[grimtales1]

I realise this will be subjective, but how do I set my TV up with the "best" picture? I have a Panasonic LCD - (TX-L32G10) and lately was messing around with the settings, Contrast, Colour and Brightness are at the default setting (50%) but Sharpness is turned down to about 20%, and I thought a Warm colour balance looked better, especially with games on Wii.
Cool is too blue.
Is Contrast/Colour too high?
All the other stuff like Colour Management and Noise Reduction is always turned off.
Usually its set on Cinema mode for TV/BD

[grimtales1]

Actually the default setting for contrast on Normal/Cinema mode is 100/90%
Turned it down to halfway and it looks somewhat better.

[-GONZO-]

A calibration disc like Digital Video Essentials is usually a good place to start or try a DVD that has a THX calibration tool like Star Wars.
My personal opinion is just trial and error as when I used a calibration disc the picture looked too dark for my liking, but it does help as a starting point then tweak a little.

[figrin_dan]

To calibrate your TV you will need plenty of expensive calibration equipment and the expertise to use them.

Most people just use the Setup discs as above. These can be found on either a THX certified dvd or a Pixar Blu-ray.

[late8]

The troube with using calibration DVD's etc is it only calibrates to that particular device.input.
Your DVD player might for example have better or worse colour or contrast that is then shown on your TV.

inputs and external devices vary- for example my Humax Settop box has a slightly lower brightness level compared to my Bluray player.

[figrin_dan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by late8

The troube with using calibration DVD's etc is it only calibrates to that particular device.input.

I have also seen differences between different THX discs, so (from memory), the settings for Terminator 2 were different to Toy Story.

[Chris Frost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by figrin_dan

I have also seen differences between different THX discs, so (from memory), the settings for Terminator 2 were different to Toy Story.

This is well documented. Some of the THX discs aren't that accurate. Kind of ironic really, given that THX is all about the standard.

It's already been mentioned here, but it's worth repeating. Digital Video Essentials DVD or Digital Essentials HD Basics (Blu-ray) are great tools for making a big improvement to picture and sound. Yep, the discs include audio test tones too.

late8 mentioned that a setup disc would only work correctly for a single source. Although that's strictly true there are a couple of things to bear in mind.

Firstly, the out of box settings on most TVs are hopelessly inaccurate. So improving the setup using a test disc has benefits for all the sources.

Second, by using the disc you'll learn the telltale signs that brightness, contrast and sharpness are wrong. You'll also have your DVD/Blu-ray image available for comparison.

... and here's the real bonus...
Setting up a new TV with a test disc can make a bigger difference to picture quality than spending £100+ on the next higher model on your product shortlist. A test disc is around £15... You do the maths

[grimtales1]

I 've been messing around with the THX settings (on T2), Contrast is about 30 and Brightness a bit more now, but not much.
Sharpness is 0, because surely by turning it up thats just adding artificial sharpness to the image?
Tint/Colour Balance is Normal. The difference between these is most noticeable on a black and white film (I tried it with 7 Samurai Criterion BD).
Might give the HD setup disc a go though

[Chris Frost]

You're correct that additional sharpness is just extra noise. It's worth knowing though that the Zero setting isn't always the minimum level. Some sets allow softening of the picture too. It's always worthwhile having a look to see if the image loses real detail going to Zero.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grimtales1

Tint/Colour Balance is Normal. The difference between these is most noticeable on a black and white film (I tried it with 7 Samurai Criterion BD).
Might give the HD setup disc a go though

Yeah, that's because you're looking at a greyscale image so you're directly seeing the mix of red green blue without colour information obscuring the result.

***********
I've got a special deal running where you can get hold of a Digital Video Essentials test disc on loan for nothing. There's the DVD and the Blu-ray versions available. They include some very usefu tutorials which will teach you a lot about the technology so you can get better results. This is a limited offer though so it's first come first served. Send me a PM if you're interested.
***********

[grimtales1]

I sent you a PM
On Cinema mode (for DVD/BD) contrast and brightness are set fairly low.