TV Reviews

Settings

Unit-to-unit sample variations, the viewing environment, and the source might render these recommendations less than optimum. They are provided only as a potentially useful starting place.

The settings here that are most likely to translate reliably from one sample to another are those involving specific features with only a few selections, such as Noise Reduction. The ones most likely to be subject to sample variations are video controls offering a wide range of adjustment, such as white balance (grayscale) and color management. Even relatively small differences in the common control settings, such as Contrast and Brightness, can shift the measured white balance, though the resulting visible change may be innocuous. Production line tolerances can do the same.

We strongly recommend that you find the optimum basic video settings for your sample by using one of the many available display setup discs, such as Digital Video Essentials HD Basics (Blu-ray) or the Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark. These will help you to set the basic controls correctly, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and sometimes color and tint. Experimenting with the more complex color calibration and other controls in the user menus will do no harm; the changes may be easily reset. But tuning a set "by eye" using these controls is no substitute for a full calibration, which is best left to a trained and properly equipped technician such as those certified by the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) or THX.

Picture Mode	Custom 1*
Backlight	60
Brightness	53
Contrast	75
Color	50
Tint	-6
Sharpness	20
Advanced
Color Temperature	Normal
Black Detail	Medium*
Active LED Zones	On
Motion Blur Reduction	Off
Reduce Signal Noise	Off
Reduce Block Noise	Off
Film Mode	Auto
Wide	Normal

Professional Picture*
Color Tuner*

	R	G	B	C	M	Y
Hue	0	0	0	40	-25	26
Saturation	14	0	-40	0	0	0
Brightness	-17	0	0	7	4	4
Offset	1	0	-1
Gain	-6	0	-2

11 Point White Balance N/A

*All of these settings reflect the performance with the Black Detail control on Medium. As noted in the review, this was later shown to produce odd flesh tones on some source material, and the performance was improved with Black Detail set to Off. This will require settings of the standard controls, particularly Backlight, Brightness, and Contrast, different from those shown here. To optimize these settings with Black Detail Off, the use of a good setup disc is recommended. The new control settings may also alter the color balance and render the Color Tuner settings shown here less than optimum. But the latter, and the need to tweak the standard settings, are always likely when dealing with different samples of the same set.