While typical television viewers may use remote controls to tweak the picture and tune in a show, David Levy takes it one step further.
He can fine-tune a TV picture like a concert piano, adjusting hidden settings for the best picture possible.
Levy owns Abbey Road Home Theater, a one-man business in the relatively new field of television calibration. As more homes are fitted with home theater systems, more people are requesting their big-screen TVs be adjusted to film and television industry standards.
"These people are very particular about their televisions," Levy said of his customers. "I adjust the colors and brightness so the viewer sees the picture as it is meant to be seen."
The Urbandale resident discovered calibration through a home theater magazine. He learned that TV manufacturers try to attract customers on the showroom floor by boosting the default color, contrast and brightness settings, he said.
The television owner can adjust the settings somewhat through the user menu, he said, but the default settings still would be inaccurate. He uses special equipment to analyze and adjust settings. The process also can reverse picture degradation that can occur after months of normal viewing, he said.
Levy charges $275 to $400; sessions can last four hours. Many adjustments are made through the TV's hidden service menu, which usually can be accessed only by entering codes with the remote control or by using a thin wire to access a hidden button.
Levy recommends against television owners adjusting these settings. The settings are cryptic, and altering controls for voltage levels can damage the set. To do it right, specific diagnostic equipment is needed. Levy has $10,000 invested in equipment, including a laptop computer.
Some adjustments, such as the focus, can require taking the television apart.
Levy emphasizes that the TVs are not broken. Electronics stores often do not offer the service because of the time and cost it takes, he said. The picture quality is usually initially decent, while the calibration process merely improves the image. The service is for connoisseurs who desire the best possible picture.
"This isn't for everybody," Levy said. "There is the thought that if you don't know, do you care? But these people want to know the picture is the way it is supposed to look."
Levy's interest was piqued about two years ago as he was building his house and planning a home theater with a big screen TV and multi-speaker sound system.
He could find no one in the area qualified to tweak his TV, so he became a certified technician through a four-day training class from the Imaging Science Foundation last year. He started his business three months later.
The business was perfect for Levy. He is an electrical engineer and wanted a new career after retiring as senior vice president of retail at MidAmerican Energy. The Abbey Road name was inspired by his love of the Beatles.
Levy has found a growing market of customers, getting up to four jobs a week. He has adjusted 30 to 40 sets so far for customers across the state.
Kevin Alewine of Cedar Falls had Levy adjust his 55-inch Mitsubishi TV after reading about the process in a magazine. He found Levy from the imaging foundation's Web site.
"I didn't know what to expect," Alewine said. "I thought the set looked good, especially with the high-definition channels, but after reading about how an adjustment would make an overall improvement in quality, I decided to do it."
Alewine was happy with the results, even though the differences were subtle.
"The flesh tones are more realistic and the overall quality of the picture is better than it was before, but it wasn't night and day," he said. Levy also adjusted home theater enthusiast Michael Merritt's 53-inch Pioneer set. His system cost tens of thousands of dollars, and he has a satellite dish and cable television.
Merritt saw a major difference in sharpness.
"He pretty much took the whole TV apart, cleaned the lenses and put it back together," the Lake Panorama resident said. "I didn't know what to look for, but he did.
" Pete Svec, owner of Audio Labs in Des Moines, said the service is becoming more in demand as people want to take advantage of the better video quality of DVDs and high-definition television broadcasts.
The store is considering offering the service in a few months as demand grows.
Levy said competition will help legitimize his business.