Avia Disappoints

[Spoon]

Well, based on the rave reviews I've heard here and other forums, I finally decided to go ahead and
buy the Avia Guide to Home Theater (I couldn't find it for rent anywhere). While I do think this is a
good disc for the most part, I have to admit that it might not be for everyone. To explain, I have a
five year old 27" TV, and the video section of Avia was almost useless. First of all, when I set
"black level" to the recommended setting, the picture was EXTREMELY dark. I do realize it's
supposed to be darker than what most people are used to, but this practically looked like I was
looking around a room with no windows and no lights on. I still gave myself a little while to try and
get used to it, but after popping in a few DVDs (Apocalypse Now, Boogie Nights, and Alien) I
noticed that significant visual information was being cut off. No big deal, I just bumped black level
up to where it looked good again, and wasn't cutting off visual information (only a few notches
above where Avia recommended I set it). But the biggest disappointment was in setting the color
saturation and hue levels. Obviously my TV does not conform to NTSC color standards, and as a
result, trying to use Avia to correctly set color levels on my TV was completely useless. Using the
blue screen, Avia recommended that "Color Saturation" be set to 46.... on a 0 to 50 scale!!!!!
Also, the correct hue setting (according to Avia) was pushing WAY far into the red zone. The
result was a completely over saturated orangeish-red picture with flesh tones that were no where
near normal. If setting color saturation to 46 on a 0 to 50 scale is the correctly calibrated setting....
then I want to be wrong. I almost immediately set my levels back down to where they were before,
with Color down to about a third (at 17), and Tint about even between the red zone and the green
zone.

I did end up calling Ovation Software tech support, and granted, the guy I talked to wasn't the main
tech guy, but he did seem knowledgeable enough about the product, and he simply said "It sounds
like it's a problem where you TV isn't compatible with the disc".

Now, I don't want to go off on an evil rant here, but I do feel that Ovation should have mentioned
that their product might not work so well on some older displays, especially since the video section
is the main reason I bought this disc.

So overall I must warn people out there with older television sets before buying Avia. Like me, you
might have to wait until you step up in the world of home theater before you can get the most from
this product.

I'd be interested to hear any feedback from other users of this product. Some of you may
be thinking that I didn't use the product correctly, or I just have a terribly bad eye, but if you could
only see what the picture looked like after setting color level with Avia, you'd most likely agree with
me that it was a complete joke!

[RoboDad]

I don't own the Avia disc, so I can't specifically comment on its merits, but I do own Video Essentials, which is designed to provide the same basic toolset for calibrating your audio and video.

On VE, one point that is stressed many times is that following the instructions may not always result in a correct picture. This is not, however, the fault of the disc, but rather the television itself. My experience with my Mitsubishi RPTV was not as severe as yours, but VE was not able to give me an ideal picture on that set, due to an inherent design flaw. Note that this has nothing to do with the age of the set (my Mits is just over two years old), nor is it technically a "compatibility" issue.

Based on what you describe, I would bet that your set has the same flaw. I would guess that the red color in the image was excessively bloomy after the adjustment, correct? If so, then the Avia disc should have instructed you that your set cannot achieve an optimal image, and that you should back the color intensity off until the reds no longer bloom. You may also need to pull the tint back a bit, but probably not much.

FYI, I have another, older set, a Panasonic 27", that worked flawlessly with VE, and has a picture now that is a real delight to behold.

So, the moral of the story is, yes, Ovation should have provided a clear caveat (as VE does) that the Avia disc may not provide the optimum image quality on some TVs, but the fact that it can't improve the picture on all sets does not imply a flaw in the product.

Rest assured, before I buy my next set, I will make plenty sure that it is "compatible" with my VE disc. I suggest you do the same.

Robo

[indiephantom]

Like Robodad, I have used VIDEO ESSENTIALS, with a 1996 Sony Trinitron XBR, which works very well. And what Robo has said should help you. If the red bar appears overly "saturated" and seems to bleed into the other bars, then you have set color too high. Note how the yellow bar appears, VE says if it starts to look orange, then bring the color down to where it appears yellow again.

I did not adjust hue at all, it was ideal at it's standard setting. Hope this will help a bit. You probably just need to increase your brightness, and decrease your color.

[RoboDad]

I should also point out that, even though my RPTV couldn't achieve an optimum image, it was still worlds better than it had been before using VE, once I backed off the color a bit. I frequently receive compliments about the quality of the picture from people who come over to watch movies, whether it's DVD or satellite (although my brother still thinks I'm certifiable when I bring out VE and my SPL meter for my "monthly tune-up" ).

Robo

[Bugg]

Using the blue screen, Avia recommended that "Color Saturation" be set to 46.... on a 0 to 50 scale!!!!! Also, the correct hue setting (according to Avia) was pushing WAY far into the red zone. The result was a completely over saturated orangeish-red picture with flesh tones that were no where near normal.

After you have finished adjusting the Color and Hue, You get that final pattern of color bars that are broken up into blocks, each block has a percentage number on it, According to Avia, If you have adjusted your moniter properly, The blue block numbered 0% should be the one the matches the background when viewd throuigh a blue filter. Once you have this set correctly, they suggest that if the red level is to high, that you just use the red filter and lower the color, untill the red block just above the 0% red block matches the background. This will assure that your tint is properly adjusted and give you the best level of color saturation.

As far as the black level pattern is concerned, I agree with you that the Avia settings a just a little too dark, Rather than adjust it to the point where only one of the black bars can be seen as they recommend, I set it at the point just before the second black bar become very hard to see.

[Spoon]

Thank you for all the replies. I did try to use the color decoder bars, but unfortunately they weren't much help. There just really isn't a point on my display where the decoder or the color bars appear correctly calibrated while looking through a filter (and I do realize this is a problem with my display). So for now I'm probably going to stick with keeping color and hue at the point it looks pleasing to my eye, and like RoboDad, I'm making sure my next set is compatible with Avia!

[Taxi]

I sure got good results from the VE disc on my crusty old (1995) Sharp 25" TV. The picture was noticeably better afterwards, even though some of the test pattern screens showed that my set is incapable of displaying some video information correctly.
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Taxi
DVDFile Moderator

[Spoon]

Taxi,

Hmmmmm... My 27" is also a 1995 Sharp, probably very similar to your 25". While I'll definitely admit that Avia was helpful in calibrating the sharpness, black level, and white level to almost the right setting, color and tint just seem way off after using Avia. Just out of curiousity, what are your 5 levels set at on your set after calibrating with VE? After calibrating with Avia, and then using my own eye to calibrate Color and Tint, my 5 levels are set at:

Picture = 25
Sharp = 16
Bright = 25
Color = 17
Tint = 4(G)

[Chromy]

My old toshiba 20" calibrated fine... I think that it is pushing 6 years old... and my 27" sony looks good.

I've had good results with both the Avia and the VE test discs...

That being said... some TV's are going to be beyond calibration. My friends RCA TV has a permanent green glow to the black parts of the picture... even with the brightness turned all the way down. My toshiba is a little on the purple side (regardless of calibration tho' )