Setting up Samsung LCD TV

[Stuart Smith]

I've got one of the 26" Samsung LCD TVs that Microsoft have been using to pimp the Xbox 360, and having just run a THX Optimiser programme off one of the Star Wars DVDs I was wondering how other people have set up their sets and what they think the optimal settings are.

In particular, do people use the Brightness Detection option and, if not, what brightness do you have your set at?

[Richard.John]

Have a look here for setup advice. The AV forums is the fountain of HDTV knowledge.


http://www.avforums.com/forums/index.php


Or look below for andrewfee's superb advice.

[andrewfee]

Unfortunately you have to calibrate by source; your DVD player will be different from Xbox 360's output, as will your Cable/Sky/Freeview/Terrestrial tuners/boxes.

THX DVDs are useless for calibration, as they calibrate for that film only; if you load up two or three different films with it, chances are you'll get different results each time.

Sharpness
Sharpness is the first control you should set, and should always be set to zero, or whatever the neutral point is. On a modern television, it should not exist. With most sets, 0 is neutral, but my Panasonic CRT went to +/- 3, so the middle was "zero." (Panasonic sets don't number their settings) Note: on my Panasonic CRT, anything other than the "normal" picture mode (you had three settings, normal / film / dynamic, each with different gamma settings) added sharpening, even at the zero, or negative points. Samsung's DNIe adds loads of sharpening that can't be disabled, so you're best to just turn it to zero and try to ignore it.

If you've had "sharpness" set up high, and have turned it down, the image might look a bit "soft" but this is how the image should look - anything higher and you are adding artifacts to the image, and destroying fine detail.

If you are not sure whether zero is the neutral point, try looking for a high-contrast edge, preferably white text on a black background, and play around with the control. You should see that as it gets higher, it's adding a false edge to the text. Turn this down until it disappears completely. (should either be zero or 50% on most sets)

Contrast
With an LCD, the majority of test patterns for contrast don't work, so you'll have to judge it by eye. I found about 75-80 was the right mark on my 32" Samsung, as that kept whites looking white, but they weren't blinding.

On a CRT, you want to find something with fine white text, preferably against a darker background. Turn the control up to the max, and watch what happens - it should start "expanding" and the edges will probably take a colour tint to them. (generally red on one side, blue on the other) Turn the contrast control right down until this disappears. Most CRTs should be set somewhere between 25% and 50% contrast.

Brightness
PGR3 and Condemned have good patterns for brightness; they have a letter on a black background that you have to turn it down until it just disappears, and then back up one notch so it's visible again. Note: X360's DVD output is brighter than its game output, so you will get bad results using that for calibration.

Note: On CRT displays, the brightness/contrast are "interactive" and changing one will affect the other. (raising brightness will also raise contrast, and vice-versa)

I would imagine X360 uses "PC" video levels for its output with games, which puts black at 0, and white at 255. Video on the other hand (DVDs etc) uses 16 for black, and 235 for white. This means that if you have used a test disc to set the video levels on your 360 then you will be cutting out shadow details. Conversely, if you were to set the video levels with a game, you will be seeing "details" in DVDs that should not be visible. (these areas often have a lot of compression artifacts, as they should not be visible)

Temperature
This control is usually listed below colour, but should be set first. It should be "neutral" "warm" or "6500" depending on what your set calls it. (note: "normal" is generally not the same as "neutral") This should be the closest to D65 you can get without a proper greyscale calibration being done on it by an ISF calibrator. I know the Samsung had Cool 1/2, Normal, and Warm 1/2, but I haven't been able to measure the actual temperature of each setting, so I'd guess Warm 1 is the closest. (I have been without my television since 07/09/05 now, and got my Spyder 2PRO last month)

Colour
Colour is the hardest one to get right. You really need a test disc such as Digital Video Essentials to do this properly, using their patterns & colour filters to get it correct. Although they recommend setting it by the blue channel, I would set it with red; a red push is far more noticeable than green/blue, as skintones don't ever look right with one. If you don't have one, I would play around with it, seeing how it affects different aspects of the picture. I find it easiest to set it by the colour of the "buttons" in menus. I would turn it up until the colours are "screaming" at you, and back down until they look natural. I find B to be the best to judge this on again, as it's red.



I'll actually have a play around with my 360 and see what sort of video levels it's using for games / dashboard / DVDs, and see if I can come up with some test patterns to help set it up properly.


EDIT: Dynamic Contrast should always be disabled on the Samsung sets, and "Brightness Sensor" just adjusts the backlight. (better blacks in dark rooms)

If you want the brightness sensor enabled, then you'll have to cover it up to lower the backlight to its lowest before setting brightness, and disable it to set contrast. (so you're setting brightness when it's at its dimmest, and contrast when it's at its brightest)

I would personally have it off though.