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.
Rating: 
Summary: For the jackass who last reviewed:
Review: I'm not saying that DVE isn't great, 'cos everyone knows it is. But, when tuning your TV with the Monsters Inc disc, or any other THX certified disc, you're not tuning to a cartoon, but rather to a very professional, elaborate series of tests created by THX Corporration for calibrating THX certified theaters- THX,have you ever heard of them? They only set the only existing standards for professional and home theater systems, not to mention only the highest end of concumer a/v gets THX certified. Oh yeah- and monsters inc. is a completely digital transfer from a digital source, which is more than you can say about 99% of DVDs. And it's a reat movie, anyway!!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE DVD FOR HOME THEATER
Review: If you are serious about your home theater setup, you need this disc. I have read a review here stating that its just as useful to turn your system with a Monsters Inc DVD...CRAZY. You cant correctly calibrate picture and sound by watching a cartoon. All you can hope to do is guess. This DVD takes you into the minute details of system calibration and fine tuning, and explaining its importance. If you feel a cartoon DVD is "just fine" for calibration purposes, then are probably just as happy watching movies on a 20" TV and 2 head mono VCR. BUY THIS DISC!!
Rating:
Summary: Better that the First Video Essentals
Review: If you enjoy great sounds with your TV or projector, this is a must have DVD. I have both wide screen TV and Plasma. How could my Plasma be better, I asked. Well, after going through this DVD I found out how. The audio setup on this DVD, as on the first Video Essentals, is worth the price of the DVD alone. If you enjoy movies at home and have a surround sound system, you are not getting the full force of your system until you tune it with this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, but can be repettive.
Review: The general consensus seems to be that this is hard to navigate, Which I would have to agree with. But then this is a tool, not a movie. There really isn't a way to do this that wouldn't be hard to navigate in anything but a completely linear way.However, that said, it's easy enough to follow, if a little dull, did manage to improve the image on my Philips 8833 TV using the color filter, etc. learned that my DVD, (or TV) is clipping the darker than black TV signal, etc. V educational, as well has having video test cards on it, which was the real reason I bought it, so I can bounce into the service menu and tweak the geometry of the TV which is just a bit off. However, while it claims to have a DTS sountrack, (and the free aqaurium DVD that I got with it does have) the DVD itself doesn't. I've got a Yamaha DSP-AZ2, all digital AV amp, and it just doesn't pick it up, even when I force the DVD input, (coming out of the DVD via Fibre Optic) to DTS, I get nothing. This is despite having set the audio track to 6.1. Dolby 5.1 works fine however, and comes in Spanish too, (the PAL version)
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Poor
Review: The successor to the original Video Essentials was a long time coming. The new version suffers from the same flaws as the original: poor layout and access on the disc, very poor explanation in the narration, almost non-existant explanation in the liner notes, and consequently difficult-to-interpret test patterns. The narration is at times pompous and unduly technical--who is he trying to impress? I suppose that if you are already a set-up technician, none of the above matters, but I consider myself to know more about the technical side of audio and video than most consumers and had a very hard time making sense of even the basic adjustment instructions.
Just a few for instances involving the basic test patterns for adjusting brightness, contrast, color, and hue: the narration is terribly unclear as to whether proper adjustment leaves the outermost black bars on the pluge-plus-bars pattern just barely visible or not. Then, after the narration tells you that the pluge pattern is not useful for adjusting non-CRT displays such as my plasma, it does not immediately follow the pluge with an appropriate pattern for adjusting non-CRT screens, referring the user to another chapter for discussion of that. When you get to that other chapter, the explanation of how to use the ramped gray scales is amazingingly ambiguous; for one thing, the reference to the 100% points is unclear because the ramps are not labeled. Then, on the new test pattern used on DVE to adjust color and hue, there is no explanation as to which of the bars and patches are to be adjusted for color and which for hue--again a lack of on-screen labeling or narrative explanation.
...
Rating: 
Summary: Difficult to Use
Review: This DVD can be very useful, either to let you adjust your system or at least to let you know that it is working well, but it is dreadfully difficult to navigate and use. For example, if you lost that color setting in your projector, it is near impossible to get back to the part of the DVD with the test pattern you need to reset, and then painful to get the instructions on what exactly to do in the adjustment sequence... you knew it once, but need a quick reminder... no chance. There are things it does not cover (why do some menu picks blank on certain format/source combinations?), but in the main most of the content you need is there, just organized clumsily and delivered tiresomely.
Rating:
Summary: When people THINK Too much..
Review: This DVD can serve as an example to others of how not to produce a DVD for the average consumer. The content is good just the presentation is absolutly terrible. The production values are obviously very high but this is a "how to do it yourself video" and I would think most people want a format that they can follow step by step on a Disk that can be easily navigated. This disk does not come close to being that.
The navigation method is one of the worst I have ever seen. While I realize the info is of a technical nature the presentation would benifit from a little less overproduction.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tool to learn and use for home theater calibration
Review: This DVD is an excellent and easy to use resource for tunning your home theater systems. Everything from 6.1 audio down to color temperature and scan rates is covered. The DVD is jammed packed with plenty of calibration "slides" as well as your 3 color test "wheel" that you can use to make sure your colors are testing right. The DVD starts off showcasing some materials and immediately walks you through how all of the pieces of your home theater rely on each other and tie together in the end result to make your home theater experience what it is. This DVD is definately worth the purchase price in picture quality clearity once your have calibrated as well as the knowledge you get from watching through the tutorials. A definate must for any person who is interested in all of the terminalogy, learning about picture & sound quality as well as someone who wants to get the best from there hard earned and worked for investments.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the average consumer
Review: This is a high end product for people who really know what they are doing in reference to fine tuning their AV equipment. If you can't figure out how to use a remote, this is not the choice for you. For people needing to fine tune their HD equipment, this is a God send. I and many others have waited far to long for a test and set up DVD for my home theater that supports Anamorphic images. If you are confused by this disk and it's uses I really don't knwo what to tell you, call for help. Again, this is not for your average consumer.
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