Comments on: Is Best Buy Scamming On HDTV Calibration Services?

By: Damon Talbert

Damon Talbert — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:44:07 +0000

I bought this $5.00 TV from a thrift store. The picture on it was so perfect. Sat it next to my flat screen and found it looked better than the flat screen. In about 15 minutes, of tinkering, I had the picture on it perfect too. Why would anyone spend that much for someone to monkey with the settings on your TV. Would you pay for someone to calibrate the temperature of your water heater..

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:41:24 +0000

Calibrating a tv really is a joke…I have worked in an electronics store for over 7 years and have multiple tvs personally. The manufacturers do send the tvs to the store on their brightest settings because a lot of the time the sales floor is very high lit, and most customers are drawn to brightness, but there isnt a tv i sell that has only one preset mode on it. This is completely ridiculous.Also i am so tired of these completely stupid best buy associates stating that they dont work on commission so why would they try to be selling you something. First off you guys are so dumb to be selling stuff without the possibility of earning anything extra. Second do you really think that telling customers that your not on commission all the time really helps customers feel better? The first thing that registers in my mind when i hear you say that is that you dont care what I buy or do because it really doesnt affect you…ya i know you still have to meet a quota to maintain your lousy $8 an hour…but this callibration stuff is just so ridiculous…also i am very interested in purchasing your $180 hdmi cable since you guys claim it is so much better than any other cable that is just sending a digital sample

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:26:43 +0000

Steve. Have you not read any of the other posts? The calibration the do uses some very pricey equipment and it does dramatically. Change the quality of your picture. Out of the box your tv will have the backlight, contrast, sharpness and blues cranked nearly to the max. A calibration takes these down to normal levels and gives your tv a real life feel. Everything looks more natural.

It’s not a scam at all. Shame on the writer for posting this nonsense. The best buy in my town has a demo showing “out of the box” vs “calibrated” and it really is astonishing. Maybe you should check your local BB and let your eyes make the judgment instead of some writer who has no idea.

By: steve

steve — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:38:25 +0000

So a guy from Best Buy comes on here and calls us all “ignorant” , excuse me but it is exactly the that we aren’t complete idiots that we are skeptical of the calibration in the first place .
And the fact Best Buy employees don’t make commision doesn’t prove anything at all . Best buy still wants to make money anyway they can , and they are certainly taking advantage of non – tech savvy consumers .
200-$300 is so overpriced for what this service claims to do for your tv

By: Cody

Cody — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:57:15 +0000

I’d just like to say that I work at Best Buy and sell a ton of calibrations every month. And every single consumer that has it done, loves it. We as Best Buy associates do not work on commission, so why would we rip you off? Its a great service and it just seems to me that a lot of you are either ignorant to new technology and have been living in a cave for your entire lives watching a 19″ Magnavox tube tv. Or, you are to cheap to purchase it so you come whine on here that its a rip off. Whatever the case is. Stop talking shit about best buy because you are completely misinformed.

By: Ron Schenone

Ron Schenone — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:20:38 +0000

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

Regards, Ron

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:57:54 +0000

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…

By: Ron Schenone

Ron Schenone — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:26:10 +0000

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

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:11:10 +0000

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.

By: Thaddeus Camp

Thaddeus Camp — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:27:03 +0000

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.