SDR reference
BT.709 / Rec.709
D65 white point, 2.2 or 2.4 gamma curve, Rec.709 colour gamut. The standard against which all SDR Blu-ray, broadcast and streaming content is mastered.
Specialist installation · Video calibration
The picture your screen was built to deliver.
Why home cinema calibration matters, and why every cinema we build is calibrated to commercial cinema standards before we hand it over.
Most premium home displays leave the factory in showroom mode: punchy, oversaturated, set for fluorescent retail lighting rather than for the way you actually watch films. Video calibration is the process of adjusting the display against measurement equipment and industry standards so the image matches what the film-makers approved.
[ hero: before / after comparison, same film frame, factory mode vs calibrated ]
Calibration isn't a setting menu.
Out of the box, even the best projectors and TVs are tuned for the lighting of a brightly lit showroom and the preferences of a casual viewer. Contrast is pushed. Saturation is exaggerated. This works on a shop floor. It doesn't work in a properly designed home cinema.
Calibration measures the display's actual output against a reference standard, then adjusts every setting until the image matches what the film was mastered against. It's measurement, not preference.
The technical layer
What gets measured, against what standard.
Calibration is a measurement exercise. A colorimeter and pattern generator measure the display's actual output across colour, contrast, gamma and HDR performance. Results are compared against industry reference standards, the same ones used in commercial cinema mastering, and adjustments made until the display tracks within tolerance.
HDR reference
DCI-P3 / Rec.2020 · PQ EOTF
DCI-P3 colour points within a Rec.2020 container, PQ electro-optical transfer function for HDR10. Tone-mapping verified against your display's actual peak brightness.
Measurement
Colorimeter and pattern generator
Reference-grade colorimeter mounted to the screen, pattern generator driving test signals through your actual source chain. Greyscale tracking, colour points, gamma curve and luminance all measured.
Adjustment
Picture modes you can trust
Service-menu adjustments where required, then settings stored to specific picture mode profiles (ISF Day and ISF Night on supporting displays). Two profiles minimum: one for day viewing, one for night.
Where calibration makes the biggest difference.
Calibration genuinely changes the picture in some contexts. Less so in others. We'd rather you trusted our advice on the rooms where it transforms the picture.
Premium dedicated cinemas
Always
A premium dedicated cinema delivers a fraction of its potential without calibration. The cost is small relative to the build. The performance gap is large.
Projector-based cinemas
Almost always
Projectors drift more than TVs. They benefit most from calibration both at install and as a periodic check-up.
Premium OLED / QD-OLED
Usually
Reference-grade TVs benefit from calibration for accurate skin tones, HDR tone-mapping and shadow detail.
Budget TVs under £2,000
Rarely
The picture won't change enough to notice. We'll dial in a sensible mode at install. Calibration isn't the upgrade that moves the needle here.
How we do it.
Calibration isn't a separate appointment. It's a stage in how we deliver every cinema: built in at design, set up during install, signed off at handover by THX-trained calibrators, with the room's measurements documented in a report you keep.
- 01
At design stage
Projector, screen and room specified around the picture you'll see, not the spec sheet.
- 02
During install
Mounting, screen tensioning, ambient light control, so the calibration session starts from the right baseline.
- 03
At handover
Two to four hours, measurement-led. Detailed below.
- 04
12-month re-check
Recommended for projector-based cinemas: laser drifts in its first 1,000 hours. On request for existing clients.
Inside the handover session
Five stages, measurement-led.
- 01
Baseline
Where the display currently sits across colour, contrast, gamma and HDR.
- 02
Environment
Light levels, screen geometry, viewing distance, ambient reflections.
- 03
SDR
D65, gamma, primary and secondary colours to BT.709 / Rec.709.
- 04
HDR
HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Tone-mapping verified against peak brightness.
- 05
Verification
Final measurement run, modes stored, customer walkthrough, report delivered.
The result: calibration is never the part of the project that doesn't happen. Every cinema we hand over has been measured.
What changes when it's done right.
Five things change. The first is the only one most viewers consciously notice. The other four are the reason it happens.
01. Skin tones that look like skin
Greyscale tracking aligns the display to the standard cinematographers grade against. Faces stop looking sunburnt, yellow, or vampire-pale.
02. Black that's actually black
Gamma and black-level alignment recover shadow detail already in the signal. The image gains depth, not density.
03. Colour the cinematographer chose
Colour points measured to Rec.709 (SDR) or DCI-P3 / Rec.2020 (HDR). The reds in the film are the reds in the film.
04. HDR that doesn't crush or clip
Tone-mapping verified against your display's peak brightness. Highlights stop blowing out. Shadows stop disappearing.
05. Picture modes you can trust
Calibrated settings stored to specific picture mode profiles. You stop tweaking. The display works.
FAQ.
- Do you offer video calibration as a standalone service?
- No. Calibration is part of every cinema we build, not a separate service line. We don't calibrate displays for projects we haven't designed and installed, because calibration is the last stage of a process that started at design. If you're planning a new cinema, we'd be glad to talk through the project from the start.
- What is THX-trained calibration?
- THX is an internationally recognised certification for cinema-quality picture and sound standards. THX-trained calibrators measure displays against the same reference targets used in commercial cinema mastering. We are THX-trained, which an independent UK industry audit called a genuine rarity in the market.
- How often does a calibrated home cinema need re-checking?
- Projectors drift more than TVs, so annual re-checks are recommended, particularly for laser models in their first 1,000 hours. Premium TVs typically hold calibration for 18 to 24 months. Existing project clients can request a re-calibration visit any time.
- Can I calibrate my own TV using online software?
- Partially. Free software such as HCFR or DisplayCAL with a borrowed colorimeter can move a display closer to correct settings if you're technical. What you can't do without professional equipment is verify the result, and most DIY calibrations end further from accurate than the factory preset.
- Do you calibrate cinemas across Manchester and the wider UK?
- Yes. Every cinema we build is calibrated by our own team, regardless of where the project sits. We travel across the UK from our Middlesbrough HQ, and Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, London, the South-East and the Midlands are all regular project regions.
Audio is the other half of the handover. Read about audio calibration →
Start with a conversation about the room.
If you're planning a home cinema, calibration is one of the reasons buyers come back to us for follow-up projects years later, and one of the reasons the rooms we build outperform the budgets they were built to.