4K TV Reviews

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 Gamma and 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 (where available). Even relatively small differences in the common control settings, such as Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma, can shift the measured white balance, though the resulting visible change may be innocuous.

We strongly recommend that you find the optimum basic video settings for your sample by using one of the many available display setup DVDs, such as Digital Video Essentials (DVD) or DVE HD Basics (Blu-ray). These will help you to set the basic controls correctly. Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and sometimes Color and Tint, at least for SDR (as of fall 2018 suitable consumer setup discs for HDR are not yet available). 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’s user color controls (typically white balance and color management) "by eye" 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. While a reviewed set may sometimes provide respectable color measurements out of the box, we have no way of knowing of that will be consistently true of any sample of the same model, given the inevitable production tolerances.

11 Step White Balance—Not Used