"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Most modern consumers have been conditioned to higher and higher color
temps
for white and over saturated color over the last thirty years or so.
Manufacturers realized years ago that in the first few seconds of
viewing,
where most impressions are made in showrooms, the impression is dominated
by
contrast and color saturation. This has nothing to do with perceiving
color
naturally, but everything to do with marketing and competing with a wall
of
other sets. It is not uncommon for displays to be sold with factory
settings that have color temps in the 13000K range, completely crushed
blacks and whites, and far to saturated color. Many consumers like this
more VIVID look. Others prefer to see a more accurate reproduction of
the
product as it was produced, and more realistic portrayal of color. This
requires substantial changes from OOB settings for most consumer
displays,
at least in the USA.

You will be pleased to hear that my Pioneer is set to PURE, with all the
controls at their default settings (except for a bit of Sharpness
goosing).
The image is just plain gaw-juss.

I considered having a $350 calibration performed, but decided that I
wasn't
going to pay that much for a technician who knows even less about
colorimetry than I to perform. The Pioneers are supposedly nearly correct
out of the box.

If you want a demo disk, get the Blu-ray of "The Searchers". I don't care
for the movie, but the VistaVision photography is jaw-dropping. "Amadeus"
and "2001" are almost as good. With the best material, you sometimes think
you're looking through a sheet of glass at the thing itself.


There are lots of calibration techs out there that know little more than how
to point a probe at the set and adjust gray scale. There are a few dozen,
perhaps, that really understand what it takes to make an accurate display.
I suggest you look at the list at ISF Forum. The couple of hundred members
who subscribe there are among the best in the world, and all but a handful
of the elite calibration pros are found there.

Leonard