Calibrating your HDTV? Don't spend $300

Along with the price of your new television, there are two other recommendations you might hear from the sales clerk at your local electronics store.

One is an extended warranty. As we've covered in a previous Bucks 'n Bytes blog post, product experts like Consumer Reports say it's not necessary to buy one for HDTVs because if something is going to happen to the television it'll likely happen within the manufacturer's standard warranty.

The second option is for the store's technicians to set up the new HDTV for you in your home. After all, it's true most TVs are calibrated to look great in the store, but those same settings – such as very high brightness - could look terrible in your home environment.

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While audio and video calibration can make a world of difference to your home theatre experience, the at-home service can cost upwards of $300 among the big box stores – or even more for boutique electronics shops. Future Shop, for example, usually charges $299 for calibration, but a call to a midtown Toronto location found there's a temporary promotion on for $199.

Still, all you really need is a disc that walks you through the calibration. Instead of spending money on Avia, DVE or Monsters/ISF calibration discs (about $20 apiece), if you have a LucasFilm or Pixar disc in your library these DVD or Blu-ray movies usually have a calibration tool included. It's called THX Optimizer, and it can be found in the Special Features or Set Up area of the disc. There are hundreds of movies available with this included, such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars flicks. A complete list available here.

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Simply use your DVD or Blu-ray remote to press Enter/Select on the THX Optimizer and follow the wizard to calibrate your home theatre's video and audio settings (the latter relates to your audio-video receiver and surround sound speaker setup). The test will take you through contrast, brightness, color, tint, aspect ratio (4:3 and 16:9), speaker assignment, speaker phase and subwoofer crossover. Learn more about the THX Optimizer here.

You should see a marked difference in the quality of the picture and sound than when you first took the HDTV out of the box -- but you'll be $300 richer by doing it yourself.

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