Is Best Buy Scamming On HDTV Calibration Services?

http://WWW.IMAGINGSCIENCE.COM

SInce you seem to think that Best Buy is making up calibration completely, maybe you should do some research.

Hi Joe,
I did not see the word ‘completely’ in my post. I must of missed that.

My point is one should be aware of the possibility when shown two unlike picture sources.

You’re paying someone $300 to come play with your remote control. You tell ME… Is that a rip-off?!

yeah, total ripoff. i wouldn’t even do it if it were free.

best buy gets me mad sometimes.
i mean, first off, you shouldn’t ever have to do too much calibration with a tv when you buy one, maybe a little. and to charge 300 for that is rediculous. completely.

Hi George,
It is like the difference between Monster Cables and the generic HDMI cables. Example – my neighbor paid the Geek Squad $75 for a pretty blue set of component cables that sell at Wal-Mart for about $10. His picture is no better than mine and we are both on DISH. In fact my picture is actually better in HD on my plasma compared to his RP. But that’s another story.

They do more then come to your house and play with your remote control. They use special tools, and depending on the level of quality (IE the TV controls) they use special colored glasses to match perfectly the TV to natural light. It has to be done in the room in the spot the TV is going to be, because room lighting can change the picture.

Its actually a long process that requires tools that go into your televisions repair port and they do a great job. Unlike that consumerist website (which should be called the Slanderist) the store in my town doesn’t do that. Its actually hooked up to a camera aiming out, so what you see on the screens is a High def image of yourself, on 2 different TV’s.

That store probably was 1 over ambitious manager that got scolded for doing it, and is a rare, and isolated incident.

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for sharing your expertise with us. It is appreciated.

They dont play with your remote, they actually go through the whole calibration process. Its a rough process which requires over 10,000 dollars worth of equipment (which they use).

Thanks John

[...] Ron is one sharp consumer and looking out for the best interest of other buyers. He spotted a new twist on an old marketing idea – add-ons you don’t need – that applies specifically to HDTV sales. Beware of HDTV Calibration Services. [...]

I think, nobody should pay for a HDTV calibration, It suppose to be calibrated from the factory. You do not tune your brand New car to get better HP.. It just does not make sense to me. you spend hundreds of dollars to get you brand new hdtv and you have to spend even more money to get it calibrated.

sorry guys but this is well worth it. On a plasma the difference is so incredible and if you feel the screens of both televisions the calibrated counterpart will feel much much cooler. They aren’t as bright but they consume less power and run very much cooler. And a lower operating temp can’t hurt lifespan. This isn’t what you can do on a remote…this is a deep reprogramming through the manufacturer settings…you can’t do it yourself or with a disc or anything else. They use sensors placed on the screen and the computers do most of the rest. Save money on power (not gonna make up for the new price of $250 fast), get a better more realistic picture, and extend the life of your tv!

I really think people are just a little unwillingly ignorant here. Not to be taken in a rude way what so ever either. What i mean is Calibration is a great service offered and not only from Best Buy. Best But actually only offers the lower version of a calibration so that it can be sold at a more affordable price; a true in depth calibration can cost around $2000 dollars and take ten hours. The reason this needs to be done on a tv is because Manufacturers of your television didn’t set it up to look its best in your home. They set it up to look better than the other televisions on the sales floor. Your home is not a sales floor. It is a completely different viewing environment. The difference in lighting alone warrants adjustments to all of the televisions settings. So like i was saying i think this is just a case of the unaware. The average buyer would think that a $300 calibration is a scam when a a/v specialist would think that a $300 calibration is to cheap. Like buying a Dynex or Insignia plasma over a pioneer. But don’t get me wrong the Best Buy calibration is great, but just geared towards the more average user who can’t afford to pay for a $2000 calibration on there new Kuro! (Plus they are ISF certified now direct Best Buy employees. There is only one certified geek squad calibrator in all of western Canada which just goes to show how extensive the training is.)

Thanks everyone for the additional information. Sharing your thoughts is appreciated.

It’s not a scam. An ISF certified guy spends between an hour and a half and two hours with your TV. They ARE ‘calibrated’ out of the box, but it’s impossible to get the best settings for every viewing environment, and the default factory settings are over-saturated, overbright, and overcontrasted. The reason they boast of a dramatic power draw decrease is primarily because less is needed to provide you with the best picture. How can the factory know where the TV is going? Generally, they are in an overlit store next to many TVs, so they go fullbright and max power output. The equipment they use delves into a service menu for the TV that no remote can get to, and no consumer can get to, either. The tech uses a light meter to measure ambient light both at the source and at your viewing position. He asks you to turn on whatever light you usually have on when watching. He sets up several ‘presets’ and makes it where you can access those settings with a switch he gives you (part of the service). He uses a spectrometer to measure the color spectrum and optimizes your TVs output for your unique viewing environment (ambient light, reflections, backlighting, etc). This is no joke, and results in a dramatically different picture. Go to a Best Buy (or whatever store) that has the right thing set up on their TVs, and you’ll see they have the same HD piped into both sets, with several nice examples that demonstrate black levels, white levels, color wheels, and more than you need to see that it makes a difference. Doesn’t anyone do research before leaping to conclusions anymore?

I think it’s a little funny how Best Buy stopped selling the Spyder3TV ( A device used to Calibrate HDTV ) in there stores about the same time they started offering there service.

The calibration service Best Buy offers is a complete rip-off. Having worked there and seeing it all first hand, I can tell you that their primary goal is to take as much of your money while giving you the least amount of real service. You can perform your own calibration on your brand new HDTV if it’s really needed, but most of the time it’s not even necessary. Best Buy also really pressures it’s sales staff to employ scare tactics to sell their products and services. Best Buy employees really make it difficult for you to simply purchase the core product without buying tons of useless accessories and misleading services. The company should be ashamed…

Thanks for the info Andrew.

As someone who works in graphic design it might help to know that this service is comparable to calibrating a computer monitor to enhance color matching when preparing files for print. The process of getting a computer monitor calibrated is equally extensive (though computers usually don’t hide the controls from you) and expensive because light measuring equipment has to employed to obtain objective measurements to overcome the subjective “perception” of what is being seen as a predictor of what will occur when you go to print. The key difference though is that in the TV scenario you are not trying to satisfy a third-party paying customer. You are trying to satisfy yourself. So, if *you* are happy with your TV’s picture quality then any tactic trying to convince you that you shouldn’t be is clearly seeking to induce fear in order to cultivate profit. While calibration may indeed create a “better” picture, if you are already satisfied with your TV you certainly can continue to be so without paying 300 bucks.

Hi Ron: We recently purchased a 50″ HD Plasma from Best Buy along with the calibration service. We purchased the service on the advice of two people. The first was the son of a friend of mine, who does high end a/v installation. He said it is a necessity – IF you want the very best picture image, AND you don’t know how to calibrate yourself. The second person was the Comcast representative at BB, without BB sales associates around. He confirmed what my friend’s son said. The Comcast rep also demo’d the difference using two HD channels. Cnet has a very good article on the need for calibration. The article pretty much says what John of 12/17/08 said about factory settings. BB is coming by this weekend to do the calibration. The image out of the box looks pretty good to my untrained eyes, so it will be interesting to see how much difference there will be. I’ll let you know the results, if you like.

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the information. I have two 42″ Plasma TV’s in the house and I also think the picture is superb on HD channels.

Please let us know how and if the calibration works for you.

Regards, Ron

Upddate: We had the calibration done this morning. Our evaluation of the calibration: worth every cent! Your mileage may vary. The improvement in the HD picture is significant to us. The Geek Squad technician could not have been more helpful in explaining what he was doing, why he was doing it and giving us all sorts of helpful hints to enhance our viewing experience. As with any large company, there are dirtbags ripping off the unsuspecting public. We feel the store we do business with is not in that category; at least not at present…

Hello Bill,
Thanks for getting back to us. I am glad that you had a positive experience.

Regards, Ron