LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[Daragon]

Black stretch really destroys detail as things get dark, and you should have plenty of contrast if you have it all set up well.

I have my 360 set to 1080i now for HD DVD playback, but before I got it I used 720p as it's better for gaming. (being the 360's natural resolution)

Thats my problem - I can't set the TV to how I'd like it. I just can't find a decent balance for both TV viewing and 360 use.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Thats my problem - I can't set the TV to how I'd like it. I just can't find a decent balance for both TV viewing and 360 use.

Took me a bit of fiddling but I got mine set up nicely after a while. I had to tweak the colour temperatures and whatnot to get it right though.

Remember not to expect an LCD to be able to show you a proper black, they just can't do it.

[RLench]

Have you got decent lighting in your room? For an LCD TV, that will make the difference between "good" and "a lot better than I should expect"

I have a 32WL66 and I use:

Backlight: 20
Contrast: 65
Brightness: 60
Colour: 45
Sharpness: -10
Tint: 0
Black Stretch: off (if you think it looks too pale with it off, try dropping the contrast slightly)
Colour temp: normal

[Concept]

I agree with lighting.

The Bravia's viewing angle in terms of contrast clouds up as soon as you start tilting your head during darkened scenes, but carefully calibrating Component levels and playing in a well-lit room has all but diminished the effect.

[RLench]

If I turn my lights off, I can see changes in contrast as soon as I take one step to either side of centre. I have two uplights in my room behind my TV (one on either side) - once I turn those on, I have a fantastic black level that is completely uniform from anywhere in the room. It defies belief that it should make such an improvement. I can't explain it, but IMO it's the most important thing to get right. Sort out your room lighting before you even begin calibrating your TV

[sj33]

Also, I notice you have the 360 set at 720p - how is that better for gaming than 1080i?

Like Kotatsu, I have mine set in 1080i too, for HD-DVD.

720p would be a superior choice for 360 games on paper as the games themselves are 720p so best sent as such.
However, on a TV that handles 1080i content well (and my Bravia S handles is very well), the supposed quality loss from upscaling to 1080i can be so minor that it might be worth just leaving it in 1080i, that's certainly the case for me.

That would differ from set to set though and some screens, especially the cheaper ones, might not be so good with 1080i (especially ones that simply run 1080i content as 540p like the LG's).

That's one thing I like about the PS3 - content is run at source native res automatically (1080p ran as 1080i if the screen is not capable), so you can just leave it to the machine. Would like to see this added to the 360.

[Kaido]

I just bought a 32WLT66 and in a darkish room i'm using:

backlt 30

contrast 60

brightn 40

color 44

tint 0

sharp -10

blackstr off

mpeg low

dnr auto

colour normal

which are settings i tried from AV forums and liked straight away, i'll let you know if i tweak them better...

[Lyris]

Kaido, be careful with MPEG NR - make sure that's not removing detail.

[andrewfee]

Kaido, be careful with MPEG NR - make sure that's not removing detail.

Is it even possible to do MPEG Noise reduction without removing detail? I thought all it did was apply a soft blur to everything? (at least that's what it's done on every set I've owned that's had it)

[Concept]

I'd place the contrast higher asap and switch dnr off if possible too. Component suffers when it's overly saturated imo.

[Lyris]

Is it even possible to do MPEG Noise reduction without removing detail? I thought all it did was apply a soft blur to everything? (at least that's what it's done on every set I've owned that's had it)

It is to a point, but the semi-intelligent systems cost about $3000 or so so as you say, the ones in TVs will just erode the picture.

Of course it all depends whether the power of the blurring is small enough to just gloss over parts of the artefacts or if it's going too far. I happily watch Freeview on my own KDL-32V2000 with MPEG NR on Low because I've never seen it remove any detail, simply because on most Freeview channels, the detail isn't there in the first place.

[Daragon]

After trudging through various settings provided by other people, I've decided to settle for picture setting 2 provided by the TV.

Seems I have a different set and where as with MY 32WLT66, all these examples I've read makes my 360 look dull and boring (I'd take some shots to compare GoW but you probably wouldn't notice a difference) but by using picture setting 1, I seem to get a decent balance of colour and detail.

Having said that, I'm a firm believer that high definition means bright, sharp colours and not just a better screen resolution.

[Flompy]

My 37WLT68 is hopefully turning up today, quite excited! Anything I need to know besides changing the settings first thing?

Also, it is a replacement for my old Samsung, which was credited back to EmpireDirect. Thing is,nobody has asked for my old TV back! I wonder what happens with it, maybe they have forgotten...

[Kotatsu Neko]

My 37WLT68 is hopefully turning up today, quite excited! Anything I need to know besides changing the settings first thing?

Also, it is a replacement for my old Samsung, which was credited back to EmpireDirect. Thing is,nobody has asked for my old TV back! I wonder what happens with it, maybe they have forgotten...

Don't be afraid to go into the advanced settings and tweak individual colour temperatures and strengths. I did that with mine as it had really strong reds by default. It looks miles better now and was well worth the effort. Personal preference comes into it too, you should set it up to look good to your eyes most of all and if that means ignoring what people on the AV forums say then so be it!

You might also want to try a few different resolution settings on your 360 to see which looks best. I also tried VGA as well as component and found the latter to look much nicer.

Oh and don't forget to turn the backlight down if you're watching stuff in the dark, and don't be too disappointed that you can't get those old CRT black levels back no matter what you do...

[EvilBoris]

My 37WLT68 is hopefully turning up today, quite excited! Anything I need to know besides changing the settings first thing?

Also, it is a replacement for my old Samsung, which was credited back to EmpireDirect. Thing is,nobody has asked for my old TV back! I wonder what happens with it, maybe they have forgotten...

Just bare in mind that it seems to take a few days use for the screen to settle down, the viewing angle seems to become slightly better than it is to start with.