HDTeleVision Review

Regular readers of LCD TV Buying Guide reviews will notice that our display reviews often contain lengthy sections detailing the various picture adjustments available on a particular LCD television. Why? Because in order to get the best detail and most accurate picture from your TV, you’ll need to do some adjusting with these controls.

Factory settings on TVs are almost always tweaked to maximum brightness and contrast and are enabled with image “edge enhancement” features as well. Manufacturers do this so that the TV picture will “pop” on the retail store floor compared to other models. However, this is not how the director of the programming you are viewing intended for you to see the film, or sports or sitcom that you see. It’s not natural to the eye and a lot of the “enhancement” settings on a plasma or LCD TV these days are just the opposite of that. Setting the proper color, brightness, and and operating levels on an LCD TV can make a huge difference in your viewing pleasure.

CALIBRATE? Why?

If you’re interested in getting perfect picture from your flat panel or rear projection TV or even a CRT tube TV you can’t assume that it comes straight out of the box with it’s picture adjustments set properly. The next time you’re in one of the “Big – discount” home electronics stores, step back and take a look at the array of plasma, LCD, and projections TVs. Notice how they all look different? Since they’re all displaying the same signal, shouldn’t they all look the same?

The first step in calibrating your television lies in paying attention to your surroundings. Sit in the same spot you’d normally sit in to watch your TV. Then, make sure the lighting is at the same level you’ll be using to watch movies: setting your TV to overcompensate for a brightly-lit room may give you distorted results. Watching in complete darkness may cause undue eyestrain, but a dim, diffuse light behind or to the side of your LCD TV is best. Just make sure to avoid any glare or reflection on the screen.

The better you know which controls are available on your LCD TV, the better your end results will be. Though different manufacturers give different names to the controls, these are the levels you’ll be adjusting:

1. Black Level, normally found on the Brightness control
2. White Level, usually called Contrast or Picture
3. Sharpness, or sometimes Detail
4. Color Saturation, usually labeled Color, or maybe Chroma
5. Color Tint, also known as Hue

Beyond these basic settings, many modern TVs come packed with so-called “picture enhancements” which in reality do nothing but spoil an otherwise accurate, lifelike picture. Take a moment to dig through your TVs menus and disable any of these “features.” What you’re looking for is anything labeled edge enhancement or detail enhancement, flesh tone or color “correction,” etc. This is a broad generalization, but basically anything not listed in the five controls above can be safely turned off. Another thing to check for is often called a “Picture Mode,” or something similar: in reviews, we often find best results from a Movie or Cinema mode, which usually gives the most accurate picture with the least “enhancement.” A Normal mode is a safe bet when this isn’t available, but definitely avoid anything called Vivid, Dynamic, or Sports mode. Sports mode may make the grass look nice and green, but unless you’re watching The Masters, it’s probably not that green in real life; Sports mode is just ruining the color.

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