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.