My Experience With The New Digital Video Essentials

Dr. Spec

I ran through DVE this weekend. My brief thoughts:

1) Brightness/Pluge:

No problems. Adjusted level until outside black bars faded into background. About 33% on my TV.

2) Color:

No problems. The correct setting for blue yielded a slight red push. Dropped it 2% to correct for the red push and it's a good compromise. About 36% on my TV.

3) Tint:

No problems. The center setting on my TV was correct.

4) Sharpness:

Here I had to shut off the "Perfect Piture" setting on my Hitachi in order to get the Sharpness control to work. Once I had the control working, about 65% was correct for my TV.

5) Contrast:

Once again I had to disable Perfect Picture to adjust contrast. I used the DVE Reference Materials test pattern with the horizontal steps that fade from white to grey to black. I adjusted Contrast until the darker steps at the outside of the pattern were the most clear. Deviating Contrast in either direction blacked out these steps. About 53% was correct for my TV.

6) Audio Tests:

At Master Volume 00, I calibrated to 75 dB in all six channels with no trouble. I used the limited bandwidth test tones and C-Weighted Slow on the meter.

The DVE sub level was WAY too hot. I suspect it is an encoding error that uses the LFE channel instead of the low passed bass from a surround channel (like Avia does).

Encoding the LFE channel at the same level as the surround channels will yield a +10 dB test tone as compared to low passed bass from a surround channel.

For example, if your sub is already running 3-4 dB hot, you will see a 13-14 dB increase over the limited bandwidth surround channel level i.e., 75 dB + 13-14 dB = 88-89 dB. In other words, it will bury the meter on the sub tone.

I am almost 100% certain this is an encoding error involving the LFE channel. I used other methods to calibrate my SVS PB2+.

Regards,

Ed

kberg

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
Encoding the LFE channel at the same level as the surround channels will yield a +10 dB test tone as compared to low passed bass from a surround channel...

...I am almost 100% certain this is an encoding error involving the LFE channel. I used other methods to calibrate my SVS PB2+.

Wow - if true, this really suprises me coming from those DVE gurus.

scottvamp

Thanks for the update Doc, Got my DVE a couple days ago and will be doing some video calibrating soon. I am pretty happy but my projector has a red push that I need to tone down. I also would like to get a little deeper bass from my sub.

Dr. Spec

Yes, the sub calibration screw-up was a big surprise. I might like bass, but I don't run my sub 17 dB hot! Hopefully Joe Kane/DVE will come clean on this and offer updated replacements.

Scott - my red push was not that bad - maybe running 2% hot as compared to blue. I might be able to actually adjust the red calibration separately were I to go into the service menu. But it's not horrid like the Panny's so it's not urgent.

For anyone who has never had an ISF calibration, or done an Avia or VE or DVE calibration, I can almost assure you your video display is running too bright with insufficient black levels and the colors are running too hot. And too much contrast and sharpness are also common, causing undue edge enhancement and extra noise.

Other things you might want to check are to disable black level expansion and the velocity scan modulation (a fancy term for edge enhancement).

And check your color temps and make sure you are using the Warm setting. This usually yields the most realistic color of gray on the test pattern. The only other way to check color temp is with a meter, which I don't have. Warm definitely gives the most neutral and natural gray on my set.

Doc