C
ChrisCoaster
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
I'm using a calibration disk I found in the "9.99" bin at the pharmacy.
It's called "Home Theatre Test and set-up disc", distributed by
Musicland Stores.
The disk does include a blue gel, though I don't know if it is of the
Kodak specification. The first time I went through the video
adjustment steps, I ended up with a picture that was over-saturated
with color and red push. Ths was through the composite(RCA) inputs of
both of my sets. All steps were followed, including letting sets run
for minimum 30 minutes.
I also set the "Picture" and "Brightness" controls to their middle
settings.
Because I'm slow to think of these things, I then performed the video
adjustments through the component inputs of both sets. The results of
doing them through component video were noticeably better. When I
looked at my settings after doing the calibrations, the tint control
ended up either in the middle or over toward the green side, where as
doing it through composite/RCA, it actually demanded more red tint(!)
Brightness needed a small boost to show the test pattern properly, but
the middle contrast showed off all scales of white properly.
Since my sets don't have user or hidden menus for each input, I then
previewed a movie three ways: RF, composite, then CV. Viewing the
movie through both the RF and composite, there was some red push(not as
much as when I did the calibration over composite) and less
over-coloring than before. The "Color" user adjustment still ended up
being a little hot - 60 out of 100. As with composite, Contrast was
fine, and brightness needed just a slight boost.
Through the component video however, post-calibration playback was
superb! I had to turn on the lights to make sure I was still in my
living room and not at the theater. Colors were, like properly cooked
pasta: al dente! Color balance was spot on, and picture and black
levels were as good as you can get with a standard NTSC tube set.
There is no provision on "HT: Test and setup Disc" for
sharpness/detail, but I tend to leave that at 50 or cut back to 40.
When I went back to viewing cable, however, everyone has a temperature
and the color in general is just too intense! The picture and
brightness are fine, but it just doensn't have the depth or
3-dimensionality of the CV inputs.
My question is:
Are cable and air broadcasters doing the same thing to their signal
that factories and retailers do to the adjustments on new TVs -
overdriving color/contrast etc. to compete with adjacent channels?
It's kinda hard to strike a compromise between calibrated video sources
and cable or broadcast. So I just pulled the color back one click from
where I calibrated it, and it's a so-so compromise.
-ChrisCoaster
It's called "Home Theatre Test and set-up disc", distributed by
Musicland Stores.
The disk does include a blue gel, though I don't know if it is of the
Kodak specification. The first time I went through the video
adjustment steps, I ended up with a picture that was over-saturated
with color and red push. Ths was through the composite(RCA) inputs of
both of my sets. All steps were followed, including letting sets run
for minimum 30 minutes.
I also set the "Picture" and "Brightness" controls to their middle
settings.
Because I'm slow to think of these things, I then performed the video
adjustments through the component inputs of both sets. The results of
doing them through component video were noticeably better. When I
looked at my settings after doing the calibrations, the tint control
ended up either in the middle or over toward the green side, where as
doing it through composite/RCA, it actually demanded more red tint(!)
Brightness needed a small boost to show the test pattern properly, but
the middle contrast showed off all scales of white properly.
Since my sets don't have user or hidden menus for each input, I then
previewed a movie three ways: RF, composite, then CV. Viewing the
movie through both the RF and composite, there was some red push(not as
much as when I did the calibration over composite) and less
over-coloring than before. The "Color" user adjustment still ended up
being a little hot - 60 out of 100. As with composite, Contrast was
fine, and brightness needed just a slight boost.
Through the component video however, post-calibration playback was
superb! I had to turn on the lights to make sure I was still in my
living room and not at the theater. Colors were, like properly cooked
pasta: al dente! Color balance was spot on, and picture and black
levels were as good as you can get with a standard NTSC tube set.
There is no provision on "HT: Test and setup Disc" for
sharpness/detail, but I tend to leave that at 50 or cut back to 40.
When I went back to viewing cable, however, everyone has a temperature
and the color in general is just too intense! The picture and
brightness are fine, but it just doensn't have the depth or
3-dimensionality of the CV inputs.
My question is:
Are cable and air broadcasters doing the same thing to their signal
that factories and retailers do to the adjustments on new TVs -
overdriving color/contrast etc. to compete with adjacent channels?
It's kinda hard to strike a compromise between calibrated video sources
and cable or broadcast. So I just pulled the color back one click from
where I calibrated it, and it's a so-so compromise.
-ChrisCoaster
