Sound & Picture
Dear Gary:
I’ve been wanting to write this kind of letter for quite a while now. I have been a subscriber since 1998, and I have seen all kinds of people writing to you about sound and picture quality for their home setups and should they or shouldn’t they calibrate their systems. I got a good laugh when I read Mike Smith’s letter in Issue 132, June 2008 about the fact that should he or shouldn’t he apply ReEq on Mi Casa titles and so on and so forth...who cares???? Doesn’t he have ears...can't he tell if his sound system sounds good or not???? And the same goes for calibrating your TV. If it looks good to you in your own private home...then be it. Why do you need an ISF technician to tell you how your set should look in your own home? If you like orange-colored skin...good for you. If you like halos around objects and you like to set your TV at full sharpness...so be it. It’s your own setup and if you like it that way...good for you. The same goes for sound. If you like to listen to music or movie soundtracks at full bass and treble...that’s your own decision. I can understand that for a movie, sound-recording studio, or television broadcasting it is different because whatever work you do will go out to the masses so it has to be the “best that it can be,” but for your own home...you’re the boss...so you should decide how you like to watch movies or listen to music. Sorry if you don't agree with me at all, but I had to get it off my chest.
Claude Barsalo, St-Janvier (Mirabel) Quebec Canada
Managing Editor Danny Richelieu Comments:
You are right, Claude, it is up to the individual what he does or does not like in both picture and sound quality, but what about those people who have never seen or listened to a properly calibrated system? They don’t have the personal knowledge to know if what they are viewing and listening to is what they like.
Picture and sound are (supposed) to be mastered on systems that have consistent specifications, and calibrating your home system to those same specifications (to your best ability) allows you to view and hear the presentation just as the filmmakers intended. Not everyone enjoys watching and listening the way the filmmakers want you to experience their work, but that is a decision that should be made only after you know what the filmmakers intended by viewing and listening to it on a properly calibrated system.
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