Some video calibration questions..

[tommyboy]

I just recently bought a sammy 50" plasma and used a calibration disk. The thing is though, the disk is from 2001, when plasmas and lcds were a rarity in average households. So my first question is, are all calibration disks created equal?(does it make any difference what tv technology you have?)

If it doesn't, then I also have a question about the sharpness. While watching the tutorial, it made perfect sense what I was looking for during calibration, but once it started, I couldn't tell any difference except on the extremely high and low settings. So I guess my question would be, is it more ideal then to have it setting on average then? I have it set to 40 right now which I assume is ok...

Otherwise, everything looks great. I'm only using a HD upconvertion dvd player, but I'll get to a blue ray once I have enough money for a hdmi compatible reciever. No use getting one if I only get half the improvement..

[steveinaz]

What disc do you have?

On sharpness, I found it easier to get up close to the set---really close, like 1ft. Pick a line to watch (I use the center cross-hair image) Start at 0, then bring it up until you just see the white ghosting (ringing) of the black reference lines. Now back it down one click at a time until the ghosting completely disappears. This will render the sharpest image without ringing.

Contrary to popular belief, sharpness should NOT always be set to 0.

[thsmith]

I just recently bought a sammy 50" plasma and used a calibration disk. The thing is though, the disk is from 2001, when plasmas and lcds were a rarity in average households. So my first question is, are all calibration disks created equal?(does it make any difference what tv technology you have?)

If it doesn't, then I also have a question about the sharpness. While watching the tutorial, it made perfect sense what I was looking for during calibration, but once it started, I couldn't tell any difference except on the extremely high and low settings. So I guess my question would be, is it more ideal then to have it setting on average then? I have it set to 40 right now which I assume is ok...

Otherwise, everything looks great. I'm only using a HD upconvertion dvd player, but I'll get to a blue ray once I have enough money for a hdmi compatible reciever. No use getting one if I only get half the improvement..

DIsk is fine but the gel lenses may have aged or faded.

[Glowrdr]

What gel lenses? Not sure that has anything to do with it, but thought I'd ask just in case.

[tommyboy]

What disc do you have?

On sharpness, I found it easier to get up close to the set---really close, like 1ft. Pick a line to watch (I use the center cross-hair image) Start at 0, then bring it up until you just see the white ghosting (ringing) of the black reference lines. Now back it down one click at a time until the ghosting completely disappears. This will render the sharpest image without ringing.

Contrary to popular belief, sharpness should NOT always be set to 0.

I actually have two, both made by the same company. "Avia guide to home theater" (from 1999), and "Sound and vision home theater set up".

I tried what you said... and I still can't tell the difference. They were explaining how the lines on top should darken and lighten but they seriously never do anything, same with the lines in the center. I turned off the edge enhancement feature thinking maybe that had the sharpness auto locked, but still nothing. I guess if I can't tell the difference here, I won't when I'm watching something...

BTW, now everything seems a bit dark, but I don't want it too bright anyways just incase of the small chance of burn in(at least until the tv is broken in). The color does look MUCH better than before now that its calibrated.

[steveinaz]

If you see no change, leave sharpness at 0.

If you've got brightness (black levels) and contrast (white levels) calibrated correctly, then you are probably just not used to a "correct" balance of the 2, as most sets are blazing with way too much contrast.

It's pretty cool what you can do with just a cal disk. I use DVE so I'm not familiar with the two disks you mentioned.

[steveinaz]

What gel lenses? Not sure that has anything to do with it, but thought I'd ask just in case.

The lenses are used for setting color and tint.

[tommyboy]

If you see no change, leave sharpness at 0.

If you've got brightness (black levels) and contrast (white levels) calibrated correctly, then you are probably just not used to a "correct" balance of the 2, as most sets are blazing with way too much contrast.

It's pretty cool what you can do with just a cal disk. I use DVE so I'm not familiar with the two disks you mentioned.

You aren't kidding, I had the tv set on standard and the contrast was on 95, now its 48.

There are so many other configurations the samsung has I know I could adjust it even more (gamma, RGB offset/gain,etc), but I have no idea what they are, so not going to bother...