Is calibration services for DLP set worth it?

Thanks for your inputs. The actual cost is $350 and I'm told this is really the only guy in the area doing this service. I have heard great things about the Sony SXRD but haven't found a decent place to view them. Best Buy has them but the display was a terrible setup. Lights shining on the screen and crappy input quality. Nothing looked good in that store. I'll look some more although I did really like the Mits 52".

Besides the calibrator training credentials the test equiptment must also be regularly calibrated and traceable to NIST.

I have a Sony Qualia set (uses the SXRD chip set). I agree that it is quite an improvement over any DLP RPTV. I admit to being too lazy to have the set properly calibrated (I've done it by eye, the Sony allows for an amazing amount of owner calibration without going into the service menu).

I have a friend who had a Samsung DLP calibrated. I could not believe how much better it looked than any other Samsung DLP I've seen. Prior to calibration, I thought that Samsungs delivered a very strange color balance and looked aweful.

Keep in mind that one of the most valuable tweeks an ISF calibrator can do for any set (DLP included) is to properly set the greyscale, which is usually accessible only through the service codes.. This is key in getting a great picture.

In addition to correcting color (as far as posssible with a given display), techs can also correct geometry and other issues.

If you've spent good money on a big screen TV, why not get the best picture it's capable of? Factory setting usually suck big-time. At least invest in a Calibration DVD to adjust the manufacturer's "torch" mode into something more watchable.

Check the ISF website for more info on calibrators - good techs can be found.

Also check threads at avsfforum.com - many names there to. Some, Like Greg Loewen travel.

The Sony SXRD is indeed a LCoS technology (not LCD). It's one of the best displays I've ever seen - gorgeous.