Video Essentials: Optimizing Your Audio/Video System (DVD International)

The video calibration section is this DVD's strength. The explanations of the roles of brightness, contrast, sharpness, color, and tint, together with steps of how to adjust them to get the most proper picture, are great. Also a blue filter is included for use with the color test patterns (but no green or red ones). Still, the program scarcely mentions certain video issues such as grey scales, picture convergence and trigonometry, and only says they need to be handled by professional technicians. Also, there are many clips of what look like real TV programs scattering throughout the disc that are supposedly for you to test your display, but we are never really told what to do with them other than just "eye-balling" them and see if they look right after you made your video adjustments. The audio calibration section not only doesn't tell me anything new, it doesn't tell me nearly close to what I (or most people) already know. It merely comprises of a brief "tour" of surround system, a superficial segment that essentially just reminds you to check your connections, a segment on checking polarity of the center speaker, and separate segments containing pink noises for testing each speaker, which is something most people already have built into their receivers. There is absolutely not a word on important issues like acoustics of the room, speaker placements, cabling, or what type of speakers to use.