Calibrate Your HDTV

[crackinhedz]

Thought it would be appropriate to start (another) thread to be stickied in the Display section that would stress the importance of calibrating your television, new or old. I feel that many new adopters to the HDTV world may not understand why the need for such adjustments should be made.

Not only can a proper calibration produce a pristine picture, but it could also add a longer lifespan to the set. As most of you well know, the settings right out of the box are usually way off and leaving it set incorrectly could pose a risk over time as well as produce a sub-optimal picture. That is why it is important to properly adjust your TV display settings (Brightness,Contrast,Color,Tint,Sharpness...etc) for each and every input connected to the television.

The best form of calibration is to have a professional do it for you. Which is termed an ISF Calibration. This method involves having a professional come to your home and using special equipment can make accurate adjustments to the various TV settings. It is highly accurate and is the most beneficial way to calibrate a television. But it does come with a price tag. You're looking at least a couple hundred dollars.

Another way is to use a Calibration DVD. This is a very simple way to "do it yourself" and is very inexpensive compared to an ISF calibration. Although it is not as thorough and precise as the ISF, it can be very beneficial to each and every television. There are a couple of different calibration dvd's out there, but two of the most popular are Digital Video Essentials and AVIA Guide to Home Theater. You could potentially save yourself money in the long run by owning a calibration DVD, not to mention producing a much better looking picture. NOTE: The DVD versions will help you adjust for standard definition but may not be ideal with an HD source.

For HD calibration, there are a couple of ways to do this. For instance all SONY bluray titles contain an "easter egg" with test patterns. At the menu screen press the numbers 7-6-6-9 and hit enter. Maybe someone can post with an easy way to explain how to use these test patterns as it is not for beginners? Another way is an extra that is provided on the bluray movie Ratatouille which also contains test patterns but comes with somewhat of an instruction on how to use.

Also in March there is a Bluray version release of Digital Video Essential: HD Basics
which I would highly recommend to anyone.

Hopefully this will help bring others a better viewing experience to their movie's because nothing beats a properly calibrated picture.




*Share Your Custom Display Settings*: If you cannot afford an ISF Calibration or do not own a calibration dvd, then take a look in these threads. They are not meant to replace true self/professional calibration, but may benefit you more than the factory settings.


Additional info:

ISF Forums

How To Use Color Bars

Digital Video Essentials (DVE) Overview

HDMI Enhanced Black Levels, xvYCC and RGB

Basic Television Setup Tips

Monster HDTV Calibration Wizard

Tune Up Your Television

Picture perfect: HDTV tune-up tips

Precision Video: "Helping You Enjoy the View"

Pro HDTV calibration: rip-off or money well spent?

What Adjustments Are Made With An ISF Calibration?

TweakTV.com (*TV List)

LCD TV Calibration

Greyscale Calibration for Dummies

SpyderTV - Do It Yourself Calibration

[PSA1]

Brightness pattern on the Rat movie is way off don't use that one, use the one on the Sony, it is accurated.

[crackinhedz]

thanks. do you have any info on this, how do you come to this conclusion?

[Blu-Jedi]

For anyone wanting to try digital video essentials or avia, instead of buying you can rent them from netflix. Also, Avia 2 is out now and I have used it. It addresses hdtv and hi def dvds (but not in detail). It includes filters that you put over your eye while adjusting patterns on the screen.The audio testing is a mute point for me since my receiver does that anyway. I will be interested in a blu-ray calibration dvd though.

[crackinhedz]

when you rent does it come with the color filter?

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by PSA1

Brightness pattern on the Rat movie is way off don't use that one, use the one on the Sony, it is accurated.

I never use brightness
to me when the tv has backlight you don't need brightness levels
keep color mid range and drain the saturation and contrast

i agree the rat movie is great little movie

my settings are a lot easier then this guy
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,1975752,00.asp

I run my set usually minus 45 bright
minus 47 or +56 to 64 contrast
hue 50
saturation 50

or try http://set-up-your-htdv.yesclips.info/video/W-edJ9t0odg
http://set-up-your-htdv.yesclips.info/tag/calibration

[PSA1]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

thanks. do you have any info on this, how do you come to this conclusion?

I have a post production company and we shoot edit and author to DVD and Blu-ray, the color bars on the Sony disc is accuarated when I checked it on the vector scope, the three pluge bars for adjusting brightness is correct at 0 IRE, 7.5 and 10, it is the same as color bars from my camera and NLE.
The Rat movie way of adjusting brightness is way to bright and that it is wrong, the color bars from Sony is what professional use to adjust their monitor when editing.

To the guy that said you don't need to use brightness to adjust your TV, you don't know what you are talking about.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by PSA1

I have a post production company and we shoot edit and author to DVD and Blu-ray, the color bars on the Sony disc is accuarated when I checked it on the vector scope, the three pluge bars for adjusting brightness is correct at 0 IRE, 7.5 and 10, it is the same as color bars from my camera and NLE.
The Rat movie way of adjusting brightness is way to bright and that it is wrong, the color bars from Sony is what professional use to adjust their monitor when editing.

To the guy that said you don't need to use brightness to adjust your TV, you don't know what you are talking about.

you wouldnt happen to be able to explain how to properly use the SONY test patterns could ya?

[PSA1]

Go here http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.shtml
to learn how to use color bars
Go here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=503593&is=REG
To get the blue filter or anywhere else you can find.

[crackinhedz]

thanks PSA1 (I'll integrate that into the first post)

[Slec]

Our Sony Insider Paidgeek gave an explanation here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=207

[MCWHAMMER]

Originally Posted by Slec

Our Sony Insider Paidgeek gave an explanation here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=207

I'll try that. Looks like the easiest explanation. Only problem is, seems like it would make non-HD sources look even worse than they originally did. We'll see. I'll post back with results.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by MCWHAMMER

I'll try that. Looks like the easiest explanation. Only problem is, seems like it would make non-HD sources look even worse than they originally did. We'll see. I'll post back with results.

thats why you should also get a standard definition version of DVE.

[dealonward]

i forgot the code and can't find the link, but there's a calibration available on all/most Sony BRDs that you can access by entering a 4 number code at the menu. i accessed it a while ago but it didn't have any instructions whatsoever but there were multiple screens, one of them including the color bar screen. so does anyone have the code and does anyone know how to calibrate according to each screen?

[Slec]

see post 1
code: 7669 (SONY)

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Slec

see post 11
code: 7669 (SONY)

or see post #1.

[jcs913]

Awesome sticky thread crackinhedz!! This is great info for people. The most accurate method is still to have a pro do it, due to their knowledge of the service menu, but these adjustment tools will get most people a very good picture. Just remember folks, be careful not to mess with your service menus, unless you know what you are doing. You can cause more harm than do good.

[PSA1]

Originally Posted by MCWHAMMER

I'll try that. Looks like the easiest explanation. Only problem is, seems like it would make non-HD sources look even worse than they originally did. We'll see. I'll post back with results.

HD has 709 color space and SD is 601, so they are different, you have to use a color bars of SD to calibrated SD input.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by PSA1

I have a post production company and we shoot edit and author to DVD and Blu-ray, the color bars on the Sony disc is accuarated when I checked it on the vector scope, the three pluge bars for adjusting brightness is correct at 0 IRE, 7.5 and 10, it is the same as color bars from my camera and NLE.
The Rat movie way of adjusting brightness is way to bright and that it is wrong, the color bars from Sony is what professional use to adjust their monitor when editing.

To the guy that said you don't need to use brightness to adjust your TV, you don't know what you are talking about.

yes i do know
brightness levels needs to be turned down because the bright images is over blown

all the brightness should come from the video not the tv

why do you think tvs in stores looks hideous

[jmlalit5]

Wow! I must have the HDTV with the worst display settings of all time!
I can't get anything to work out well. It seems that brightness ends up impacting every other setting. When I get every setting right I watch a blu-ray disc and the blacks are a bright grey! So, I turn it down to where it looks black and go back to see if I can see the pluge bars and they don't show up unless I:
A: Turn contrast to 0 (The lower the contrast the more visible it is)
or
B: Forget about seeing the pluge bars and just leave it alone

I'm completely frustrated with my TV!
It's an Insignia brand 1080i HDTV (bought it just for the cheap price, and didn't really know much then)

Any help?

Or should I just be looking for a new TV? (Got some great help on that earlier this month and am close to a final decision)

Just trying to make this set last a little longer and running at full quality.