The HCFR Colormeter is the result of a collective development effort, driven by some passionate persons of HCFR forums...

Everything starts by a forum subject Build your own colormeter in the DIY forum. Alec, Emmanuel, Georges, Michel Mlill and others elaborates the first bases of reflections.

DIY colormeter software. Even better! they have plans to build your own color meter probe: http://www.homecinema-fr.com/colorimetre/sonde.php

Their software works w/ Pantone Eye-One which is on amazon for $140.

Be sure to also check out: http://www.w6rz.net/ for your HD patterns.

--timball

HCFR Colormeter

Below you'll find the settings we found best for viewing the Sharp LC-52D64U in a completely dark room via the HDMI input with a 1080i source. Your settings may very depending on source, room conditions, and personal preference.

Picture menu

OPC: Off

Backlight: -10

Contrast: 34

Brightness: -10

Color: 1

Tint: 0

Sharpness: -10

Advanced

Color Temp: Low

Black: Off

Fine Motion Advanced: On

Monochrome: Off

Film mode: On

Range of OPC: N/A

I'm not saying I bought a new LCD HDTV, but if I did I would use these settings w/ it.

--timball

Sharp LC-52D64U Tips. Flat-panel TVs tips, tricks, and how-to's at CNET.

JScreenFix

JScreenFix is a software solution that can fix stuck pixels, reduce screen burn-in and improve the quality of images displayed on a screen.

Hot (aka stuck) pixels are pixels on an LCD that won't turn off from either R-G-B. JScreenFix is a cleaver way to get rid of them if they are truely stuck. If you have dead pixels which just won't turn on (and look black) then this won't help you at all.

--timball

JScreenFix - Fix stuck pixels and screen burn-in

These guys make the best dvd players hands down. Hackable. Upgradeable. Up-Convertable! Best bang for you buck.

I bought the DV-970HD instead of the DV-981HD because the 981HD only as HDMI outputs.

--timball

OPPO Digital - Up-Converting DVD Players - Buy Direct from the Manufacturer

Spuds Mackenzie lives to party again thanks to google video!

1987 - Spuds Mackenzie commercial - Google Video

I'm watching this now... it's good. This is why we need pbs. I'll post more later but so far the best 6min investigative journalism ever.

FRONTLINE: the storm | PBS

I don't know how or why, but I think the new set made the daily show with jon stewart harder hitting. I'm not complaining since neither FNC, MSNBC, or CNN seem to cover the news anymore... just some fucked up marketing friendly celebrity chasing-true crime retelling-fear mongering OxyClean shill.

Who would have thought that a guy from New Jersey would become a better interviewer and hold his guests more accountable than say... Tim Russert, Larry King or Mario van Peebles.

Jon's coverage of the Valarie Plame / Karl Rove scuttlebug has been the most fair, most transperent, most insightful coverage of the whole mess. I believe that the Plame case highlights this administration's contempt for the media (... and consequently the american people) and exposes the lengths the WH will go to distort reality [0] [1] [2] [3].

--timball

ps) Apperently there are no less than 39 John Stewart's in imdb. So dropping the ``h'' was probably a good move, branding wise.

Comedy Central - Shows - The Daily Show

O: There had always been rumors that executives at Fox didn't like Groening, so they were burying Futurama.

BW: I wasn't in the room when these things went on, but there was some kind of trouble going on. Now they're talking about doing a Futurama movie to DVD, and then a second and a third, so there's life after death.

Interview w/ Billy West on Onion AV Club

] Kenneth Tomlinson, the Republican chairman of the
] Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) -- the
] government-funded organization that was designed to
] shield PBS from political pressure -- is aggressively
] pressing PBS to correct what he considers "liberal bias."
]
] This top-down partisan meddling goes against the very
] nature of PBS and the local stations we trust. Let the
] people speak and decide the future of PBS, not secret
] dealings by White House operatives.
]
] Sign this petition to demand that Congress, the CPB and
] PBS station managers remove Tomlinson and support town
] meetings in your community on the future of PBS.

Read more at:
http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/05/tomlinsons-tone-deafness.html

Sign the petition.

Free Press : Save PBS from partisan operatives

] Stephen Colbert, who plays a phony correspondent on the
] fake-news program "The Daily Show," is getting a real
] promotion.
]
] Comedy Central said yesterday that it was giving Mr.
] Colbert his own show: a half-hour that is expected to
] follow "The Daily Show" on weeknights and will lampoon
] those cable-news shows that are dominated by the
] personality and sensibility of a single host. Think, he
] said, of Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews and Sean
] Hannity.
]
] Where "The Daily Show" and its host, Jon Stewart,
] generally spoof the headlines of the day (and the anchors
] and reporters who deliver them), Mr. Colbert's program
] will send up those hosts who have become household names
] doing interviews and offering analyses each night on the
] 24-hour cable news channels. The program, which is
] expected to begin appearing on Comedy Central as soon as
] early fall, is being produced by Mr. Stewart's production
] company, Busboy Productions.

Yeah so think "the talking heads" version of the daily show...

'Daily Show' Personality Gets His Own Platform - New York Times