DIY ISF Calibration on a Sony KV-36XBR800

[worldys]

I have been reading up about the importance of periodic ISF calibration and would like to try to do it myself. Everywhere I read warns NOT to do it myself as I can really screw things up. I realize I am flirting with disaster but I figure that if I got through four years of graduate school, I should be able to work my way through this. What do I need? Will a service manual for my TV provide a walk through? What calibration disk should I buy? Will the Digital Video Essentials work for ISF calibration or do I need something more technical?

I understand that if I blow up my TV, it is no one's fault but my own so please don't hold back with the advice.

Cheers,

Sasha

[aud19]

First of all an actual ISF calibration requires 10's of thousands of dollars in testing equipment, so just hire someone for a full on ISF calibration.

Otherwise a user-level calibration via DVE or AVIA is a great idea :T

[Shane Martin]

You need a color analyzer for one. That alone will not be cost prohibitive for you to purchase.

[worldys]

Thanks for the input, that clears things up a little bit. So ISF calibration is out of the question.

I was thinking of buying the DVE NTSC (2003) disk. Is this the best one to buy?

The consumer menu seems pretty minimalistic. There is a slight bowing of the picture at the bottom of the screen, hardly noticeable but I think it is real. Can I use the DVE disk and enter the service menu to fix any divergence/convergence issues and improve my picture quality?

[aud19]

Honestly, at that level you're better off paying a pro to do the full calibration for a few hundred bucks IMO. Then pick up a copy of DVE or Avia for DIY tuneups and to calibrate your speakers/HT as well. I like DVE, lot's of people like Avia, they both work fine

[Shane Martin]

I prefer avia. It's easier to work with. It will get you 70% there. The last 30% will need to be attended to by an ISF guy. That last 30% still is rather huge though.