in 
Calibration, How To, Reviews
Calibration, How To, Reviews Favorite Apps: THX Tune-Up
Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 2:34PM The audio/video professionals at THX have unleashed an interesting app named THX Tune-Up for smartphone-wielding home theater purists who want better performance from their gear.
Tune-Up is currently available on the Apple Store and it is scheduled to arrive in Android-ville in March. The app is free to download during its first week after which it will be priced at a modest $2.
For iOS devices, THX Tune-Up is compatible with the iPad 2 or later and the iPhone 4 or later.
Setup is simple: connect your compatible Apple device to your AV gear via HDMI using the Apple Digital AV Adapter, or connect wirelessly to a gen-3+ Apple TV. An Equipment tab is there to catalog your gear, configure the audio output format, and select how you want your mobile device to connect to everything.
The Adjustments tab contains the classic THX setup tests...now in mobile form! Picture and sound tests can be individually selected. Tune-Up's color and tint tools utilize the mobile device's camera to capture and compare what the TV is doing to a filtered view seen on the mobile display. I found that slightly squinting at these color patterns made it easier to see when they closely matched, but the very slow frame rate of the filtered view (iPhone 4 tested) made it mildly awkward to use.
I was somewhat surprised that Tune-Up lacked a sharpness setup tool, but the edges of its contrast setup test pattern proved adequate for evaluating this often abused setting.
The app's Extras tab features a selection of 2D and 3D trailers, a THX 'moo'-can simulator, and (my favorite) a button to unleash a 5.1 surround sound Deep Note.
Bottom line: THX Tune-Up is my favorite home theater calibration app to date!
See Robert's Favorite Home Theater Gear!
Reader Comments (2)
Should the red box blend in to create a seamless image?
Bbb95: Yes. There is a similar-functioning yellow-colored filter for the Tint setup too. It would have been more helpful if the first color test pic had the color controls showing like the picture that follows it.)