Customer Reviews

Colorvision, SPYDER3 Tv, Colorimeter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought perhaps a little pricey when I bought it, but given two factors; how much I spent on the HDTV big screen and that it really did improve the picture setting and therefore my viewing happiness. It does take a bit of time and remote control clicking. It took me an hour of distracted time so I figure in dedicated time probably would take 30 minutes or so. You will need a laptop to load the software on and connect the sensor. I ended up using a tripod to get the sensor close to the TV's screen since when I used the suction cup it ended up not sticking after a time and fell on the floor so I was lucky it didn't break the sensor. If you get this device, I wouldn't recommend using the suction cup to attach it to the screen. Other than that, happy with the results and need to go to my other smaller bedroom HDTV and then... friend's?? as a freebie?

I bought the Spyder 3TV along with the DVE DVD for my 52inch Samsung. What every one has said about the Spyder not having some options for adjustment is true, they could have made the computer program have more options for some adjustments or have more set up options. Now, I took the DVE DVD and did a comparison with what the Spyder 3TV said my LCD should be set at. The only difference was the brightness. The Spyder program told me to set the brightness lower then the DVE DVD, but not by much. How ever, I did find out that there are some bad Spyder 3TV probes. After doing some reviews on the Spyder probes that some are being shipped that are not calibrated properly, sometimes you do get a bad apple thats why I bought the DVE DVD as well as the Spyder. The one I have works and works great. My LCD looked good out of the box, but now the picture looks great. I'm thinking about taking my lap top and putting up a few advertisements, not charging as much a Best Buy charges but maybe $50 to $100 to set up other TVs. I have already set up about 20 TVs for friends and family, why not get paid for it....

Unit works as advertised and works well, although I'm am doubtful about the "power saving" claims. Probably not equivalent to a $500 calibration by a technician, but for the cost it gets you close enough for me. There are enough differences in broadcasts to make TV setup very difficult without help. With this you know that picture problems are not in the TV (or at least the TV is as good as its going to get). After I use it I routinely adjust the settings somewhat to make the picture more pleasing to me. I have LCD TV's and the unit handles these very well. I use a tripod to prevent using the suction cups on the LCD screens. Software can give a printout with settings and charts.

It is pretty easy to use. You should be pretty comfortable to know how to load the software etc. and the instructions are intuitive. I bought it to calibrate my Pioneer Kuro TV. The before and after improvements were pretty noticeable. As other viewers noted the sensor needs to be pushed against the TV screen using a tripod the provided suction cup is very cheap and lousy. Before you take any readings you need to make sure that the sensor is firmly attached to the screen or stray light may effect your readings. For the first time, it usually takes lot longer than 30 mins, but once you have done it couple of times, it will go pretty smoothly. It is pretty pricey for what it does but it is lot better than the HD Home Theater Improvement DVD that one can buy for $30. To justify the cost I am calibrating all of my family TVs for free. I gave this product 4 stars because of it is cheaply constructed for the price point.

I used this on my new Panasonic 50 inch plasma, 9 year old Hitachi 53 inch rear projection, and front projection tv setup in my basement.
Took around 40 minutes for each calibration.

It did a very nice job with the colors (main reason I bought it due to my color blindness), as well as the rest of the settings.
Really could see the difference on all three.
My wife even commented on how nice the colors looked, and she NEVER notices the tweaks I make to the settings. (She's not a big Tech geek like me).

The Plasma settings were much "cooler" and not as bright as the original settings (or my attempt at manually setting it up).
Should extend the life of my plasma and cut down on my electric bill.
I'd recommend this.

Only one problem.
Don't use the suction cup to hold the unit in place. It will fall off in a second. Instead, use the sliding counter-weight to center it and then lightly lean a tripod up against it to keep it against the screen.

Other than that, it's great...

The red tuning was a bit over the top for me but a simple adjustment easily cleared up the issue. The software was very easy to install and the product worked as advertised. The suction cup is useless. I used a camera tripod to hold it against the screen and it worked perfectly. For the price, I recommend this product.

The Spyder3 seemed pretty well made, but the included instructions were a bit skimpy. Install the software on a laptop, attach the Spyder3, and follow the prompts; pretty simple. After darkening the room, changing the plasma settings as per the instructions and all that, the calibration itself is easy if a bit tedious. It would help to have someone man the TV and DVD remote while you work the computer. One little gripe; the suction cup that's supposed to hold the Spyder3 to the plasma screen kept letting go after 2 or 3 minutes. Got annoying enough to get the tripod out and use that instead. Anyway, after all was said and done, found the resulting recommended settings too dark. Popped in Rattatoie BlueRay, and just couldn't stand how dark everything was. Paused at a night scene, and found a lot of detail was being swallowed up in the shadows. However, only needed to brighten the picture a bit to reveal the lost details, and didn't need to adjust the contrast for resulting highlights. Overall, am satisfied with the color balance, but a bit disappointed with the how dark the recommended settings were. Maybe if the room wasn't "darkened" as recommended for calibration, but left instead with normal ambient lighting? Also, found that for regular TV viewing, even after my own setting tweaks, the picture was a wee bit dark. But that's more of a TV rather than a calibration issue I suppose. I'd like to try one of the Pantone systems as a comparison, but overall can't complain for the Spyder3's simplicity.

Oh BTW, tried it on my computer monitors too. Worked fine.

I was at first nervous to use this but I said what the heck and tried it. Was very easy to use!! The first TV took me 30 minutes by the 3rd it only took me 10. Pictures looks great! I have tried the DVD versions of the calibrators and was never impressed. I felt this had done it's job. I only gave the product 4 of 5 as I would have liked to see more features on and possible a update. Definitely would recommend this to anyone who wants to get the most out of a LCD TV.

The product was easy to use with improvement in the color settings. The brightness and contrast settings chosen by the device were incorrect by being too low which became obvious on the test images. The accompanying CD has an image with multiple boxes increasing from near black to near white. The initial settings on my Samsung Plasma TV showed only 4 of more than 64 boxes. Another image of a black cat in the dark was nearly imperceptible. The results were somewhat better for a Sony Bravia LCD TV but still too dark. Fortunately, you can visually adjust the contrast settings using the test images.

If you are trying to squeeze the best picture quality out of your HDTV with its myriad of picture settings, the Spyder3 TV calibrator is a step in the right direction beyond DVD programs with their visual calibration. The suction cup device attaches to the center of your screen and you run a Windows software program of various test patterns (takes about 30 minutes) and then you have a report of optimum display settings. This did make an improvement, but there are several issues to be aware of. First, each device connected to your HDTV (DVD, DVR, cable box, etc.) has its own color decoding circuitry), so only the DVD source can be calibrated with the included software. So, you will still have to manipulate other sources. And if your TV does not save settings per input, an overall calibration can be problematical, at best. Second, most TV manufacturers vary the color palette from optimum, so their TV's stand out in a showroom. This is usually defined as red push, so flesh tones have a sunburned look and other colors are less accurate. These settings can only be accessed through a hidden service menu and need proper adjustment with professional equipment. Second, my DVD player has its own color menu settings, so I contacted Colorvision support for advice on where to start with base settings, but got no response. That's a negative in my book! At its Christmas sale price on Amazon, the Spyder3 TV was worthwhile. At its regular price, it is too expensive for the end results. If you want the best and most accurate viewing from your HDTV, it is still worth the expense ($300-400) to have a knowledgeable professional do the calibration.