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135 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good For Its Target Audience, April 11, 2002
This review is from: Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up (DVD)
I have both Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up and the Avia Guide To Home Theater. If you're a serious video/audiophile, you will want to get the Avia Guide To Home Theater which has far more comprehensive video/audio calibration tests and procedures. Then again, I suspect the S&V disc is more aimed at the 'mass market' and as such, it does an excellent job. The explanations are very well (and occasionally humorously) explained by two highly appealing presenters. The audio/video tune-ups are a subset of what's available on the Avia Guide disc, though the S&V disc also includes some test patterns from Avia Pro which I hadn't seen before. I very much like the 'Extras' section of the disc which has some great demo clips from Dolby, DTS, and THX. These are not available on Avia Guide to Home Theater. Also, the DTS tune-up is not available on the Avia Guide, and is most welcome though it didn't result in any changes to my audio settings. I experienced a strange glitch with the video on the speaker balance tune-up - the wrong speaker was highlighted or the previous menu would be displayed. Weird. I have had no problems with the Avia Guide. Overall, at the MSRP ...I highly recommend the Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up. It's informative and entertaining, and I think it will help novice users better understand and make the most of their home theaters.
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth the price!, March 12, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up (DVD)
I recently splurged on a new home theater system (large-screen Sony TV, a Dolby Digital receiver, and surround speakers). After I set up the system I was pleased by the results. Great sound, great picture. Then my brother sent me a (very) belated Christmas gift last week, Home Theater Tune-up. What a shock! The picture that I thought was "great" became fantastic. The picture is a darker than before, but details seem to jump out at you. I purchased a Radio Shack sound meter, as advised by the disc, and used it according to the disc's instructions. Another HUGE difference! I felt like I was in the middle of the scene! Overall the disc was extremely helpful. It laid facts out in bite sized morsels that I could easily digest. The girl was hot. The guy got on my nerves a bit... I recommend you stay away from the upgrading your equipment chapter, though. I'm already plotting my next purchase!
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39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, March 22, 2002
This review is from: Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up (DVD)
I'm glad to see a set-up disc that doesn't cost [so much]. I have not seen the much talked about Avia disc, but my guesses are that for most people with a basic 4:3 TV and economically packaged surround system, this is all that you need and perhaps more. The on-screen narrators provide an easy-to-understand introduction for the beginner and the seperately accessible tests make it easy for the more experienced to jump right in at his own pace. I'm also glad to finally see DTS audio tests along with the Dolby Digital tests. Also helpful is the explanation of how to use RadioShack's sound meter although the disc's instructions to point the microphone up differed with the meter's instructions to point the meter at each sound source (Anybody know which way is really best?). This disc also includes a nice variety of demos to show off your system's full video and surround potential.
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