Do I Need to Calibrate my HDTV?

Few consumers have a real need for a professional display calibration. What may lead many to believe they do are the default picture settings HDTVs are shipped from the factory with. Default factory setting are generally formulated for maximum impact on display at a consumer electronics store. Factory settings are commonly formulated for maximum brightness and contrast for the bright ambient light conditions in a store. Additionally color saturation may be boosted and sharpness adjustments tweaked upwards. When home in the living or entertainment room with a different viewing environment the default settings can look overdone.

Fortunately, the majority of HDTVs come with a number of quick select display modes that have been professionally calibrated for various video sources and viewing situations. Getting a good picture is simply a matter of selecting the appropriate setting for your viewing situation and video source.
Professional display calibrations are something to think about for high-end, expensive equipment. An expensive home theater installation is a logical candidate for professional calibration. If your viewing situation is not optimal then calibration is a waste of money.

As in all things, fiddling with what you don’t understand, in this case picture settings, can cause problems. Accidently changing something on a global basis (affecting all picture modes) can result in uniformly undesirable picture quality.

Display Optimization DVDs

If you’re keen to see if you can achieve a better display optimization, then the cheapest, reliable option is calibration or optimization DVDs such as those produced by Avia, Digital Video Essentials, Ovation Multimedia, and DisplayMate Technologies. These products can help with adjusting, setting up, tuning, calibrating and evaluating HDTV displays, RPTVs and front projectors. It can be fairly simple to optimize picture settings such as brightness, contrast, color and sharpness to your viewing environment and tastes. The disks are designed to be suitable for the novice and expert to use successfully.

Calibration DVDs do have some limitations. A lot of adjustments can be made through visual evaluation of test patterns but, there are some test patterns that require evaluation using instrumentation like Spectroradiometers, Color Analyzers, Photometers, Waveform Monitors, and Oscilloscopes. For example, calibration of a display’s grayscale to D65 requires the use of a Spectroradiometer or Colorimeter and involves using your HDTV’s the service menu. Because of the complexity of the service menu it should be left to a trained calibration technician.

THX Certified DVD Movie Optimizer Utility

A cheaper alternative to calibration DVDs is a THX Certified DVD movie which includes THX’s Optimizer utility which can help you optimize your display settings. It is not as comprehensive as the specialist testing software on calibration DVDs. The intention is to provide a set of test signals with simple, step-by-step test instructions for achieving the optimum picture settings for the associated movie title. Test signals allow matching to the reference levels used during the DVD mastering process so you will have the exact sound and picture presentation intended by the filmmaker. There is an audio test to make sure your surround sound is set up correctly as well as video tests including Aspect Ratio check, performance, contrast/picture set-up, brightness and color and tint set-up.

Re-calibration

The characteristics of all displays (eg. brightness) deteriorate or change over time requiring calibration/optimization to be repeated at regular intervals (At least once a year is a minimum target).

Resources

TweakTV

TweakTV is an online repository for user menu setting information supplied by professionally trained calibration experts for numerous HDTV brands and models.

Calibration DVDs

Introduction to DisplayMate

Ovation Multimedia Avia II (DVD)

Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics (Blu-ray or HD DVD) and Digital Video Essentials Pro (DVD)

THX Optimizer

Calibration and Tune Up Guides

Picture perfect: HDTV tune-up tips

Sound and Vision Magazine TV Tweaks – Part One House Calls

AWH – How to Calibrate a Television FAQ

Calibration 101

Calibration Equipment

GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display 2 Colorimeter

Datacolor Spyder3Elite, Spyder3Pro, or Spyder2PRO Colorimeters

PTek Review of Spyder3

User Reviews and Price Comparisons

Spyder 3 Elite

SPYDER3 Studio

Datacolor / Colorvision S2P100 Spyder2PRO Windows/Macintosh

Spyder3 Studio

Digital Video Essentials-Hd Basics (Hd)

Digital Video Essentials (NTSC Version)

Digital Video Essentials-HD Basics (Blu-Ray)

SpyderTV Colorimeter for Home Entertainment System

COLORVISION datacolor Spyder3 Studio