Rating: 
Summary: The best upgrade available for your Home Theater!
Review: This is an essential purchase for anyone buying a decent Home Theater system and large screen TV. When we all watched TV with nothing bigger than a 27" GE or RCA set it was no big deal. But as we watch more DVD's or HiDef on bigger TV's and listen in amazing surround sound sound it is vital that you set up your system to accurately represent the bits on the disk or in the signal.Video Essentials takes you through various vital tests with great explanations for newbies and nerds alike. It was amazing to me how much better films and programs looked and sounded after running this disk. Natural detail, natural colors and an exquisite movie theater look and feel now accompany our shows. I can not believe that someone recommended using an animation, Monsters Inc., to calibrate ones set. It is a cartoon with green and blue cartoon monsters and digitally created light and sound sources - how can that help anyone! Calibration and sample disks like this and the THX optimizer that comes with several DVD's helps you to recreate in your home theater what the director intended. If anything I would use Monsters Inc to set up a custom set of screen values just for animations since it makes sense to make this type of movie more vivid. Yet for live-action movies this disk is a must!
Rating:
Summary: The best upgrade available for your Home Theater!
Review: This is an essential purchase for anyone buying a decent Home Theater system and large screen TV. When we all watched TV with nothing bigger than a 27" GE or RCA set it was no big deal. But as we watch more DVD's or HiDef on bigger TV's and listen in amazing surround sound sound it is vital that you set up your system to accurately represent the bits on the disk or in the signal. Video Essentials takes you through various vital tests with great explanations for newbies and nerds alike. It was amazing to me how much better films and programs looked and sounded after running this disk. Natural detail, natural colors and an exquisite movie theater look and feel now accompany our shows. I can not believe that someone recommended using an animation, Monsters Inc., to calibrate ones set. It is a cartoon with green and blue cartoon monsters and digitally created light and sound sources - how can that help anyone! Calibration and sample disks like this and the THX optimizer that comes with several DVD's helps you to recreate in your home theater what the director intended. If anything I would use Monsters Inc to set up a custom set of screen values just for animations since it makes sense to make this type of movie more vivid. Yet for live-action movies this disk is a must!
Rating: 
Summary: Not an useful tool
Review: This talks so much about calibration. But when I started testing, all my current settings were already matching them. I cannot beleive that I did not get ANY improvement in the picture after using this tool. This is just a waste of money for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to use...
Review: While there seems to be a ton of information on the disc it's like pulling teeth to figure out how to use it. Yes there is a basic calibration section which steps you through a few very basic settings, but to do anything beyond that seems difficult if not impossible without some special equipment. There seem to be no instructions as to how to use the multitude of test patterns at the end of the disc. While the beginning of the disc seems to cater to the average enthusiast looking to improve his/her system, it sometimes becomes both way overdone at times and at others you are left wondering exactly what to do. Navigation is terrible, no other word for it. Unless there are additional instructions as to how to utilize the bulk of the information on the disk, I think I would look for a different product for performing a calibration on my tv.
Rating: 
Summary: Read the Monsters Inc Review Again
Review: Would just like to point out that calibrating using a Monsters Inc DVD via the THX Optimizer is all the previous review was trying to say. You could just as easily whip out your Star Wars DVDs or T2 and run through the same setup. As for this DVD, its the benchmark for all home theater reviewers so take a hint and pick it up
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