Calibrating HDTV's

[Shawn]

Ok, well all the professionals say you should calibrate your HDTV, as tv's are setup for the show room and not for your home. Well I just picked up Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics http://www.videoessentials.com/DVE_HDBasics.php

After running it I agree its worth trying it out. My tv was nearly there but I did find a few things that did need tweeking. One thing I found was my tv was setup to cut off 5% of the pictures which is pretty standard on most tv's, but you are basically loosing 5% of the picture on 1080P. Now I have the colour, picture, brightness... setup best for my room, full picture displaying... Beats the few hundred $ for a professional calibrator.

If anyone is interested amazon has it cheap. http://astore.amazon.ca/dighomcan-20/detail/B000V6LST0 I didn't see this till after I ordered and got mine for a few $ more, but not a lot more...

[Madmax]

If it looks good to me, then it looks good to me = i never spend money on software to calibrate any LCD TV or Monitor.

Let me state this .... i never use any software ... I only use my god given 20/20 vision...

Save your money ppl, instead of buying into this advertising link, set your TV or Monitor by the way you like it.

[Shawn]

If it looks good to me, then it looks good to me = i never spend money on software to calibrate any LCD TV or Monitor.

Let me state this .... i never use any software ... I only use my god given 20/20 vision...

Save your money ppl, instead of buying into this advertising link, set your TV or Monitor by the way you like it.

Now there is where you are wrong Max... Back in the old days talking the 50's when you bought a tv you got it calibrated, then as the 70's came along they started adding the option for people to do it themselves. Most CRT's had usually a pretty good setup from the factory... Now with today's HDTV's many of them are configured to look good on the showroom floor, not in your living room... They are doing what they can to make them look good for when you buy them as they look different in the showroom side by side. Some manufactures have gone as far as to add a showroom and living room mode.

Picture on a tv is dependent on many things, room lighting, sunlight, distance... When you watch a movie the movie is produced on a high end calibrated monitor, and if your tv is not calibrated correctly you could be mission out on a lot of detail. Most people have things like sharpness jacked right up, but most people don't even know what sharpness is for... and on most HDTV's can be turned right off.

So ya max, maybe you don't care, but other people here might want to learn a thing or 2 on how to cheaply get their tv looking professional.

[Madmax]

Well again i state if it looks to me, then it looks good to me

Most will setup the TV to their liking within the room variables they have.

I never stated that TV's today are like CRT TV's of yester-years.

I am stating 95% of the ppl will adjust to what they are happy with, without software. Many ppl don't have a clue even with software on how to calibrate a TV.

Yes many stores calibrate or use their best eyeball adjustments for the best they can come up with for a TV displayed within their stores, but many consumers know that when they bring it home they will need to adjust the settings accordingly to their liking.

[GRUMPY]

thanks for the heads up I'll check it out.

[403_forbidden]

If it looks good to me, then it looks good to me = i never spend money on software to calibrate any LCD TV or Monitor.

Let me state this .... i never use any software ... I only use my god given 20/20 vision...

Save your money ppl, instead of buying into this advertising link, set your TV or Monitor by the way you like it.

Man, I got to disagree with you on this one.....software calibration gives you a baseline as most TVs are way off on colour, brightness and contrast. There is a group of individuals that make a career of this:

http://www.imagingscience.com/

I try and get my TVs has close to the NTSC standard as possible. Brightness or black level and contrast or white level is what you adjust to your viewing environment after your figure out your baseline. Colour (tint, hue etc) should be adjusted as close to the NTSC standard as possible. This can be done with software or very very expensive hardware video calibration devices....

[Shawn]

Man, I got to disagree with you on this one.....software calibration gives you a baseline as most TVs are way off on colour, brightness and contrast. There is a group of individuals that make a career of this:

http://www.imagingscience.com/

I try and get my TVs has close to the NTSC standard as possible. Brightness or black level and contrast or white level is what you adjust to your viewing environment after your figure out your baseline. Colour (tint, hue etc) should be adjusted as close to the NTSC standard as possible. This can be done with software or very very expensive hardware video calibration devices....

Ya, agree with you, imaging science is probably the best known and regarded as the standard. The one I listed is regared by many professionals as a decent do it yourself at home disk.

[Hans]

I like a program called displaymate for pc monitor calibration. I would still love to have a spider. To bad they are 400$, or I would buy one.

[Madmax]

My eyes love the way it is setup by me.... no need for $30.00 software .... = i save more money then you do....

Bad eyes = you should buy such software.

Movies look good/excellent for me and all TV stations as well.. so i not need to buy such software.

I am not dishing it, only stating that most ppl will setup their TV to what they like and looks good to them without software calibration. I am one of those ppl who sets it up and says yep that looks good/very good.

[403_forbidden]

My eyes love the way it is setup by me.... no need for $30.00 software .... = i save more money then you do....

Bad eyes = you should buy such software.

Movies look good/excellent for me and all TV stations as well.. so i not need to buy such software.

I am not dishing it, only stating that most ppl will setup their TV to what they like and looks good to them without software calibration. I am one of those ppl who sets it up and says yep that looks good/very good.

Most people are watching their flat screen TVs in "torch" mode (or high brightness or dynamic mode as set by factory) figuring that is the best mode to watch it in. I went over to a friends place that has a 65 inch rear projection TV and I thought the picture wasn't right.....he thought it was okay, but after I calibrated it with my AVIA disk he was amazed what improvement the picture was now as opposed to before. Actually, he was so amazed that he decided to start watching his movie collection over again on his calibrated TV to see what he has missed.

The problem is most people associate high brightness and torch mode with the best quality screen...it's like people associate loudness with the best speaker...the louder it can go the better it is (that is so far from the truth it isn't funny).

There are many people watching TVs set to too high of brightness which not only shortens screen life, but also consumes unnecessary power.

...and oh yea...encase you are wondering my eyes are 20/20 also as I can read the copyright line at the bottom of the eye test chart in the doctors office from 10 feet away

[Madmax]

Most people are watching their flat screen TVs in "torch" mode (or high brightness or dynamic mode as set by factory) figuring that is the best mode to watch it in. I went over to a friends place that has a 65 inch rear projection TV and I thought the picture wasn't right.....he thought it was okay, but after I calibrated it with my AVIA disk he was amazed what improvement the picture was now as opposed to before. Actually, he was so amazed that he decided to start watching his movie collection over again on his calibrated TV to see what he has missed.

The problem is most people associate high brightness and torch mode with the best quality screen...it's like people associate loudness with the best speaker...the louder it can go the better it is (that is so far from the truth it isn't funny).

There are many people watching TVs set to too high of brightness which not only shortens screen life, but also consumes unnecessary power.

...and oh yea...encase you are wondering my eyes are 20/20 also as I can read the copyright line at the bottom of the eye test chart in the doctors office from 10 feet away

Copyright line is that all from 10 feet wow your eyes are bad? .

I like what i see on the TV i see it on ... calibration is for the 100% perfect ppl out there (there is no 100% perfect ppl) and by the way ... 95% of the ppl don't care.

[Hans]

Brightness is the biggest issue I have with computer LCD screens. They are so bright I end up turning the brightness down to 50% after I am finished with the calibration.

Here's a good site with calibration pictures for LCD computer monitors.

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

It's amazing how much better things look after you performed the calibration!

[403_forbidden]

Copyright line is that all from 10 feet wow your eyes are bad? .

I like what i see on the TV i see it on ... calibration is for the 100% perfect ppl out there (there is no 100% perfect ppl) and by the way ... 95% of the ppl don't care.

"Calibration is for the 100% perfect"....BINGO my friend...and yes there is such a thing as a perfect display if your willing to pay big bucks for it.......I always go for as close to 100% perfect with my HT gear (sound and video)....I calibrate my sound with an SPL meter so that everything is at reference......I want the most for what I pay for out of my gear....don't you?.....Why do you overclock your PCs??...to get the most out of what you pay for......if we don't care about getting the most out of our gear (both PC and HT) why do we even have a discussion board about it?

"95% of the ppl don't care"....I agree and this is sad as they spend over 2 grand for a display and notice that it worse then their old CRT.......if only they would calibrate it, or have some do it for them......

PS...The copyright line was ony a few mm tall.....the doctor mentioned I had better than 20/20 ....if that is possible.....

[cybolynx]

i just copied calibrated setting from the net ... ones that use the hardware for calibration (review sites ) ... then i set my brightness to my room settings at night the way i watch my TV (out of 100 i have mine set to 15 ... and back light setting 10) ... since watching TV in the dark is bad for the eyes i have a 13 watt energy efficient which is equal to a 40 watt in light output and i have it to the far left of my TV ... 12' away in the corner ... so during the day the TV may appear darker ... to most people ... but at night its plenty bright and no headaches ...

my grandmother had me setup her TV ... she was getting headaches and eye strain ... all i did was set the brightness down from stock and used a warm setting since 90% of the time a warm setting is very close to accurate colors ...

yes you can have better than 20/20 vision ... i am 40/20 or something like that ... meaning i can see farther than most

[alfred67]

Hello

Check this site out. Will help with Calibrating.
http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/

Alfred67