Orpheus Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 If you simply use the factory settings on your TV, you are not getting the picture you have paid for. The answer, if you are not too miserly, is to have your TV professionally calibrated. This is expensive, but will significantly improve your picture. An alternative, I found, is to see whether your TV has been reviewed by CNet. If it has, they have provided their calibration settings, which have been arrived at in a dimly lit room. As our TV room is dimly lit, I decided to use the settings to see what sort of improvement I obtained with our new Samsung 9000 series TV. The answer is that it made a huge difference. The picture is spectacularly good, and looks spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarity Calibration Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) Believe it or not, TV's (even the same model) usually end up with quite different calibration settings. The other equipment in the chain (bluray player, receiver etc.) also have an impact on the final calibration settings... Most of the TV's I get called in to calibrate I usually find in THX mode, or with picture settings sourced from the internet. In my experience I have yet to find one that was accurate using internet settings (although, I have struck the odd one with good colour and greyscale performance out of the box in movie mode). While THX modes can offer decent to good colour performance, they usually have large greyscale and gamma errors. If your not going to get your TV calibrated, there's a better chance that you will come to closer to calibrated numbers by putting your TV into movie mode and using a calibration disc. Some of this discs are available for a small fee and there's even one which has been made available for free. Tired tonight, hope this all makes sense! :-) Edited November 15, 2014 by Rec. 709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Spyne~ Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) No doubt, re different sets (same make/model) requiring different calibration settings. I did similar to Orph, couldn't afford professional calibration when I got my Samsung 51" plasma, so browsed the net for various reviews and found some of the more trustworthy sets of calibration settings and took an average, CNET being one of those sources. Worked out remarkably well, though I'd be interested in the future to see how it compares to a professional tune up, when I have the spare $. As a starting point though, the settings I came out with give a great picture, much better and more balanced than the factory settings. Edited November 15, 2014 by ~Spyne~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fordgtlover Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Possibly this? http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-calibration/948496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Most factory settings are set up to impressed the eye on the showroom floor so it gives that edge on picture quality especially for when it comes down to saturated colours. The average person doesn't care how accurate it is but how it compares to the set next to it on the showroom. The question is; what default settings made you purchased that set? I can assure you it wasn't a custom calibration as most will be set on a default dynamic setting. Also note where the TV's are placed in a showroom, most are right at the back of where the lighting is dim! It'll be interesting to compare side by side the same model where one is set to a factory default out of the box and one that is calibrated and see which one sells. On disc, or free to air the PQ varies and it is impossible to note the accuracy of colour just by looking at it with a default setting or a custom calibration that's decided by an independent source. So when people tell me that they rely on skin tones for color accuracy they really are doing themselves injustice. there's also the effect on each input such as your receiver and disc player all effect the final output. Calibration discs only calibrates the entire downstream from the disc player to your screen and any component in between, so it's not a panel only calibration. Also as the above poster has mentioned not every set of the same model will be the same, and each will be slightly or very different in its settings to get the closes colour accuracy. There are devices on the market that will independently calibrate a screen but you must use a PC to do it with, then you will need to do it for all inputs. I'm a couch potato when it comes to colour accuracy because there is too many variations at play and I have far better things to do. however when you go from screen to print then this is where accuracy is vital and important and the screen needs to be as accurate as possible so I can match the gamut of the print on paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarity Calibration Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) Yes that's the one, thanks. :-) Possibly this? http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-calibration/948496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html Edited November 15, 2014 by Rec. 709 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 You're right, no doubt, Rec. It still looks much better than it did before, on movie settings. The CNET settings seem to work pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yamaha_man Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) I never use movie setting, find it dull and unappealing, am I missing something here? This just arrived in the mail, I'm keen to see what difference it makes if any. Edited November 15, 2014 by yamaha_man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarity Calibration Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Without having a calibrated standard on your TV to compare these settings to, you're never going to know how good 'right' actually looks. Using settings off the internet falls more in the camp of adjusting picture settings until you're happy with them. If that's what you prefer to do, that's fine, but it's important to understand that it's not calibration. :-) Sometimes people fall into the trap of using settings from the internet and believing that there TV is now calibrated. You're right, no doubt, Rec. It still looks much better than it did before, on movie settings. The CNET settings seem to work pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarity Calibration Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Depending on your TV and the default colour temperature that's being used, the movie mode can often be too warm (too much red in the white balance). It can also be the case that you're used to viewing a picture that is too cool, it does takes a little while to adjust. You can see this by putting up a white APL pattern from the Spears & Munsil disc (same test pattern that is in my avatar photo) and changing between the various picture mode settings. After you have viewed this pattern in Dynamic mode (way too blue), everything other picture setting is going to look too warm (or dull) for a little while. I never use movie setting, find it full and unappealing, amI missing something here?This just arrived in the mail, I'm keen to see what difference it makes if any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yamaha_man Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 45 minutes my ass!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illusion Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Troll whats happened to your 'chinese work boot' ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yamaha_man Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 They only has size 4 so I gave them a miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catostylus Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I never use movie setting, find it dull and unappealing, am I missing something here? This just arrived in the mail, I'm keen to see what difference it makes if any. You'll need to turn the TV upside down or you'll get bad results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Who puts in a new TV without pressing every button available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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