing is probably better). As far as Avia, I hear its quite good also, but I've heard complaints that the audio portion doesn't include a dedicated LFE channel. Domain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Phillips Posted March 22, 2001 Share Posted March 22, 2001 I have both and yes they are worth it.AVIA was bought right after it came out,they are both very usefull. They can be found for less than $40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted March 23, 2001 Share Posted March 23, 2001 Ok - another dumb question from Mr. Adams. I've seen posts about AVIA and Video Essentials and now these testimonials. Can someone describe to me what these products do? I don't need exact details, but the comments about "calibration" has me very curious. TIA Tom Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted March 23, 2001 Share Posted March 23, 2001 tom, the video section basically calibrates your tv video setting to the video output characteristics of your dvd player. basically has u turn down the tv sharpness level (well that seemed to be the most effective change for me anyway ) i was complaining on avia not putting anything on their lfe channel for the subwoofer phase test but found away around that (myself as they never responded to 3 emails) by changing the receiver input mode from auto/digital to analog for that test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted March 23, 2001 Share Posted March 23, 2001 Tom - Both discs have interesting tutorials and a bunch of video and audio test patterns/signals. They teach you how to make the changes to various settings on your monitor/receiver to achieve the nirvana of HT! I found the biggest improvement on my TV came from turning down the brightness. The audio tests on Avia will run frequency sweeps (from 200hz to 15hz for example) that let you identify audio black holes, rattling picture frames, etc... Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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