This May Be A Dumb Question....

[blindcat87]

I would start with brightness and contrast settings and see what adjusting them in different combinations does. I would also double check all of the extra video functions like DNR and all of those.

It could be other settings I suppose, but I don't like playing around with color and tint and all too much without test patterns and such.

The tough thing about calibration is that individual sets can be quite different even of the same brand and model. Properly calibrated, a set will look darker than what most people set their displays to without calibration tools, but if it is so dark you can't see much, it is definitely too dark.

Make sure there aren't any bulb or power saver modes or anything turned on, go through every single setup sub-menu to look for other settings you might not have noticed before. Look and see if there is a group of mode presets. If the TV has a game mode, check it out and see if you can turn it on and off easily and if turning it off after using it returns the set to your regular settings or if it returns it to default settings. If it returns to your previous settings, this might be useful with dark games and such.

After tinkering for a while, you can begin to see why some people throw up their hands and pay a couple hundred bucks to get a pro calibration. I always managed to finally get things worked out before giving in to that temptation, but every time I got a new TV, I came close to giving in at least a couple of times.

Chris

Originally Posted by bumpylemon

what settings would you change if something looked cloudy or merky in a low light setting on screen?