TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

This is a a little long winded but I need to vent. For the money we pay for televisions these days you would think the manufacturers would give you the optimum picture settings out of the box or at the very least provide those specs in the manual so buyers can easily set the best possible picture. I'm not talking about contrast, tint and brightness, those settings actually do very little to give you that pop in your display. I'm talking the expert menu settings where you adjust the color management system, white balance and IRE points.

I've had my 52" LG for almost 2 years and while the picture looked pretty good it didn't quite have that stunning HD look that I've seen in other TV's. I always attributed this to my cable feed, some channels having a compressed signal or just my TV not being that good (even though it was rated highly). I knew people professionally calibrated their TV but those things are pricey and didn't think it was worth the money and I shouldn't have to pay extra to have my TV look better.

So I did a search on my TV model # and found settings by somebody who posted settings from using those calibration disks and Voila it's like I have a new TV. I mean the difference is incredibly dramatic. It's like I have a new TV. The picture sharpness and vibrant colors are stunning.

It made me happy but that was 2 years of having this TV where I didn't enjoy the picture like I do now. LG, Sony etc... should have these settings right out of the box to give thier consumers the best possible picture and not have them pay to get it calibrated or have to search the internet to find them. Not to mention if would sell them more TV's if those settings are on display at the store.

If your TV has those expert settings where you you can change the white balance, IRE points and color management then do a search, find the #'s and plug them in. It's easy to do and it takes only 10 minutes and you will be stunned at how much better your TV will look.

[mudman]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

This is a a little long winded but I need to vent. For the money we pay for televisions these days you would think the manufacturers would give you the optimum picture settings out of the box or at the very least provide those specs in the manual so buyers can easily set the best possible picture. I'm not talking about contrast, tint and brightness, those settings actually do very little to give you that pop in your display. I'm talking the expert menu settings where you adjust the color management system, white balance and IRE points.

I've had my 52" LG for almost 2 years and while the picture looked pretty good it didn't quite have that stunning HD look that I've seen in other TV's. I always attributed this to my cable feed, some channels having a compressed signal or just my TV not being that good (even though it was rated highly). I knew people professionally calibrated their TV but those things are pricey and didn't think it was worth the money and I shouldn't have to pay extra to have my TV look better.

So I did a search on my TV model # and found settings by somebody who posted settings from using those calibration disks and Voila it's like I have a new TV. I mean the difference is incredibly dramatic. It's like I have a new TV. The picture sharpness and vibrant colors are stunning.

It made me happy but that was 2 years of having this TV where I didn't enjoy the picture like I do now. LG, Sony etc... should have these settings right out of the box to give thier consumers the best possible picture and not have them pay to get it calibrated or have to search the internet to find them. Not to mention if would sell them more TV's if those settings are on display at the store.

If your TV has those expert settings where you you can change the white balance, IRE points and color management then do a search, find the #'s and plug them in. It's easy to do and it takes only 10 minutes and you will be stunned at how much better your TV will look.

I agree that they should be better about providing proper settings, but there isn't a 'best setting' for any given tv. The best settings for a tv depend on the room that the tv will be put in. Some people will have their tv's in a dark room with no windows and others will have their tv in a room that has a lot of light. This greatly affects the settings.

I would like them to provide a list of suggestions or a couple different calibrations...maybe one for a well lit room with windows and one for a dark room with no windows. This way the user will at least have a starting point.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

I agree that they should be better about providing proper settings, but there isn't a 'best setting' for any given tv. The best settings for a tv depend on the room that the tv will be put in. Some people will have their tv's in a dark room with no windows and others will have their tv in a room that has a lot of light. This greatly affects the settings.

I would like them to provide a list of suggestions or a couple different calibrations...maybe one for a well lit room with windows and one for a dark room with no windows. This way the user will at least have a starting point.

+1 Everyone's situation is different. Suggested settings might be nice.

Just for the record, LG is one of the best, if not the best, at giving user control for tweaking the picture.

For the average person, you do NOT want to be going into the service menu and messing with settings. That's why you pay professional calibrators.

[bichettehappens]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Hmmm time to google my TV, because I feel exactly the same way about mine as you described.

[p_rushing]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

They should provide settings for 3 different lighting settings. Then you could adjust it based on that. They do provide it somewhat with the different settings for what you are watching, movie, sports, gaming, etc, but it would be nice to have a baseline for different type of rooms.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

+1 Everyone's situation is different. Suggested settings might be nice.

Just for the record, LG is one of the best, if not the best, at giving user control for tweaking the picture.

For the average person, you do NOT want to be going into the service menu and messing with settings. That's why you pay professional calibrators.

Only a professional calibrator would agree with you on that one because he has to make a living. If your TV gives you the in-depth ability to tweak your TV then it is incredibly easy and literally takes minutes to do. It takes longer to search for the settings for your TV than to do them. If screw it up you just press reset or just use a different picture mode since most TV's have several different modes. Why pay someone to do something that is a matter of pressing buttons. It's not like they're fixing your car. And they aren't cheap either. It costs $200-$300 to have it professionally calibrated.

And I know people like different settings for different lighting conditions but I have a matte screen and my picture looks stunning in both day and night lighting conditions.

If people are still worried about tweaking the TV themselves with internet settings then there is a new calibration disc made by Disney called WOW that came out last month for around $30 (alot better than paying $300) that is apparently very easy to use and does a great job in fixing your settings for different conditions. I prefer the free method though.

[Blzer]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

I don't know, I know for a fact that there are so many options in the service menu I wouldn't even know where to begin, let alone have a good eye for color correction.

What I want to know is, would they calibrate your TV differently for different input sources? Like what if you wanted something different for television, movies, games, hell even game mode, etc.?

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

I don't know, I know for a fact that there are so many options in the service menu I wouldn't even know where to begin, let alone have a good eye for color correction.

What I want to know is, would they calibrate your TV differently for different input sources? Like what if you wanted something different for television, movies, games, hell even game mode, etc.?

I'm sure they would but the professionals are gonna charge you for it for every extra thing you want just like anybody else.

I know jack squat about color management, white balance and IRE points. I just followed one guy's setting #'s on bluray.com because he used a calibration disc (and others raved about his settings). Literally a 10 year old could follow his instructions and punch in the #'s. It was not difficult in any way. I'm still kicking myself as to why I didn't do this search a week after I bought the TV.

[Blzer]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Oh, you mean service menu numbers? I figured those would depend on the lighting still, at least for gamma calibration and the like. I didn't even know those were posted online lol. I should look up my HDTV's.

[goh]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

I don't know, I know for a fact that there are so many options in the service menu I wouldn't even know where to begin, let alone have a good eye for color correction.

What I want to know is, would they calibrate your TV differently for different input sources? Like what if you wanted something different for television, movies, games, hell even game mode, etc.?

I dunno about the pros but I've got entirely different settings for cable,Blu-ray and 360. Well 360 and BR aren't that different. I started with the most popular "optimal" settings for my TV and still had to adjust a bit. Most of those settings made it have like a film over the top of the picture that I didn't like so I changed mine a bit to get rid of that. They also set the colors to warm,I perfer standard.

TV's in stores are set on "torch" settings to try and be eye catching and all that. Dynamic mode with the brightness and sharpness and all that stuff all the way up.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Only a professional calibrator would agree with you on that one because he has to make a living. If your TV gives you the in-depth ability to tweak your TV then it is incredibly easy and literally takes minutes to do. It takes longer to search for the settings for your TV than to do them. If screw it up you just press reset or just use a different picture mode since most TV's have several different modes. Why pay someone to do something that is a matter of pressing buttons. It's not like they're fixing your car. And they aren't cheap either. It costs $200-$300 to have it professionally calibrated.

And I know people like different settings for different lighting conditions but I have a matte screen and my picture looks stunning in both day and night lighting conditions.

If people are still worried about tweaking the TV themselves with internet settings then there is a new calibration disc made by Disney called WOW that came out last month for around $30 (alot better than paying $300) that is apparently very easy to use and does a great job in fixing your settings for different conditions. I prefer the free method though.

Poking around in the service menu with no idea of what you are doing can ruin the picture quality of the tv. A professional calibration isn't for everyone but if you want to get your HDTV to look it's very best that's what you'd do.

If you're going to spend a ton of money on your tv, is $300 that much of an investment to make it look it's best?

Obviously, you probably wouldn't have it done on a small display or a budget HDTV.

Might want to listen to this podcast: http://www.htguys.com/podcasts/2010/...ed-calibr.html

[BlueNGold]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Definitely agree with this.

The only thing is I tried to find good settings for my Toshiba 32av502u but still couldn't find anything.

[DickDalewood]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Do you want to know what that default high-contrast "Vivid" default setting is for? It's for when we get them in the store and throw them up on the wall; statistics show that customers are immediately drawn to the brighter pictures, so manufacturers set them that way on purpose.

And for the record, it's $199 to get a set calibrated through our Geek Squad, and yes, they tap into more settings than you should ever do on your own. Those $30 discs are a nice alternative for someone who doesn't want to spend the money, but they still don't provide the same quality. It takes tools that a consumer doesn't even have access to to do a professional calibration.

[Husker_OS]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

When I bought my current TV, I put in a blu-ray and started tweaking. Perfecting the 1080p picture on an LED takes a looooong time but it was totally worth it. I wouldn't suggest messing with the picture settings unless you have a blu-ray on. Cable HD channels aren't consistent at all.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: TV manufacturers should provide optimal picture settings.

Do you want to know what that default high-contrast "Vivid" default setting is for? It's for when we get them in the store and throw them up on the wall; statistics show that customers are immediately drawn to the brighter pictures, so manufacturers set them that way on purpose.

And for the record, it's $199 to get a set calibrated through our Geek Squad, and yes, they tap into more settings than you should ever do on your own. Those $30 discs are a nice alternative for someone who doesn't want to spend the money, but they still don't provide the same quality. It takes tools that a consumer doesn't even have access to to do a professional calibration.

I need a clarification as to what a professional calibration is. Are you taking apart the TV to change something because what do you mean by these tools no one has access to? If you are simply going into the technical menu and changing #'s then why is it any better than those calibration discs and where is the justification for spending $200 for someone else to do that when you can do it yourself.