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How To Calibrate Your HDTV (and Not Lose Your Mind)
Posted by John Mahoney at 5:00 AM on November 29, 2008
Confession: Until a few days ago, I'd never calibrated my TV. There are a couple reasons for this. First, and most simply, I'm not down with buying a calibration disc that I will likely use once then never touch again. And second, to me, HDTV calibration is the gadget geek's equivalent to chasing the dragon. I've seen endless A/V forum posts of new TV owners begging and pleading for that one true setting for their new high-definition slab—it's not pretty. There is an easy way, though, tucked inside hundreds of THX-certified DVDs already out there, and it's quite possibly already in your movie collection.
Once again Onkyo has delivered gadget porn in receiver form—two THX Ultra2 Plus certified 7.1 channel A/V receivers to be exact. The TX-SR876 and TX-NR906 both provide high quality HDMI repeaters, Audyssey's new Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume tech, HD Radio, 140 and 145 watts per channel (respectively), badass HQV Reon-VX video upscaling to 1080p and new THX Loudness Plus processing. The NR906 will also give you portable digital audio device support as well as streaming audio via a rear panel Ethernet port. The TX-SR876 and the TX-NR906 will retail at US$1,799 and US$2,299, respectively.
Home theatre junkies are now one step closer to a fully THX-certified home thanks to Serious Materials' QuietHome soundproof doors, which joins the company's QuietRock THX-certified drywall. The Serious folks claim an 85% improvement in sound blockage over a standard solid-core door with the 2 1/4-inch thick THX-certified edition, which will set you back US$2,500 when it clears the certification board (and once the first shipment clears to George Lucas's Presidio compount). If you're in the target market for a THX-certified door, US$2,500 probably won't sting too badly. Now, where is my THX-certified easy chair and acoustically neutral Pringles can? Read on for full details.
Behold the Greatest Workstation of All Time: the Emperor. I mean, come on, anything that looks like it can control a turbolaser battery or fire a giant anti-matter death ray must be the greatest workstation of all time, period. But according to Patrick Laflamme Duval—business developer for manufacturer Novelquest—the name is not a Star Wars nod, but a reference to the emperor scorpion's tail:
