Home FAQs ISF Video Calibration How Soon Should I Calibrate My New HDTV?

 

[ A ] Yes, a break-in period is required prior to calibration.

There are really two objectives to having a break-in period. The first is to exercise the phosphors (in a CRT or plasma HDTV) or the lamp or backlight (in other types of displays).

The second break-in goal is to ensure that your new television is a "keeper." While HDTVs have a very high degree of reliability, problems sometimes occur and anecdotal evidence indicates that failures are most likely when the TV is either very new or near the end of its rated service life.

Therefore, it's recommended that phosphor-based HDTVs (CRT and plasma panels) observe a break-in period of 200 hours before calibration. Most lamp- or backlight-based displays need only 100 hours to normalize, but projection HDTVs with Xenon lamps should also clock 200 hours before calibration.

In addition, all HDTVs or projectors should be exposed to at least a half dozen complete, power on/warm up and power off/cool down cycles prior to calibration. The heating up and cooling down of the television is useful in exposing any components that are going to fail under initial exposure to the extremes of normal operating conditions.

While there's little reason to fear that your new TV is going to suffer a premature failure, this is one of those situations where a little caution is wise.

Contributions to this FAQ article were made by the following ISF Forum calibrators:
Barry, Clearly Resolved, Dave Hancock, Home Theater Calibration, Mastertech Repair, New York Video Calibration

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