Who's not happy with their picture quality and what have you done about it?

[fas42]

Essentially all flat panels are delivered with bad default settings, and people sometimes complain that they are not impressed with what it looks like in their home. There are calibration services, but they can be expensive, but will do the job. I've got a cheapie which I've played with (in the settings only) and it makes a big difference.

Have others done this, and got advice to give? It may be worthwhile to share this with others ...

Frank

 

[Steve Williams]

Not sure in Australia but here in the USA I had my big screens ISF calibrated. The first one I did the guy who worked on it told me that all of the flat screens coming into the stores' show rooms run bright because in a store filled with flat screens, the consumer's eyes always finds those that are brighter

 

[fas42]

flat screens coming into the stores' show rooms run bright because in a store filled with flat screens, the consumer's eyes always finds those that are brighter

Yes, exactly. They are set up to look good there, and when you get one in your home, it looks over the top, cartoon colours, and feel, it certainly doesn't draw you in on an ongoing basis.

The ISF is the recognised standard for calibrating, of course, but if you are game, or even less than that, and willing to put some time and great care into it, you can essentially achieve all that they do, or get close to it. For example, on my set I have effectively 3 settings: nighttime, overcast and sunny. The set doesn't allow for this, but I have worked exactly what to do with the normal setting to get the best picture in each case.

The deeper trick is to get into what they call the service menu, and fiddle with all the colour settings. Sometimes these settings are available on the user's menu. The overall brightness (for an LCD) makes a big difference.

A lot of fiddling is required but it is certainly worth it, to get an image which is always pleasing to view ...

Frank

 

[amirm]

I must say, as much as I am disappointed about the state of flat panels today, I am impressed by the progress they have made in having more accurate setting. Of course, they still have Vivid/Showroom setting but some turn that off on first power up. And at any rate, many have at least one setting that is very good. Usually it is called "Warm2" or something like it. You can find this by reading the reviews as they usually attempt to start with one setting that is close and then they adjust (although sadly, the THX setting that plays this role often is not adjustable).

The tricky part is that if you have been watching the Vivid mode, setting the display to a correct mode is liable to make you unhappy with images that look too dull and a picture that is not bright. Given your eyes some time to adjust. And if you are still unhappy, dial it up a bit.

I am really impressed with Samsung and LG as of late. The former has a couple of Joe Kane patterns plus the ability to switch the display to a single color. This is essential for adjusting the tint. LG leads the way with 10-step grayscale adjustment and such although you will need expensive instruments to really use it.

 

[RBFC]

From what I understand, the first step in improving the picture out-of-the-box is to go into the regular setup menu and turn off all of the "picture enhancement" and noise reduction modes. This provides a bit more of a clean foundation upon which to tune the picture to your needs and preferences. Once you've optimized things in this manner, you can revisit the special settings and analyze them one at a time for their effect.

Lee

 

[fas42]

I am really impressed with Samsung and LG as of late. The former has a couple of Joe Kane patterns plus the ability to switch the display to a single color. This is essential for adjusting the tint. LG leads the way with 10-step grayscale adjustment and such although you will need expensive instruments to really use it

Yes, I use the Joe Kane DVD, DVE. Very handy to have around, though it's not the latest and was really designed for CRT sets.

The really expensive instruments is a load of bollocks. I have done the whole thing by eye, and provided you are prepared to fiddle over a period of time, you'll get there. Getting the colour JUST right is the hardest bit, and Joe Kane's stuff didn't quite do it. I did the last bit of fine tuning by waiting for a local gardening show, we are in a nice country setting, looking out the window, then looking back at the set to get it just right. Faces first, then greens, you want the nature colour just right for that last bit of realism.

Agreed, switch off ALL the picture enhancements.

if you have been watching the Vivid mode, setting the display to a correct mode is liable to make you unhappy with images that look too dull and a picture that is not bright

That says you can tweak the settings more. I have a conventional LCD with nice dark screen when off, I was able to get into the service menu and turn the brightness of the lamp down so that at night the difference between the set switched on and off is minimal. Then I used Kane's grey scale to make sure there was continuous gradation from the darkest black to the brightest white. The colour control is absolutely critical for me, one step too far in either direction makes all the difference.

Now, I can watch a fireworks display in full HD, and it takes your breath away. Nothing fancy about the set (think it has a fairly recent LG panel) but after fussing over it, I am now very happy, especially when I look at other people's sets.

Frank

 

[amirm]

The really expensive instruments is a load of bollocks.

That's like saying you can measure the temperature of the water by sticking your thumb in it . You can tell if the water is hot, warm or cold but not its precise temperature.

Yes, you can set the brightness and contrast using your eye and test patterns. You can also set the tint pretty close if your set has the color assist I mentioned (very hard otherwise as blu filters do not work with many display types).

What you can't do is set the grayscale tracking. If you take a gray signal and change its brightness from 0% to 100%, it needs to stay gray. It must not become red, green or blue. None of the current display technologies are linear enough to do that naturally (although DLPs tend to be better in this regard). Most if not all flat panels will shift to different hues at lower brightness levels. To fix this, you must measure the error and then make correction using service menu or in case of LG and newer Samsung's using the multi-step RGB correction.

The device that performs this measurement is a spectrometer like my Minolta cs-100:

And good ones which can measure color at very low levels of light can be very expensive. Are you sitting down? The CS-100 costs a cool $21,000!!!

There are cheaper units to be sure, down to a few hundred dollars you use to calibrate computer monitors but they are not that accurate.

So yes, you can do a lot with just your eye and test disc. But as with audio, the last bit costs you big time .

 

[fas42]

If you take a gray signal and change its brightness from 0% to 100%, it needs to stay gray

Fair enough, if you want to be really fussy about that grey scale. I agree it is worthwhile getting it right to a reasonable degree, and a lot of my fine tuning was with a Kane's grey scale on the screen, and playing with colour driving levels in the service menu. I would still say my eyes were good enough to pick whether there was a troublesome colour shift, and at the dark end it does not matter as much as at the light end. It took a while, mainly because the controls are not totally independent, but it's there for me. When a high quality B & W movie comes on I am never aware of any colour shift whatsoever. As they say, YMMV.

Cheers,
Frank

 

[fas42]

By the way, amirm, just had a look at your company site. Nice little beach weekenders you've been fiddling aound with ...

Only trouble, the flat screen with the CNN broadcast seems to have a pretty severe blue shift! Must be the TV station, or my laptop monitor ...

Frank

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Unless you are experienced with calibration or have "golden" eyes, I wouldn't suggest going into the service menu as you will automatically void your warranty. If you can afford it, get a certified ISF calibration technician come to your home. If you can't, then try the Kane, Avia or Spears & Munsell discs.

 

[DaveyF]

As an aside from calibration, I have found that using a cable card vs. cable Co. supplied DVR box or the like, is a real eye opener ( assuming that your panel can accept this kind of device). Obviously, not a factor with other inputs like a BD player etc.

 

[amirm]

By the way, amirm, just had a look at your company site. Nice little beach weekenders you've been fiddling aound with ...

Sadly, it is not my own home but that of a client. It is a waterfront home and its master closet is as big as my entire master bedroom if not larger . That said, my vacation house is not half bad and one of these days I will post some pictures of it.

Only trouble, the flat screen with the CNN broadcast seems to have a pretty severe blue shift! Must be the TV station, or my laptop monitor ...

Frank

I know you are joking . But to explain anyway, taking pictures of a TV with a camera is fraught with issues and I did not try to color correct it in that manner but rather, making sure the rest of the room looked OK. BTW, those pictures were taken by an agency and despite being a "pro," caused me to spend hours in Photoshop cleaning up after them .

 

[amirm]

Unless you are experienced with calibration or have "golden" eyes, I wouldn't suggest going into the service menu as you will automatically void your warranty. If you can afford it, get a certified ISF calibration technician come to your home. If you can't, then try the Kane, Avia or Spears & Munsell discs.

Good point. The issue with messing in service menu is that you can change something, have the picture go dark, and not being able now to see the menus to change it back! I once killed the family TV this way when I was a teenager and to this day, I remember the angry look of my Dad .

 

[joe1515]

I recommend checking tweak tv out.. Here is the description from the istv website, wich is run by Kevin Miller who is ISF certified. He is great guy and calibrated my pioneer elite.

"TWEAKTV is ISFTV's latest venture. If you are looking for an easy way to make an immediate improvement on your digital cable or satellite picture come and visit www.tweaktv.com. Our professional calibration staff has put together an extensive database from their field calibration work that will help you improve your viewing experience while you are waiting for in-home professional calibration, the ultimate improvement in your video system."

Joe

 

[amirm]

It is a good site. Thanks for linking it Joe.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Plus 1 on the tweaktv site link.

 

[fas42]

The issue with messing in service menu is that you can change something, have the picture go dark, and not being able now to see the menus to change it back!

Yes, that issue needed to be brought up. When I decided to proceed down this path, I researched it over and over again, from every site I could find on the net, to make sure I knew all the dangers and the safe procedures I should follow. Unless you are 100% certain you know exactly what you are altering every time you fiddle in the service menu DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Always note carefully the previous value before changing anything, so that you can restore it if necessary.

These advisories are always given on sites with information about the service menus, but it can never be repeated too often.

Unfortunately, the colour settings seem to be typically badly out, so you either pay solid money for calibration, or risk doing it yourself. For me, it was certainly worthwhile, because of the enhanced viewing experience ...

Frank