How do you judge where to set the backlight on an LED tv??

[Oldboy]

Hello all,

After having a plasma for so long i've had no need to investigate backlight settings but since getting my lovely Sony 46HX853 LED tv i've been left wondering just how you judge where to set the backlight setting?

My tv has a scale of 1-10 at which to set the backlight and neither of my calibration discs cover where to set the backlight so my question is just how on earth do you know what level to set it at??

I've just left it at the half way mark and calibrated from there but the more i think about it the more puzzled i get as to where the ideal setting is, for example, do you need a lower setting at night in lower light conditions and higher during the day or is there just a consistent level that it needs to be set at and then calibrate for different conditions from there?

I can't seem to find much useful reliable info out there on the web so i'm hoping a few members might be able to point me in the right direction here as i just want to get the best out of my screen, many thanks as ever for any ifo or advice you might be able to give me.

 

[sonycentre]

Oldboy it depends on how Bright you want the picture to be i have a kdl40hx803 and i have my backlight set to 1.Have a play with the settings to see what works best for you because everyone will have there own ideas on how it should look but only you will be happy with the picture you choose.

 

[Sizzers]

H Oldboy,

And glad you're loving your new telly!

Are you still using the AVS HD disc? If so, it's touched on in the user manual if that's a help.

 

[Tonya]

If a good test disc isn't to hand, a good way is to wind the colour to zero, adjust the remaining controls so the black & white picture appears crisp and detailed, then slowly add colour.

Too much brightness will result in torchlighting and/or clouding, particularly if you are using an edge lit LED set.

 

[Oldboy]

H Oldboy,

And glad you're loving your new telly!

Are you still using the AVS HD disc? If so, it's touched on in the user manual if that's a help.

Hi Sizzers yes i am still using AVS HD and i still have the DVE bluray disc although i never use it and am going to ebay it soon as i couldn't stand it, soooo long winded i almost fell asleep! I hadn't gone back to the user manual since i first got the disc so i will have a look, many thanks for the reminder.

 

[Oldboy]

If a good test disc isn't to hand, a good way is to wind the colour to zero, adjust the remaining controls so the black & white picture appears crisp and detailed, then slowly add colour.

Too much brightness will result in torchlighting and/or clouding, particularly if you are using an edge lit LED set.

Very many thanks for the tip, if all else fails i will give this a go.

 

[andy_s]

sorry to hi jack, but since we on the same subject (backlight and calibration) i thought i'd ask and admittedly i've lost the plot but i cannot seem to adjust the settings on blu ray, i can adjust it in standard mode presumably for the tv itself but every time i insert a blu ray im in need of picture tweaks as motion artifacts are peeving me off and as far as i can see you cant adjust whilst blu ray is played, dont seem to remember how to do it now, i was fine with the 923 but have since had it replaced with the 853.

 

[Oldboy]

sorry to hi jack, but since we on the same subject (backlight and calibration) i thought i'd ask and admittedly i've lost the plot but i cannot seem to adjust the settings on blu ray, i can adjust it in standard mode presumably for the tv itself but every time i insert a blu ray im in need of picture tweaks as motion artifacts are peeving me off and as far as i can see you cant adjust whilst blu ray is played, dont seem to remember how to do it now, i was fine with the 923 but have since had it replaced with the 853.

No worries about hijacking i'm happy to help. I think what you need to do here is press the SYNC MENU button on the remote and select 'TV control with the TV remote' from the menu, it's the bottom option. You can then adjust all the picture settings on the tv with the remote because as standard the tv detects the bluray player and switches control to the device and not the tv which is a pain.

Once you switch control with the sync menu you can access all the menu options for the tv and make picture tweaks as required, the issue is with HDMI control on the tv and if you switch it off you can stop it happening but then you lose some functionality so the choice is yours but if i find a solution to the automatic switching i will let you know.

Hope that solves your issue but if not just let me know.

 

[andy_s]

thanks oldboy,

will have another play later, i stuck Avatar on last night and it was almost perfect, cant help but think tweak this tweak that but it looks pretty good, was disappointed with Avengers before so may give that another go, as far as i can make out the only real difference was i put it on film mode 1, do you have any other setting suggestions?

 

[Oldboy]

No worries Andy just hope it helps.

As it happens i've done some research over the last week or so regarding settings on the HX853 range and have the following tips for you: Picture options, Noise Reduction - off, MPEG Noise Reduction - off, Dot Noise Reduction - off, Reality Creation - Auto for SD content and off for all HD (one issue with this setting is that you must switch to manual first and turn Resolution and Noise Filtering down to minimum before turning it off or it still functions in the background when switched to off), Smooth Graduation - off, Motionflow - Clear for SD and Clear Plus for HD, Film Mode - Auto 1.

Advanced Picture settings = Black Corrector - off, Adv. Contrast Enhancer - off, Gamma -1 (minus 1), LED Dynamic Control - Standard (all sources), Auto Light Limiter - off, Clear White - off, Live Colour - off, Detail Enhancer - off, Edge Enhancer - off.

As for normal picture calibration i would recommend using a calibration disc to get brightness, contrast, colour etc adjusted correctly for your tv but i can provide my settings if you would like a starting point? Of course my settings probably won't be spot on for your tv as it's bigger in size and your lighting conditions will be different to mine but if you would like a starting point i'm happy to post them for you.

One last recommendation would be to turn the backlight down. Depending on the picture setting i have found that keeping it set to 3 or below produces a more natural picture, for example when viewing normal tv in standard mode i have it set to 2 but for movies on my bluray player in Cinema 1 i have it set to 2. In Game Original it's set to minimum as the tv seems to boost the backlight here as it does on the menus so it's worth experimenting with the backlight.

Hope that's all of some use to you

 

[andy_s]

cheers oldboy,

sorry took so long to reply as doing a lot of sorting out and packing ready for a move in the near future, i have made a note of everything and will have a play when i get a minute!

thanks again.

 

[Naxos]

Really useful information, here Oldboy! I'm changing my trusty 4-year old Panasonic 37PX80 next month, and after much research I'm going to audition the Panny 42ST50 and the 40" version of the HX853 and HX753. I've been wondering if the 753 would offer me almost as good a performance for less, but your excellent real-life review (and seeing the 853 in the flesh) has made me realise what a damn sexy TV the 853 is, so I reckon I'll probably stump up the extra notes and go for that. Can't wait! :cheer:

 

[Oldboy]

Andy,

No worries just hope the info gives you a good starting point. BTW i've now changed the backlight settings on my tv to 3 on cinema 1 for movies and 4 for standard when watching tv and it seems a bit better than before but i must stress that the backlight levels are purely personal taste and you may find them too dull but as i'm used to a plasma image i find the picture far more natural at these levels.

Best wishes for your move, hope it all goes well...i know all to well just how stressful it is.

Naxos,

You are more than welcome for the info but do bear in mind this is just my opinion of the tv so do audition the tv before making your decision. As for the 753, that was my original choice as i was of the opinion that the differences between the two models couldn't be great enough to warrant the extra cash and i was convinced that the extra outlay was simply down to the plinth speakers that you get with the 853....wrong! Whilst the 753 is excellent in isolation when you see the 853 you realise that there is a big difference between how both tvs display contrast and the 853 simply has more punch and detail to it's whites which affects detail levels giving the 853 a real edge when compared to the 753 and as they sit comfortably next to excellent black levels i was sold.

Of course you get a few more bells and whistles in the menus with the 853 but if i'm honest it's nothing you would miss if you had a 753 but another real difference is with the motionflow engine as the 853 has the latest Motionflow XR 800hz version and it works a treat without giving images that awful artificial look that most motion engines are guilty of and is yet another eason to go for the 853. Of course the styling, as you mentioned, is much nicer on the 853 as well so for me i would always plump for the 853 but then i am a little biased but if cash was tight then the 753 would certainly leave a smile on your face.

 

[Naxos]

Well, we auditioned the 753 against the 853 in our local John Lewis yesterday. I was particularly delighted that the store had reduced the price of the 853 to £989.99, and although it wasn't the most analytical of comparisons as far as the content was concerned, both my wife and myself decided to order the 853 there and then - it'll be arriving on Friday, and Sony 3D glasses are ordered from Amazon, just in case. I'll use your guide as a template to at least getting started on picture tweaking.

Just need to order a Panasonic DMP-BDT500 Blu-ray (I need the 5.1 analogue outputs as I have an old Yamaha 640RDS receiver) and stick my Sony BDPS-500 upstairs and we should be rocking!

 

[Anonymous]

No worries Andy just hope it helps.

As it happens i've done some research over the last week or so regarding settings on the HX853 range and have the following tips for you: Picture options, Noise Reduction - off, MPEG Noise Reduction - off, Dot Noise Reduction - off, Reality Creation - Auto for SD content and off for all HD (one issue with this setting is that you must switch to manual first and turn Resolution and Noise Filtering down to minimum before turning it off or it still functions in the background when switched to off), Smooth Graduation - off, Motionflow - Clear for SD and Clear Plus for HD, Film Mode - Auto 1.

Advanced Picture settings = Black Corrector - off, Adv. Contrast Enhancer - off, Gamma -1 (minus 1), LED Dynamic Control - Standard (all sources), Auto Light Limiter - off, Clear White - off, Live Colour - off, Detail Enhancer - off, Edge Enhancer - off.

As for normal picture calibration i would recommend using a calibration disc to get brightness, contrast, colour etc adjusted correctly for your tv but i can provide my settings if you would like a starting point? Of course my settings probably won't be spot on for your tv as it's bigger in size and your lighting conditions will be different to mine but if you would like a starting point i'm happy to post them for you.

One last recommendation would be to turn the backlight down. Depending on the picture setting i have found that keeping it set to 3 or below produces a more natural picture, for example when viewing normal tv in standard mode i have it set to 2 but for movies on my bluray player in Cinema 1 i have it set to 2. In Game Original it's set to minimum as the tv seems to boost the backlight here as it does on the menus so it's worth experimenting with the backlight.

Hope that's all of some use to you

hya oldboy.new to this site,just bought a 46hx853,used your settings,great job.any chance you could show me your picture settings to i get my hands on calibration disc.

thanks for your help.

 

[Sizzers]

I know Oldboy will be along sometime to give you a hand, but bear in mind that whatever settings Oldboy uses may very well not be suitable for your own personal viewing environment.

Both myself and Oldboy use this free calibration disc here is the step-by-step guide on how to use it. You’ll also need a blue filter to adjust your colour settings so do a google for “Lee filter 071 Tokyo Blue” which are dirt cheap.

Hope this helps, and enjoy your new telly!

 

[Oldboy]

Shifter,

As Sizzers has already stated my settings were acheived with the AVSHD 709 calibration disc that Sizzers kindly linked to and may very well not be suitable for your enviroment due to differences in manufacture and your particular lighting conditions in your room but i'm happy to post my results for the two most commonly used settings, cinema 1 (for bluray movies) and General (for normal broadcast tv).

General:

Backlight - 4, Contrast - 74, Brightness - 51, Colour - 52, Hue - 0, Colour Temp - Warm 1, Sharpness - 55, Motionflow - Clear, Film Mode - Auto 1, Gamma = -1, LED Dynamic Control - Standard.

All other picture options are set to OFF apart from the ones above.

Cinema 1:

Backlight - 3, Contrast - 78, Brightness - 51, Colour - 52, Hue - 0, Colour Temp - Warm 1, Sharpness - 50, Motionflow - Clear Plus, Film Mode - Auto 1, Gamma = -1, LED Dynamic Control - Standard.

Again all other settings are set to OFF.

Hope that gives you a good starting point but you will probably need to adjust the settings for your lighting conditions and of course these settings are no replacement for calibration using a disc such as THX optimiser or better still AVSHD 709. If you are happy with these settings then that's great, i just hope it's of some help to you.

 

[Anonymous]

oldboy&sizzers thanks for your info vmuch apresiated