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In Reply to: TV tuning posted by Reedglen on August 14, 2001 at 19:43:01:
The readjusting of the major and minor 'internal' settings like the 'overscan', trueness of the gray scale, color correctness, etc... is something a LOT of film buffs like. DO NOT DO IT 'TILL THE TV HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR AT LEAST A MONTH. The TV needs to 'settle in' and then it may or may not be worth it "TO YOU" If you are in love with the color and tone of Cinema and really want the picture to be as perfect as possible: yes the technician can do some amazing things to perfect the color, clarity, image size of your TV. If you watch but are only an 'average viewer': the $400 may seem like a waste of time. The changes are subtle and are a must for the video maven, but for the average viewer overpriced. Most TVs are adjusted at the factory to 95% "of perfection" (so to speak) and the $400 job can get you another 3% to 4% of the "perfect picture" and if the person doing the job is really an artist at his/her job 100% of what the TV can really do. One thing YOU can do is learn how the Brightness and Contrast should be set by yourself. On some movies the test screens are right in the menu. (LD Apocalypse Now is very good, and Toy Story DVD) Half the picture battle is right there!
Good luck (I have a Sony 36 XBR400 and am thinking about the same thing to get done.)
Follow Ups:
Elizabeth,Most TVs are nowhere near adjusted to perfection. I'm not saying you can't fix many of them, but you're way, way, way off base about them adjusted to 95% of perfection. Maybe 25% of perfection is more realistic. If they have convergence right, then I'll give you 60% of perfection from the manufacturer. Here's some of the first things everyone needs to fix.
All sets are delivered to catch your attention on the showroom floor. This is great for a showroom, but not so good for your house. So here's some of the things that are going to be wrong that need to be fixed:
1) They are set to "torch mode", with color temperatures in the 10000K range. Flipping back to 6500K is available on most sets, but this doesn't mean your colour will be anything near correct even so.
Different manufacturers call them different names, I've seen 6500K referred to as Cool, Warm and even Cinema.2) Colour decoders are inaccurate on just about ever brand of television today, with significant "red push", and many manufacturers are locking you out of the menus to fix this. You have to resort to building attenuators for the red component input.
3) Brightness/Contrast are stepped all the way up. Yes you mention this, I'm trying to be complete.
4) Scan Velocity Modulation is usually engaged, which tends to give you an etched, overly exaggerated sense of detail. On some sets, you have to disconnect wires (Toshiba and Panasonic). Most manufacturers are locking you out of this on their latest sets (when it's menu adjustable)
5) Convergence is usually way off. This is fixable by the end user on some sets and to some extent (9pt consumer convergence is the norm), but not all of them.
If you're lucky, you can get the TV up into the 90's, but that requires some experience.
There are a few things I'm sure I'm missing, but that's my (conflicting) opinion.An ISF calibration, if you're serious about things (I view this board as enthusiasts unless stated otherwise) the calibration is quite worth it.
Regards,
The idea that TVs ar at 25%??? You get one out of four channels?. The sound is too garbled to hear? three/fourths of the time? Your video connections fail to work at all more often than not? My 95% may be a bit high to a perfectionist. But if you are talking to an ordinary person, the Stock TV right in the showroom (adjusted for the best color, Brightness and Picture settings done by 'guesstimation by a person verssed in what the settings are for) is like at 90% to 95% of what it can do. With the "standard" B&P settings from the factory and unadjusted at all by the consumer with the remote, I agree the things are like at 80%. Perhaps we are just starting from different standards?
Undoubtedly we are.I'm incredibly brutal because manufacturers know these problems are there, and refuse to do ANYTHING to resolve them.
Gets my ire raised in a big way!
And I did point out that I consider this group to be enthusiasts and so have set a higher standard of performance.
Regards,
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