Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics [Blu-ray]

	List Price: $29.95 Our Price: $18.01 Your Save: $ 11.94 ( 40% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: DVD International Starring: Joe Kane Directed By: Joe Kane
Average Customer Rating:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: Blu-ray Brand: Digital Video EAN: 0647715600424 Label: DVD International Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: DVD International Region Code: 1 Release Date: 2008-03-25 Running Time: 120 Studio: DVD International Theatrical Release Date: 2008-03-25
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Had the DVD version too Comment: I had this for my first DVD player in like 1996 and loved it. I had to get the blu-ray version too. Great for tweaking your system and also has some great sample content for wow'ing the friends and family. Customer Rating: Summary: Does what it is suppose to do Comment: This does what it says but i think the price is a little high for what you get.I went through the whole disk and to my surprise i had the settings almost optimum already and all i did was eye it out when i was watching tv.So if you really really need this then get it.But if you are happy with how your tv looks already i say save your money.Or of course you could send it to me :). Customer Rating: Summary: Disappointed by poor explanation, but no better choice Comment: I still have the original Avia DVD, but it's totally geared toward the old CRT TV sets, so I rented DVE: HD Basics on Blu-ray from Netflix. Overall, I find this HDTV calibration program quite disappointing. My main gripe is the calibration part -- the stuff you bought or rented the program for -- is very poorly explained. The narrator races through the poorly written script, leaving you scratching your head even after two or three passes. One thing that Avia, otherwise also a user-unfriendly calibration proram, gets it right is telling you clearly what you should expect to see. HD Basics does tell you what you should see for a test, but that part is covered in like 2 seconds, and if you blinked, you would have missed it, while the narrator continues stuffing your head with lots of techno talk that adds no value to the program. An additional problem is, only the basic tests are explained in the video, and so-called advanced tests are only briefly described in the test navigation menu, in a font so small that it's very difficult and eye-straining to read even on a big screen. One thing that would have really helped is subtitles, or at least showing us the technical keywords the narrator is using, but there're none here. The introduction and HD in details sections are padded with useless materials, and sitting through them is an exercise in frustration -- but you have to watch most of them in order to truly understand, and properly use, the tests later! Another problem is the menu navigation on this disc is counter-intuitive. When you press the up arrow, for instance, you'd expect to see the previous menu item highlighted; instead, it's reversed: the list scrolls up. I feel like I'm playing with one of those flight simulators from the 80s that got the pitch control wrong. Anyway, one piece of advice I'd like to offer, regardless of what calibration program you use, is: after you calibrate, you should feel free to make slight adjustments so the picture looks right *to you*. In other words, use the calibrated settings as a starting point for finetuning. For example, using both Avia and HD Essentials gives me contrast that's a bit too low for my taste; also, the color is still a bit too saturated for me, too. So I change those settings a little bit, using what I consider ideal scenes from two high-quality Blu-ray discs: Kung Fu Panda (animation) and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow (real-person film). The last thing you want is having a gorgeous HDTV display, calibrating it carefully, only to be wondering why you don't quite think the picture quality is right. This advice goes against what the calibration program creators tell you, but it comes from my experience of helping many people set up their TV displays, and I hope you'll agree that it's what's right to you that ultimately matters. (For the same reason, many audiophiles like to play with EQ settings, even though the "flat" setting is in theory the ideal setting because it brings out what the sound engineers had intended in the mastering studios.) Customer Rating: Summary: little hard for the average person.. Comment: Only had a chance to use this once, didn't really like the way my tv looked after i adjusted it.. will have to go through and try it again to see if it comes out any better.. was a little time consuming, and harder than i expected... Customer Rating: Summary: Huh? Comment: I am not a geek when it comes to technology, but I do know a DVI from an HDMI. 90% of this product takes you from some interesting information to the mind numbing detail. After several passes, I was able to set the brightness and contrast, but I could not figure out what I was even shooting for with the color settings. I would say, put the money on this toward the $300 for a pro to come to your home. Sure they will set it up in 10 minutes, but it beats the hour plus I spent and still don't know if I am even close.
Editorial Reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Had the DVD version too Comment: I had this for my first DVD player in like 1996 and loved it. I had to get the blu-ray version too. Great for tweaking your system and also has some great sample content for wow'ing the friends and family. Customer Rating: Summary: Does what it is suppose to do Comment: This does what it says but i think the price is a little high for what you get.I went through the whole disk and to my surprise i had the settings almost optimum already and all i did was eye it out when i was watching tv.So if you really really need this then get it.But if you are happy with how your tv looks already i say save your money.Or of course you could send it to me :). Customer Rating: Summary: Disappointed by poor explanation, but no better choice Comment: I still have the original Avia DVD, but it's totally geared toward the old CRT TV sets, so I rented DVE: HD Basics on Blu-ray from Netflix. Overall, I find this HDTV calibration program quite disappointing. My main gripe is the calibration part -- the stuff you bought or rented the program for -- is very poorly explained. The narrator races through the poorly written script, leaving you scratching your head even after two or three passes. One thing that Avia, otherwise also a user-unfriendly calibration proram, gets it right is telling you clearly what you should expect to see. HD Basics does tell you what you should see for a test, but that part is covered in like 2 seconds, and if you blinked, you would have missed it, while the narrator continues stuffing your head with lots of techno talk that adds no value to the program. An additional problem is, only the basic tests are explained in the video, and so-called advanced tests are only briefly described in the test navigation menu, in a font so small that it's very difficult and eye-straining to read even on a big screen. One thing that would have really helped is subtitles, or at least showing us the technical keywords the narrator is using, but there're none here. The introduction and HD in details sections are padded with useless materials, and sitting through them is an exercise in frustration -- but you have to watch most of them in order to truly understand, and properly use, the tests later! Another problem is the menu navigation on this disc is counter-intuitive. When you press the up arrow, for instance, you'd expect to see the previous menu item highlighted; instead, it's reversed: the list scrolls up. I feel like I'm playing with one of those flight simulators from the 80s that got the pitch control wrong. Anyway, one piece of advice I'd like to offer, regardless of what calibration program you use, is: after you calibrate, you should feel free to make slight adjustments so the picture looks right *to you*. In other words, use the calibrated settings as a starting point for finetuning. For example, using both Avia and HD Essentials gives me contrast that's a bit too low for my taste; also, the color is still a bit too saturated for me, too. So I change those settings a little bit, using what I consider ideal scenes from two high-quality Blu-ray discs: Kung Fu Panda (animation) and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow (real-person film). The last thing you want is having a gorgeous HDTV display, calibrating it carefully, only to be wondering why you don't quite think the picture quality is right. This advice goes against what the calibration program creators tell you, but it comes from my experience of helping many people set up their TV displays, and I hope you'll agree that it's what's right to you that ultimately matters. (For the same reason, many audiophiles like to play with EQ settings, even though the "flat" setting is in theory the ideal setting because it brings out what the sound engineers had intended in the mastering studios.) Customer Rating: Summary: little hard for the average person.. Comment: Only had a chance to use this once, didn't really like the way my tv looked after i adjusted it.. will have to go through and try it again to see if it comes out any better.. was a little time consuming, and harder than i expected... Customer Rating: Summary: Huh? Comment: I am not a geek when it comes to technology, but I do know a DVI from an HDMI. 90% of this product takes you from some interesting information to the mind numbing detail. After several passes, I was able to set the brightness and contrast, but I could not figure out what I was even shooting for with the color settings. I would say, put the money on this toward the $300 for a pro to come to your home. Sure they will set it up in 10 minutes, but it beats the hour plus I spent and still don't know if I am even close. Created by home theater industry legend Joe Kane, HD Basics is the definitive High Definition home theater calibration tool. It promises to improve your picture and give you an understanding of the concepts that are vital to getting the most out of your HDTV. Easy to use menu system 25 minute 'quick set-up" option including an in depth description and explanation of how to use specific test patterns to calibrate your display Audio calibration test signals Descriptive text in the menu to help navigate each option A 90 minute overview of the basics of HDTV Introduction to the world of creating HDTV programs Audio commentary by Cinematographer Allen Daviau and Joe Kane.
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