» Datacolor SpyderTV PRO Television Calibration System Review

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Editor's HDTV Pick

HP 47 inch MediaSmart 1080p LCD HDTV "Out of the box" digital media platform. Enjoy videos, pictures and music from home network + digital media delivered over your broadband Internet connection + 3 x HDMI

You’ve just got your new television installed and it doesn’t look as good as in the shop. What’s wrong? It’s probably because the manufacturer calibrated your set for bold colors to attract attention under the bright lights of a store like the one you bought it in. So how does the non expert get their expensive new television set calibrated? The only options have been to muddle through by ones self or call in a professional calibrator. However, there is now another option.

Datacolor have released the first all-in-one automated display calibration package. SpyderTV PRO is a combined software and hardware solution. It can calibrate front projectors, plasma, RPTV, DLP, LCD, LCoS and CRT TVs.

Setting up for calibration involves attaching the included SpyderTV colorimeter to the test display and connecting it by a USB cable to a PC you have installed the calibration software on. The Datacolor calibration system comes with both SpyderTV PRO and Spyder2 PRO software with both capable of running on a Windows system and Spyder2 capable of running on an Apple Mac also. The included software is a calibration wizard which guides the user through the entire optimization process.

Spyder TV PRO works by measuring contrast, brightness, color, tint, color temperatre presets and cuts/gains on a TV set using the included SpyderTV colorimeter. It also measures ambient light during calibration to ensure the set is calibrated for the locations ambient light conditions. The SpyderTV software uses an iterative process to work from minimum and maximum setting values to arrive at the best setting. After a series of calibration tests have been run by the software, a report is produced (can be saved as a pdf) advising on the calibration changes required for an optimized viewing experience from the test display. A useful software feature allows you compare your display with and without calibration.

For calibration service providers, the software has some customizable reporting capability allowing them to customize their reports for example, using a company letterhead. A customer database allows calibration information to be saved for each customer.The SpyderTV PRO includes:

• 1 SpyderTV PRO software CD
• 1 Spyder2 PRO software CD
• 1 SpyderTV colorimeter
• 1 Suction cup/tripod attachment
• 1 SpyderTV PRO test pattern and Instructions DVD
• 1 Carrying Case
• 2 year SpyderTV hardware warranty
• Free technical support
• Free software updates
• 1 Year free online forum subscription

The Datacolor SpyderTV package should allow most users to achieve a good basic display calibration. However, for perfectionists, a professional calibrator can achieve more due to a range of additional controls available in the service menus.