New TV Settings...

[Red Dragon]

I recently purchased a new Sony 40R45c LCD TV and I was wondering what the colour, contrast, brightness settings should ideally be. I know it will vary from location to location and across the TV brands, but is there a general rule of thumb or simply trial and error? Also what about noise reduction filters etc?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as LCD TV's are new to me...Thanks.

 

[Oldboy]

I recently purchased a new Sony 40R45c LCD TV and I was wondering what the colour, contrast, brightness settings should ideally be. I know it will vary from location to location and across the TV brands, but is there a general rule of thumb or simply trial and error? Also what about noise reduction filters etc?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as LCD TV's are new to me...Thanks.

The quickest and easiest way to adjust your TV settings is to use a basic calibration disc such as the THX tool which you can find on a variety of DVDs such as any of the Star Wars discs where it's hidden away in the menu. There are other tools on some Disney discs and some blu rays but they all do the same job and guide you through adjusting the brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness in a very easy to follow manner.

The colour adjustment requires you to have a pair of THX colour filter glasses however and these need to be purchased seperately from the THX website although it's not essential if you don't want to go that far.

As a rule of thumb you should turn all the noise reduction filters or any other processing modes on the TV off. If you aren't happy with the picture then try experimenting with the settings one by one to see the effect they have on the picture but try to keep them on a low setting if you feel you have to use them but I always leave them off. If your TV carries motion processing this also should be turned off or set to a minimum level if you can't live without it to stop the picture getting that soap opera effect.

Hope that helps.

 

[Red Dragon]

Thanks Oldboy that's a great help. I'd forgotten about the THX settings on a DVD disc - I think I have one on a DVD somewhere, I think one of my Alien discs? I'll give it a go thanks again

 

[Oldboy]

Thanks Oldboy that's a great help. I'd forgotten about the THX settings on a DVD disc - I think I have one on a DVD somewhere, I think one of my Alien discs? I'll give it a go thanks again

No problem at all Red Dragon.

It's really simple and everything is explained clearly so give it a go but start the calibration with all processing modes turned off. You could even do two settings, one for daytime viewing and one for evenings as obviously the light levels will be very different at night.

Alien DVD is a certified THX release but I'm not certain it has the optimiser on it but it should do, look through the menus.

Here are a few helpful bits for you...

Guide on using the THX optimiser from What Hi Fi:

http://www.whathifi.com/news/how-to-set-your-tv-thx-optimizer-disc

THX optimiser guide on the THX website:

http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/thx-optimizer/

Hope it all helps but if you get stuck just post on here.

 

[Red Dragon]

I'm in business thanks again Oldboy. Found the optimiser on my Alien disc as I thought. It's a big improvement over the previous very vivid bright picture, it's much more natural and realistic now.

Thanks again...

 

[Oldboy]

No problem at all happy to help Red Dragon.

Just a basic calibration can do wonders for picture quality eh, happy viewing!