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Hdtv_calibration
Making Those Colors Pop with Calibration
One of the reasons why is so popular, especially for home-theater systems, is the promise of a stunningly lifelike picture with the most amazing colors. Straight out of the box however, chances are that most of the manufacturer's presets for your color calibration will make things worse instead of better. In fact, professionals who install home theaters offer calibration for your as one of their services (for an extra fee). There was even an article published on cnet.com a few years ago about one professional home-theater consultant named Kevin Miller. Miller charged $400 for his calibration services! That might sound like a lot of money to anyone who hasn't invested in one of these sets. As it was pointed out in the article though, if you're going to spend thousands on a for your home theater then what's a little extra? You might as well get the calibration done to get the best picture that you can and to really make the colors pop.
Apparently, Miller was even hired by Hitachi as a consultant to give the company advice on their color calibration. Still, you don't really have to spend hundreds on the calibration of your if you have a good eye for colors, contrast, and brightness. A is still a TV, just like the older analog models after all.
Setting
the Features
You should avoid making the picture overly bright for one thing. This may be somewhat difficult to judge, but a good idea might be to pop in a DVD with an even mixture of night (or at least dark) scenes and day scenes. You may want to try a classic black-and-white film to check the contrast and brightness as well. Too much of a good thing can be bad, especially with contrast and brightness, as it can produce a grainy image. Plus, overdoing it can shorten the life-span of a plasma HDTV. Colors can be a lot easier to figure out if you have a knack for it. Just be sure to shut off the presets and extra features before doing anything. Hopefully, you have an image or scene with which you're familiar for your calibration.
Something with strong reds and blues may make things easier (like an American flag for example) to adjust those particular settings. After all, too much red turns blue purple and visa versa. You also might want to freeze a nature scene with grass and bright flowers if you're adjusting your green levels. If the flowers start turning sickly, you know you're greens are too strong. There are some online guides and instructional DVDs for anyone who wants to do their own calibration, so give it a shot! You can always reset your settings and call in the professionals if it doesn't work out.
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