Why is best TV set up such a mystery?

[admin_exported]

As the proud owner of a new Toshiba 40XF355D I'm perplexed and somewhat annoyed.

The party line appears to be that manufacturers choose to despatch their TVs for showroom / shop conditions and not for homeviewing. OK getting past that fairly irritating point why then is it such a mystery, limited to online forums for open debate and conflicting views, as to the best settings?

Sure we all have different viewing environments and personal taste but there must be a settings standard per model that we can all use and then adapt from? For me it's not good enough to revert to THX or set up DVDs when a basic set up must be there even if the makers won't part with what it is.

I'd really appreciate some advice on the Tosh even though I've tinkered and it looks OK but maybe not to its maximum potential (who knows!)

Maybe What Hi Fi can start listing some basics by model?

For such a serious investment, it's not good. And there must be thousands of TVs out there gleefully hoodwinking less adventurous owners!

Would any of us buy a car that came with wheels misaligned or electronics geared for the test track, because that's what it looked good for in the showroom?

Any ideal set ups appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's a nice idea, but the environment in which you watch (lights on or off; sunny or shaded room) has a lot to do with 'perfect' settings, too - not to mention the source that you're using (you may wish to have different settings depending on watching, saying, TV and a games console or Blu-ray player).

If you follow our guide here, plus use a THX optimiser - which does come on an awful lot of widely available DVDs - you'll quickly get to a good set-up.

And I agree, factory settings on TVs are dreadful - it's amazing how poor some sets look when they first come into our test rooms (and how below-par they still look, unadjusted, when I see them in a lot of people's homes).