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.