Unlock Your Home Theater: Disney World of Wonder Review

Calibrating your home theater system – the TV and surround sound speakers – can often feel like a daunting task, akin to complex home improvement projects seen on popular networks. While shows make DIY flooring or plumbing seem easy, the technical jargon surrounding HDTVs and audio systems can make many consumers hesitant, preferring to simply plug in their new equipment and hope for the best. The result? A picture that’s just “fine,” perhaps with unnatural colors or distorted aspect ratios (turning Law & Order characters into “Short & Fat”), and sound that doesn’t live up to the system’s potential.

Just like having the right tools and knowledge is key to a successful DIY project, proper calibration requires understanding and specific resources. For achieving peak performance, hiring an ISF- or THX-certified professional is highly recommended. However, if professional calibration isn’t in the budget, there are do-it-yourself alternatives. Among these is Disney’s World of Wonder (“WOW”) calibration and demonstration disc. This review explores the Disney World Of Wonder Review from the perspective of its utility as a home theater calibration tool. Split into three main sections – Discover, Optimize, and Experience – the disc aims to demystify HDTV, Blu-ray Disc, and surround sound technologies for the average user. While it offers valuable tools and information, it also presents some notable quirks.

Packaging for the Disney World of Wonder WOW calibration disc

The disc is available in various formats, and those interested in exploring options might look into resources covering the Disney World of Wonder calibration Blu-ray disc. Let’s delve into each section to understand its strengths and weaknesses.

Diving into the Disney World of Wonder

The WOW disc is organized to guide users through understanding their home theater setup, calibrating it, and then experiencing the results. This structured approach is commendable, aiming to provide a comprehensive resource.

The “Discover” Section: Education and Goofy

The “Discover” section serves as the educational core of WOW, intended to help users grasp fundamental home theater concepts. It kicks off with “Home Theater Basics with Goofy,” an animated segment explaining system components. While potentially engaging for very young audiences, Goofy’s interjections might prove irritating for anyone over the age of 10 looking for serious technical understanding. The segment misses an opportunity for broader appeal by not adopting a tone or character more relatable to adults and older children interested in technology.

Another point of contention in this section is the noticeable emphasis on promoting Disney’s own products. For instance, a brief segment titled “The Power of Blu-ray, Simple as 1-2-3” quickly devolves into a sales pitch, instructing viewers to buy an HDTV, a Blu-ray player, connect via HDMI, and most importantly, stock up on Disney Blu-ray Discs. While self-promotion is expected to some extent, the heavy-handed approach detracts from the educational mission of the disc.

The “Optimize” Section: Test Patterns and Calibration

The “Optimize” section is arguably the most valuable part of the Disney WOW disc, providing the necessary tools and guidance for calibrating video and audio settings. This is where users will spend the majority of their time if their goal is to improve their system’s picture and sound. Disney deserves significant praise for presenting a wide array of video and audio calibration information and test patterns in a clear, organized, and visually appealing manner.

Compared to competing calibration discs, such as the Digital Video Essentials series by Joe Kane, WOW excels in user navigation. Digital Video Essentials, despite its technical merit, has often been criticized for complex and sometimes frustrating menu designs that could deter the average user. In contrast, Disney’s menus are intuitive, attractive, and consistent, making it much easier to access the various test patterns and calibration tools.

While test patterns are crucial, knowing how to interpret and use them is equally important. Having spent time with professional calibration courses, it’s clear that patterns are only half the equation; understanding what they reveal about your system is the other half. WOW makes a genuine effort to explain the purpose of each test pattern and what information it provides for adjusting display settings. Furthermore, one of the disc’s best features isn’t on the disc itself, but included in the packaging: a 53-page booklet. This well-written guide, complete with screenshots, offers detailed instructions and explanations for utilizing the on-disc calibration utilities effectively.

For those exploring different formats or seeking comprehensive calibration solutions, understanding the nuances of calibration for various resolutions is important, including how it applies to concepts like disney world of wonder 4k content, even if the reviewed disc is Blu-ray.

The “Experience” Section: Demo Material Misses the Mark

After calibrating your system, the natural next step is to watch demo material to evaluate the results of your adjustments. Unfortunately, this is where the Disney WOW disc falls short. The disc includes around thirty film clips intended for this purpose, but the vast majority consist of animated or CGI-enhanced footage. While these clips might showcase vibrant colors or impressive digital effects, they are not ideal for evaluating the accuracy of settings like skin tones or natural landscapes, which are critical aspects of real-world video content.

For example, using animated characters from Toy Story 2 or the CGI-heavy appearance of Davey Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean makes it difficult to assess how accurately your display reproduces realistic images. A notable exception is the inclusion of a few minutes from Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, a film praised for its cinematography and a high-quality Blu-ray transfer, offering a glimpse of how real-world footage looks post-calibration. More clips of this nature would have significantly enhanced the “Experience” section’s utility.

The bonus disc, “VISIONS: Inspired by Nature,” a 60-minute loop of scenic imagery and music, is intended as an extension of the “Experience” section. However, it also suffers from similar issues. While visually stunning, the decision to include both “natural and digitally created landscapes” makes it challenging to use this material for accurate display evaluation. If you’re assessing whether your TV accurately reproduces a real waterfall, a CGI waterfall isn’t the most reliable benchmark.

UPDATE: Following feedback from the producer/director of Visions, John S. Banks, it’s important to clarify that Visions does contain segments without CGI, processing, or compositing beyond color correction (specifically, “Flower Fields,” “Cumulous Day,” “Forest Waterfalls,” and “Big Sur Fireplace”). These segments are indeed superb for evaluation. However, of the eleven chapters in Visions, seven are marked as “Digitally Created” or “Digitally Enhanced.” While Visions undeniably boosts a TV’s “WOW factor” with beautiful imagery, digitally altered content is not the most suitable material for rigorously evaluating a display’s color accuracy and overall realism. Understanding the different formats calibration tools come in, such as disney world of wonder dvd vs. Blu-ray, can also influence the available demo materials and their suitability for evaluating high-definition systems.

Final Thoughts

For many, delving into video and audio calibration specifics like interlaced vs. progressive video or lossless audio codecs is far from an exciting prospect. Calibration is, by nature, a technical and sometimes dry subject. Historically, average consumers have had limited accessible resources to help them understand and perform these adjustments effectively.

Given this context, it’s noteworthy that a major company like Disney stepped up to create a product aimed at making calibration more approachable. Despite the occasionally annoying “buy Disney movies!” messaging and the frustrating selection of demo material, the educational content, useful test patterns, and particularly the comprehensive accompanying booklet offered by Disney’s World of Wonder make it a worthwhile investment for individuals seeking to optimize their home theater system without hiring a professional calibrator. It provides the necessary tools and guidance for many to unlock the full potential of their HDTV and surround sound.

Product Details

• Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 and 2.35:1 (varies)
• Region: A
• Number of Discs: 2
• Rating: Not Rated
• Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: November 2, 2010
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
  • Bonus Disc: “Visions: Inspired by Nature” (60 minutes)
  • BD LIVE