TV calibration

[davereadis]

I have used the DVE blu-ray to calibrate my Samsung LE40A786 - with good results, I thought. Until I found the 'Maximize Home Theater' section of the WALL-E blu-ray. The test pattern looks dreadful on my set and I can't seem to do anything about it. I can sort out the black, but white and gamma are a disaster. Does anyone in the What HiFi team have any suggestions? Is it the TV or the player (Sony S350)?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not on the WhatHiFi team but I can tell you from experience that disc-based calibration can only do so much. You need a colorimeter to calibrate colour temperature / grayscale, gamma and primary and secondary colours properly. Even setting contrast by eye can be tricky on flat panel TVs. You've got a few options:

1) Pay someone who's got the equipment and ideally is ISF or similarly certified to do it for you. This will probably get you the best results. Very few TVs can reliably adjust all picture parameters without introducing errors elsewhere. It's all about finding the best balance. Through experience, these people tend to know how to get the best from particular manufacturers and models. I've heard this can cost upwards of £250.

2) Get yourself an off-the-shelf TV calibration kit like Spyder TV. I haven't tried this but from what I hear it's quite effective, if rather basic.

3) Get yourself a sensor and then find some more sophisticated software to run it with. You can still do this quite cheaply. I bought an Eye One sensor as part of a (computer) monitor calibration kit for about £100. Then I downloaded ColorHCFR software (free). This provides pretty much all of the features of professional calibration systems. Obviously there's a bit of a learning curve but it works really well.ÿ

 

[aliEnRIK]

Cheapie calibration can be quite effective

Turn off ALL digital 'processing modes' (Noise reduction, contrast enhance etc)

Use a THX disc to setup brightness and contrast (Or a 'monster' for colour too)

Turn sharpness down as much as you can for each source before it starts to 'blurr'

Turn colour up so that everything looks 'natural' (No orange/red skin for example).

Gamma should usually be on the lowest setting (depends on the tv)