Avia II
Starring: Avia 2: Guide to Home TheaterStudio: Image Entertainment
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 121 minutes
DVD Release: January 1st 2008
Buy DVD:
DVD Review
Avia's latest entry into TV and audio configuration strikes a fine balance between being friendly to newcomers and satisfying to home theater gurus. Navigating the disc is easy, as it is logically divided into ten main topics that are further divided into chapters. If you are new to home theater, the first few chapters walk you through topics like Home Theater Components, Video Basics, HD Technology, and Making the Connection (hooking up your system)--all in plain English, not in techno-babble.
If you already understand the basics of home theater, it's easy to skip to the final three chapters to tweak and calibrate every aspect of your system's audio and video. To really take advantage of the audio test tones, you need a SPL meter, and if you don't know how to use one, the disc walks you through the process. It also walks you through the most common video test patterns and how to use them to make proper adjustments to the sharpness, brightness, color, tint, and contrast settings on your display. The first time you calibrate your display it will look a lot different than you are used to, but resist the urge to turn the brightness up. By the end of the week, you will appreciate the improved picture and wonder how you were able to watch it before. Just be careful with the included color filters—since they lack a sturdy, cardboard liner, they can be easy to lose. --Adam Gregorich
User Reviews
A little easier than the original - Rating: 4/5
I have the original version and the test patterns on this version did help slightly. For example I had my settings,in cinema mode,as picture +13 brightness +9 color -2 tint -2 and sharpness 0 temp - warm. After using Avia II my settings are picture +13 brightness +10 color -3 tint -3 sharpness 0 temp - warm. The sharpness settings had no effect in the old or new version on my set. I am using a Panasonic TH-42PZ77U with a Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player. It does speak more on HD technology than the original Avia. If you are new to HD and other setups this disc is the way to go. I had no trouble with any calibration directions. As for as them showing name brand cables and TV's, maybe these guys help promote the video and does not mean it should be the one to buy. Always research before you purchase any type of cables, A/V's or TV's. I will probably purchase this version and will be checking out the Blu-ray version when it releases late January.
Great menu. Instructional video has bad information. - Rating: 3/5
First, I must mention how flimsy the DVD case is. On the first day of use, it broke in three areas, just from normal use.
Avia II has an easier menu system than the previous version. It has a clean list of menu options. Clicking on them takes you to sub-menus, whom appear similarly. It's easy to find what you want.
The instructional videos are new and satisfying, but they do have some issues. Inaccurate information, lacking information, as well as some advertising for rip-off Monster Cables.
I don't remember most of the inaccuracies, but one that did stick in my mind is: HDMI has significantly better image quality than RGB. I know from personal experience that there is no practical difference between those two.
The instruction video for setting the White Level is missing information that they mentioned in the previous version of Avia. They didn't mention the purpose of the different shades of white in the whitest step. Someone could easily set the White Level too high and produce incorrect picture.
I'd buy this if I didn't already have the patterns, but be wary of the information on the videos. The problem is: how is someone new to TV calibration supposed make correct decisions with such incompetent videos.
