TV calibration

[chiefsfan1]

OK, I have it up and running. Hooked it up to the surround system. The TV is a smart TV buy not yet connected it to the net. The pic is amazing. This thing is way smarter than me! I did find that Cars has a set up feature a well. Full 1080 is amazing. I decided not to go 4K at this time. Yeah, the $249 for Best Buy to do what ever they do is nuts.

 

[Zeus33]

It's not equivalent to an actual ISF certified professional calibration, but with this disc, you can achieve some nice improvements. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CKW...=speaandmuns-20 However, a lot of people prefer over saturated colors, the brightness set on torch mode and the sharpness cranked way up. If you like that type of picture, don't bother. You will hate the calibrated picture.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted By: CT8

Best Buy is a rip off.

Im amazed how easily some people part with money. They go to "Best" Buy for a good price on something but allow themselves to get scammed for an overpriced unnecessary "service" on a new product. Never mind the grossly inflated cost of HDMI Cables for $20.00 when you can buy them for less then $3.00 and Surge Suppressors. It always amazes me, much like people who click on unknown links in emails from unknown sources.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

In the old days you'd calibrate a TV by putting up NTSC color bars. "Black" was 7.5 IRE and the little rectangles at the bottom ("Pluge bars") would be set up so the 5 IRE would disappear into the 7.5 but the 10 would be "very dark grey". Then you'd put a blue filter over the shebang and make the top parts alternate evenly. Takes a minute with analog knobs, maybe 10 minutes with a remote and stupid menus. Who knows, maybe BB corporate does this with every model they buy, then have a secret database for their setup people to just cut & paste numbers into new TVs. Or maybe they have a test signal generator in every store. Still a rip off. Set your TV to what your eyes like, or watch a youtube on how to do it.

You're partially complete with your descriptions. Using the SMPTE bar pattern shown, you can adjust contrast, brightness, color level and phase(hue). This is an old pattern which is still used for analog signals. There are others better suited for high def. Brightness is adjusted so the right pluge just appears Contrast is set so that the 75 IRE white bar just before it begins to bloom. Using blue filter, adjust hue so that the cyan and magenta bars blend with the small blocks just below them. Color level is set so that the 75 IRE white bar and the blue bar blend with the small blocks below them and your done. To do it right, you need a decent signal generator. Recordings or discs generally are a waste because their accuracy is suspect. Years ago, alignment tapes and discs were available and were expensive.

 

[Alfred_B]

I used to fuss about this in the past. But nowadays I just use the presets I like pleasant to watch. After all, when you look at the nature around you, it's more pleasant to look at in the morning and afternoon warm lights. There is no true color -- the same color will be perceived differently by different people. Otherwise, do what Lubener has suggested above.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver

I took a great interest in this back in the early 90's. I used color bars + filter on VHS tape, then LaserDisc, then DVD. My CRT TV color scale was quite off. Adjusting it meant removing the back and individually adjusting the trim pots with a hot chassis! Adjusting a set is MUCH easier now! Some need it, some don't, it depends. However, you won't know until you check it. I find many with white/black level problems, chroma too hot and screen distorsion (stretch). This all makes it painful to me to watch.

Not the best way. You never knew if that VTR or disc player was at 100 percent accurate which likely it wasn't. Still, if properly set up, a phosphor display will still yield the most accurate color reproduction of all. If a display cannot make a good black and white image, it will never make a good color image.The problem is there is still not the perfect display out there. Each has its own weaknesses. Things are improving quite a bit.

 

[sleddriver]

Yea, but that's the whole point Lube: Calibrating the video food chain from source to display. My TV stored a couple of different settings, making it convenient if one source was way off. Fortunately, that didn't happen. The big problem was that when chroma was turned off, I saw a septia tint on the gray scale rather than B&W. Now THAT'S a problem. I'm still using the same CRT 36" set. Great blacks & accurate colors.

 

[chiefsfan1]

Thanks for all the input. I tweaked a few settings. FYI on Pixar DVD's there is a picture maximizer in the settings.

 

[PW01]

Originally Posted By: Kestas

If you search your model number using Google, there are people who post optimal settings for the television.

This!

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: PW01

Originally Posted By: Kestas

If you search your model number using Google, there are people who post optimal settings for the television.

This!

If we lived in a perfect world. For every ten sets rolling down the assembly line, there will be some that don't have the same pics as the others. So that "one size fits all" theory doesn't work here.