This is the story of a long saga with a mixed outcome, so make yourselves a coffee or a strong one and settle in...
We have two 24" flat CRT(conventional) TVs in our home - a Sony KV24-S120 and a Toshiba 24AF-43. They aren't huge but they have given very good presentations, esp. for movies.
Three months ago I purchased AVIA Guide to Home Theater and performed the "Basic 5"(Contrast, Brightness, Color etc) calibration on both, using the included filters. Both sets reaped much improvement from this simple procedure, and I was quite satisfied. There were times when I swore the picture on both sets was 3-dimensional in quality! I also made avail of AVIA's geometry and overscan patterns, and also adjusted the flyback Focus control on each set - resulting in razor sharp edges to subjects with a much lower sharpness control setting than I ever imagined.
Last week I learned of some professional calibrators - ISF I think, who discussed a way to perform the same calibration, with AVIA or either Video Essentials or Digital V.E, through the "hidden" service menus. The procedure seemed simple - Center all 5 user controls, then crack into the service menu. Then, perform the DVD calibration PER INPUT if available. And as always, write down the before/after values of all service menu items changed(subcolor, subhue, etc). I thought this might be a good idea because on both sets I thought the component input seemed a little pinkish compared to the composite(RCA) and RF/cable inputs, even after all the calibrations. I thought that doing it through service menus would help *balance* out the image from input to input.
Well, how were my results?? The Sony KV24~ ended up slightly redder, and the Toshiba 24AF~ acquired a bright bluish "glare" for lack of better words. Sure, I saw no difference when viewing a movie either through ch. 3, Video 1 or 2, or Component, but something just wasn't right.
After a few days, I decided I'd had enough. I returned all service menu items on both sets relating to color and tint back to their factory positions. I then reperformed the AVIA calibration utilizing the user controls, and got the same settings results as I did 3 months ago with both sets. The Sony in particular is right on track.
Now here's the quandary: The Toshiba still has that "Xenon headlight" glare, especially with outdoor scenes and with light-colored clothing. The effect was particularly glaring when I performed the following experiment:
I took photos of both the Sony and the Toshiba playing a B&W oldie movie on Turner Classics. Analyzing the two, I could not get over how "blue" and overly bright the Toshiba's image was compared to the almost warm Sony black & white.
I will leave you all with the following: All color/brightness/contrast/tint settings in service mode are back to factory default. No cutoff/bias or drive/gains were adjusted on either set. I would appreciate any suggestions you folks have with regards to my Toshiba, as that is the living room - Read: Home Theater - center piece. Going into those service menus did *something* to that picture, I just don't know for the life of me what.
Your thoughts/comments/suggestions are appreciated.