New HDTV Owners ?

[Zandy595]

There are so many picture settings, how did you figure out what to set them all to?

DH found (on Consumer Reports) the "optimized picture settings" for a Samsung similar to ours, but the picture just doesn't look as good as it did at the store. For one thing it said to set the Sharpness to 0. When I did that it looked kind of hazy. Don't you want it sharp? I turned it up to 50 out of 100 and it looked much better, but there's still something not right.

Any suggestions?

 

[sam_gordon]

There are so many picture settings, how did you figure out what to set them all to?

DH found (on Consumer Reports) the "optimized picture settings" for a Samsung similar to ours, but the picture just doesn't look as good as it did at the store. For one thing it said to set the Sharpness to 0. When I did that it looked kind of hazy. Don't you want it sharp? I turned it up to 50 out of 100 and it looked much better, but there's still something not right.

Any suggestions?

1) Go to http://www.avsforum.com/f/. Do a search for your model number. There might be settings someone has published you can start with.

2) Now you need to figure out what you don't like. Is it too dark, too bright? Colors not right? Too much color? Then find the setting that controls what you want to change, and adjust it.

It comes down to personal preference, and room lighting. The settings will be different in a true "home theater" vs. a living room with windows.

 

[bcla]

There are so many picture settings, how did you figure out what to set them all to?

DH found (on Consumer Reports) the "optimized picture settings" for a Samsung similar to ours, but the picture just doesn't look as good as it did at the store. For one thing it said to set the Sharpness to 0. When I did that it looked kind of hazy. Don't you want it sharp? I turned it up to 50 out of 100 and it looked much better, but there's still something not right.

Any suggestions?

Video professionals sort of laugh when consumers turn up the "sharpness" setting. When you up the "sharpness", it's introducing artificial masks that aren't in the source material. If you look really close, what it's doing is adding artificial light and dark lines to make it seem like the edges are sharper. If you turn it up all the way, you'll start seeing edges that clearly don't belong there.

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/pc-m...ettings-26695210/?page=1#js-message-307658915

What make and model is your TV??? Sharpness is artificial. Most videophiles or calibration professionals will tell you that Sharpness shouldn't be necessary when viewing HD content, so it should be disabled, or set to zero. However, this might not be what looks best for everyone. If you feel that the picture is slightly blurred, or for example the edges of text are blurry and not defined, then you can increase sharpness slightly, say to 10 or so, but it should not be set too high. As a general rule, the default sharpness setting for most HDTV's is much, much too high. Try setting it to zero, and live with it for a few days. The picture will intitally look softer, but understand that, again, sharpness is artificial, and is not part of the intended image. With it set to zero, you are viewing the image as intended. Also, if you are using component rather than HDMI, you may benefit from a bit of sharpness, as component can appear a little less sharp.

If you like it, then go for it. However, it's not really making the picture any better. Some people like the "Loudness" button on an audio receiver. Some people like the sound of Bose speakers. Neither are accurate, but they feed into a perception that the audio sounds better.

 

[Shutterbug]

There are so many picture settings, how did you figure out what to set them all to?

DH found (on Consumer Reports) the "optimized picture settings" for a Samsung similar to ours, but the picture just doesn't look as good as it did at the store. For one thing it said to set the Sharpness to 0. When I did that it looked kind of hazy. Don't you want it sharp? I turned it up to 50 out of 100 and it looked much better, but there's still something not right.

Any suggestions?

I used this Disney's WOW World of Wonder blu ray disk to calibrate my tv

http://tv-calibration-review.toptenreviews.com/disney-wow-world-of-wonder-review.html

 

[BunsenH]

You can also find suggested calibration settings on www.cnet.com. We recently replaced our Panasonic plasma and the CNET settings were a big improvement over "winging it".

 

[Zandy595]

Thank you all for your help. I found some great info from the links posted and have been playing around with different calibration settings. The picture looks much better, but there's still something a little off. My library has a dvd that I've put on hold, maybe that will help some more.

 

[ChrisFL]

Don't forget to check the input signal...are you using HDMI ports or component.

A few years ago I bought a PS3 and set it up with a Vizio TV, picture looked terrible, couldn't get it to look right, but I was using component cables (6 cables)....switched to HDMI and the picture got a LOT better.