Purchasing an HDTV is a great investment that can take your media experience to a whole new level. However, leaving your TV with the default settings will not only give you a picture that is too vibrant, it can also burn out your TV much quicker. Here I will talk about HDTV calibration, which will give you the HD picture you were intended to have and lengthen the life-span of the TV.
When you go into a store to purchase an HDTV, you’ll notice that the picture is bright and sometimes over-saturated. HDTVs are set by default to what is often called “Torch Mode,” which is when the brightness, contrast, and sharpness are jacked up to make the TVs standout next to the others on the showroom floor. Often times, many people purchase their TV, take it home, plug it in, and think they’re getting the quality they paid for – Simply put, they’re not.
TV calibration is something that is absolutely necessary, especially for gaming. TVs that are set in “Torch Mode” lose some of the finer details and can also be much harder on your eyes. There are standards to which your TV’s picture settings should be set to see the image that was intended to be seen, which are called “reference levels.” If you’ve ever read reviews on TVs or movies, you will hear that term used quite frequently. I could get into a bunch of technical jargon and say that reference white has to be at 6500 Kelvin, but I’ll keep it relatively simplel; Having the contrast and brightness too high or too low can result in a picture that can cause many of the finer details to be lost.
While nothing beats having your HDTV calibrated by a professional, it can sometimes be quite expensive. There are cheaper (and free) alternatives though that should help you out, such as DVDs, Blu-rays, computer software, and even simple video files than can be downloaded.
- Disney has a great Blu-ray titled World of Wonder which has gotten great reviews from both professionals and users.
- Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics is another that has gotten a lot of praise.
- SpyderTV is a device that you aim at your screen that reads the color output on your TV and uses a computer software to help you get a more accurate setting.
- The Xbox LIVE Indie Games section has a TV Calibrator for 200MS.
- The Toy Story 3 Blu-ray has a calibration feature, titled “Home Theater Optimizer” in the Setup menu.
- The Audio & Video Science website has a free download called AVS-709 which comes in a variety of formats such as Mpeg-4 and AVC-HD.
The free AVS-709 is great and the one I used, so I can personally attest that it does a great job in getting everything down to where it looks really nice. It also helps if your TV has an RBG mode of sorts to help you correct your TV’s color and tint settings.
Once you’ve calibrated your TV, thought you may be used to the more saturated image and think that it doesn’t look right, or that it looks a little “dull,” this is the way the image was intended to be seen. It will also help keep your eyes from straining and (as I mentioned in the opening) help your screen last a lot longer. I hope this has been helpful to you and makes your home theater experience more enjoyable!
