Rating: 
Summary: Who Knew?
Review: ...
I thought my home theater system sounded great -- until I tuned it up with this system, and now it sounds WOW! Who knew?------ It's amazing that you can get so much more out of your equipment when you follow the directions of a professional. I had some similarly great results with the CD "Voice Lessons to Go" which helped me to vastly improve my singing. Same deal, I thought I was singing so great, but with Ariella's professional guidance my vocals are now much more vivacious! And also the "New Sex Now" DVD revolutionized my lovelife. Like Woody Allen said, "even my bad orgasms were pretty good" -- and I used to think my sexlife was pretty great -- but now, with the New Sex system it is like night and day -- wow! These three products I mentioned will really tune up a lot of your more important areas of life, and I would highly recommend them all.
Rating:
Summary: I Never Knew...
Review: ...what good picture and sound were until I tuned up my system with this terrific product. Why didn't someone think of this sooner. I also experienced similar results in my intimate personal life with the system called "New Sex Now" dvd.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I had read the other reviews before buying
Review: First let me say that I consider myself to be an "intermediate audiophile". I have 4 complete A/V systems in my home (2-5.1, 1-6.1 & 1-7.1 systems). After purchasing a 65in. HDTV and running across this product on-line by chance,I figured...what the heck? Well, just got it/watched it today. The commentary part is basic stuff that most folks know. Then...you get several audio (followed by video) test tones and patterns thrown at you. I know about pink noise, white noise etc., but like several other reviews, "Where the heck are the instructions on what to do with them ? I know the basics of the audio tests, but I feel bad for anyone else who isn't "into" this stuff. What were these people thinking ? (I promptly e-mailed DVD Int'l with these same comments/questions and hope to get a response and reasonable explanation. The only review I read before buying exclaimed "easy to navigate". Like other reviewers stated....this product is terrible to navigate through. I'm not very keen on any of the video patterns. The "gray color" card....What the heck do I do with it ??? What the heck do I do with ANY of the video test patterns ? Do I adjust my dvd player ? TV ? It really aggravates me that they leave you hanging out there with no explanation or instruction. I'm sure this disc is pure gold to a technician or professional set-up folks. However, while I would venture to say that I know about ten times more about A/V systems that most of my friends, watching this disc left me feeling like an idiot. In my e-mail to the company I even said "Just tell me I'm an idiot and completely missed a section/chapter...I can deal with that". I decided to come to this site to see what others had to say. I now see that I'm certainly not alone. I would even venture to guess that some of the "pro" review folks might be a little less than forthright when claiming how great this disc is. Either trying to stroke their own egos or they're certainly waaaay ahead of this humble soul. Maybe I'm just getting old :-). For the guy who said his Yamaha A/V system wouldn't read the supposed DTS....you need to get it checked. It is in DTS. Well, I've always been VERY pleased with my current systems, but I'm always open to any possibilities to make them better. I did learn one thing ! I never really thought about the color of the wall behind the screen. However, my main system doesn't need/want any ambient light around or behind it so it's a moot point ! :-) I guess I'll go back and watch it a few more times. Maybe something will click.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I had read the other reviews before buying
Review: First let me say that I consider myself to be an "intermediate audiophile". I have 4 complete A/V systems in my home (2-5.1, 1-6.1 & 1-7.1 systems). After purchasing a 65in. HDTV and running across this product on-line by chance,I figured...what the heck? Well, just got it/watched it today. The commentary part is basic stuff that most folks know. Then...you get several audio (followed by video) test tones and patterns thrown at you. I know about pink noise, white noise etc., but like several other reviews, "Where the heck are the instructions on what to do with them ? I know the basics of the audio tests, but I feel bad for anyone else who isn't "into" this stuff. What were these people thinking ? (I promptly e-mailed DVD Int'l with these same comments/questions and hope to get a response and reasonable explanation. The only review I read before buying exclaimed "easy to navigate". Like other reviewers stated....this product is terrible to navigate through. I'm not very keen on any of the video patterns. The "gray color" card....What the heck do I do with it ??? What the heck do I do with ANY of the video test patterns ? Do I adjust my dvd player ? TV ? It really aggravates me that they leave you hanging out there with no explanation or instruction. I'm sure this disc is pure gold to a technician or professional set-up folks. However, while I would venture to say that I know about ten times more about A/V systems that most of my friends, watching this disc left me feeling like an idiot. In my e-mail to the company I even said "Just tell me I'm an idiot and completely missed a section/chapter...I can deal with that". I decided to come to this site to see what others had to say. I now see that I'm certainly not alone. I would even venture to guess that some of the "pro" review folks might be a little less than forthright when claiming how great this disc is. Either trying to stroke their own egos or they're certainly waaaay ahead of this humble soul. Maybe I'm just getting old :-). For the guy who said his Yamaha A/V system wouldn't read the supposed DTS....you need to get it checked. It is in DTS. Well, I've always been VERY pleased with my current systems, but I'm always open to any possibilities to make them better. I did learn one thing ! I never really thought about the color of the wall behind the screen. However, my main system doesn't need/want any ambient light around or behind it so it's a moot point ! :-) I guess I'll go back and watch it a few more times. Maybe something will click.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I had read the other reviews before buying
Review: First let me say that I consider myself to be an "intermediate audiophile". I have 4 complete A/V systems in my home (2-5.1, 1-6.1 & 1-7.1 systems). After purchasing a 65in. HDTV and running across this product on-line by chance,I figured...what the heck? Well, just got it/watched it today. The commentary part is basic stuff that most folks know. Then...you get several audio (followed by video) test tones and patterns thrown at you. I know about pink noise, white noise etc., but like several other reviews, "Where the heck are the instructions on what to do with them ? I know the basics of the audio tests, but I feel bad for anyone else who isn't "into" this stuff. What were these people thinking ? (I promptly e-mailed DVD Int'l with these same comments/questions and hope to get a response and reasonable explanation. The only review I read before buying exclaimed "easy to navigate". Like other reviewers stated....this product is terrible to navigate through. I'm not very keen on any of the video patterns. The "gray color" card....What the heck do I do with it ??? What the heck do I do with ANY of the video test patterns ? Do I adjust my dvd player ? TV ? It really aggravates me that they leave you hanging out there with no explanation or instruction. I'm sure this disc is pure gold to a technician or professional set-up folks. However, while I would venture to say that I know about ten times more about A/V systems that most of my friends, watching this disc left me feeling like an idiot. In my e-mail to the company I even said "Just tell me I'm an idiot and completely missed a section/chapter...I can deal with that". I decided to come to this site to see what others had to say. I now see that I'm certainly not alone. I would even venture to guess that some of the "pro" review folks might be a little less than forthright when claiming how great this disc is. Either trying to stroke their own egos or they're certainly waaaay ahead of this humble soul. Maybe I'm just getting old :-). For the guy who said his Yamaha A/V system wouldn't read the supposed DTS....you need to get it checked. It is in DTS. Well, I've always been VERY pleased with my current systems, but I'm always open to any possibilities to make them better. I did learn one thing ! I never really thought about the color of the wall behind the screen. However, my main system doesn't need/want any ambient light around or behind it so it's a moot point ! :-) I guess I'll go back and watch it a few more times. Maybe something will click.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor layout and difficult navigation.
Review: First of all, like most DVD's you are not able to simply navigate this DVD with the Title and Chapter Menu buttons. No, the author decided in his infinite wisdom to make navigation a chore by accessing a "Program Menu" which only after significant effort I was able to finally figure out how to get to point A to point B and even then it required cumbersome navigation and took far too long. It was really an aggravation and frustrating since my principle concern was not learning how to navigate the damn DVD but learning how to calibrate my system. After wasting far far too much time figuring out how to navigate through the DVD I then undertook to calibrate my system. The author's introductory chapters and interesting and informative, BUT he fails to follow up on the initial promise of the DVD by leaving you without adequate instructions on how to use the test tones and video tools. For instance, he has half right speaker tones, but never explains what in the heck they are for. After a brief and disappointing intro to both audio and video he simply throws the test tones at you. Why didn't he have a thorough step by step explanation of exactly how to use them. The other problem is that he uses terms he does not completely explain or define leaving this user confused and scratching his head. If you are an expert and know what you are doing then this DVD might be more useful than it was to me. Hopefully, I'll eventually figure out how to use the darn thing.
Rating:
Summary: Save Money for a movie DVD...
Review: I bought this DVE when it first came out. Calibrated my Panny PT-53WX53 TV many times with this DVE (I used "Monster Inc." movie to calibrate my TV when I first bought the TV a month ago...). The calibrated result with this DVE? Very minimum difference noticed from a Monster Inc-calibrated TV. I meant "minimum" difference. If I had a chance, I would not buy this DVD and rather use that money to buy some decent movie DVD. My advice: Use Monster Inc DVD to calibrate your TV and save some money!
Rating:
Summary: Digital Video Essentials
Review: I have been interested in home theater, as well as audio video calibration for years now and I must say that this disc is the absolute best value in home theater that I have ever found!!! Not only does it give you a lot of helpful information concerning the industry today and where it is going, but it also gives you more than the necessary amount of test patterns/signals in order to calibrate your system to the best of it's ability. I never realized how poorly my system was setup until I was able to use this disc. My picture never looked so GOOD! Even the family cannot believe the results! I really enjoyed the tutorials - very helpful! For anyone interested in home theater, into home theater, or looking to take their education to a whole new level I would highly recommend this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A great do-it-yourself tune up for your home theater
Review: I own a rather inexpensive home theater system. I'm still using a standard definition television and don't even have a real external powered subwoofer. Being a perfectionist however, I try to squeeze the most out of every electronic gadget I own. Digital Video Essentials does a fantastic job of getting the most out of even lower-end home theater systems. A fabulous tutorial that's well paced and easy to follow helps you configure your sounds system and display for the best sound and picture possible. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Well done - picture looks good
Review: I used this DVD on one tube TV, and two rear projection TVs. Tube TV ended up great - one projection set fairly good, and one had a lot of adjustments that were compromises. All three looked better when I was done. :) Make sure you let the TV warm-up ~30 mins before you start.
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