questions about tv settings?

donnajunkie

people may say just try different settings but there are so many different settings and therefore so many different combinations that it becomes hard to judge. the 8 things below are what i am wondering about.

1. what is the best black setting? off, low, medium or high?
2. what is the best dynamic contrast setting? off, low, medium or high?
3. what is gamma all about and what should i set that at?
4. edge enhancement, should i have it on or off?
5. what is xvYCC and should i have that on or off?
6. should i have DNle on or off?
7. should hdmi black level be normal or low?
8. should i use the entertainment modes, sport, cinema and game?

edit.
also when i use the 100hz function i cant see any difference. i even tried putting the demo mode on and i still couldnt see a difference, it was only on a none hd channel though. is 100hz meant to be mainly for use with a hd source and is that why i see no difference? i guess i should try it with my xbox 360 if that is the case but when i have game mode on that turns 100hz off. so i guess 100hz isnt meant to be used with games?

Cat695

all depends on your TV on the settings

I found this website and they tell you what settings you should set for the best picture (obviously in their eyes) on your model TV......they may not have your TV though

Cat695

heres the website http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/

donnajunkie

that seems quite complicated. it only gives settings for watching a movie in hd or sd. what about other types of programmes? what about gaming? in those movie settings which would i use for an upscaled dvd? well it maybe upscaled but it isnt actually hd is it? so hd settings or sd settings?

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

people may say just try different settings but there are so many different settings and therefore so many different combinations that it becomes hard to judge. the 8 things below are what i am wondering about.

1. what is the best black setting? off, low, medium or high?
2. what is the best dynamic contrast setting? off, low, medium or high?
3. what is gamma all about and what should i set that at?
4. edge enhancement, should i have it on or off?
5. what is xvYCC and should i have that on or off?
6. should i have DNle on or off?
7. should hdmi black level be normal or low?
8. should i use the entertainment modes, sport, cinema and game?

edit.
also when i use the 100hz function i cant see any difference. i even tried putting the demo mode on and i still couldnt see a difference, it was only on a none hd channel though. is 100hz meant to be mainly for use with a hd source and is that why i see no difference? i guess i should try it with my xbox 360 if that is the case but when i have game mode on that turns 100hz off. so i guess 100hz isnt meant to be used with games?

1+2 ~ OFF
3 ~ Gamma is colour, set so it looks 'natural'
4 ~ OFF
5 ~ are you sure youve put that right?
6 ~ OFF
7 ~ NORMAL
8 ~ NO

Game mode is for 'screen response' time
Usually not needed

Inactive

The only settings that matter are those that suit your own taste.

donnajunkie

aliEnRIK wrote: »

5 ~ are you sure youve put that right?

Game mode is for 'screen response' time
Usually not needed

yes i put that right. the way it is written in the instruction is the x and v are small case and the YCC are capitals. it can either be on or off. this is what it says about the function. it says setting the xvYCC mode to on increases detail and colour space when watching movies from an external device (ie. dvd player) connected to the hdmi or component in jacks. you must set the picture mode to movie to enjoy this feature.

when i set the tv to game mode all the settings change to a preset for that mode. the backlight, contrast, brightness etc all change. the 100 hz function is impossible to use when game mode is on. i thought this was odd considering how games can move pretty fast. it also affects the sound not just the picture. i do like the sound when it is in game mode. i didnt find anything wrong with the picture.
have you ever watched tv with a certain setting for ages only to discover you had it set wrong and there was a better setting available all along? i am just trying to avoid that being the case.

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

yes i put that right. the way it is written in the instruction is the x and v are small case and the YCC are capitals. it can either be on or off. this is what it says about the function. it says setting the xvYCC mode to on increases detail and colour space when watching movies from an external device (ie. dvd player) connected to the hdmi or component in jacks. you must set the picture mode to movie to enjoy this feature.

when i set the tv to game mode all the settings change to a preset for that mode. the backlight, contrast, brightness etc all change. the 100 hz function is impossible to use when game mode is on. i thought this was odd considering how games can move pretty fast. it also affects the sound not just the picture. i do like the sound when it is in game mode. i didnt find anything wrong with the picture.
have you ever watched tv with a certain setting for ages only to discover you had it set wrong and there was a better setting available all along? i am just trying to avoid that being the case.

ahhhh. Colourspace. I doubt you have anything that outputs the full colourspace to be honest. The PS3 does, but ONLY in RGB (And its pointless converting DVDS and BLU RAYS to RGB as you then lose detail)

As for games, I wouldnt (For now) bother with the GAME mode and see how you go

As for better settings? Every tv ive ever played with, ive tried EVERY available setting there is over MONTHS to figure out what the differences are. I have a Pioneer Plasma ~ considered to be the best make of tvs in the world. It has a glamut of different modes. And the best way to watch anything? Turn EVERYTHING off!
I think ive yet to see a tv that genuinely looks 'better' in a certain mode (Bar maybe a 'freeview' signal whereby a digital filter can cometimes help) than with everything switched off.

I made the BIG mistake of watching dvds 'upscaled', when its (now) VERY clear that my pioneers inbuilt scaler is FAR superior to both my pioneer dvd player (a GRAND new!) and my PS3.

Also, a decent mains lead and mains filter could make quite a difference (Depending on where you live)

donnajunkie

the problem with turning everything off is some features dont work like that. i mean they just have a variety of possible settings and off is not one of the choices. for example gamma, sharpness, colour space, flesh tone. i dont understand why they need to so many different features to set. why they cant just work out the right setting for the many different things people watch and make a preset setting for each. they could just have one menu with a choice of settings. they could be movie, tv drama, video games, music videos and concerts, sport etc. you could then just pick one. then maybe just have one more menu were you can turn on or off the odd thing like 100hz. that should be it.

donnajunkie

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I made the BIG mistake of watching dvds 'upscaled', when its (now) VERY clear that my pioneers inbuilt scaler is FAR superior to both my pioneer dvd player (a GRAND new!) and my PS3.

so the tv upscales sd pictures? does it upscale everything? in my opinion our tv does not seem to upscale regular tv but the picture on our upscaling dvd player is miles better than what it was like on the previous tv.


if it is possible to benefit from 100hz then when would you say that is most likely to be? when watching sport? if yes then does the source also need to be hd for the 100hz to work well or would it work on a sd picture?

aliEnRIK

If you goto the cinema to watch a movie, the screens are calibrated. They dont change them for whatever movie is shown. Theyre calibrated and thats the end of it. The same is true of tv screens.
The only one you might want to switch in is some sort of 'digital cleaner' for freeview (Which can be horrible at times)
As for the other settings ~
Contrast, Brightness and Sharpness can easily be set with a THX setup disc (Star wars, terminator 2 etc)
Colour you set as high as possible without the pictures looking anything but natural (And skin is natural not RED or ORANGE)
Colour space is a toughie as different screens change in different ways. Try different settings of it over the week and try to get colour as natural as you can get it.
Whats the exact model of tv you have?
100 Hz is generally best left switched on. But may switch itself off when watching NTSC (american) broadcasts
The game mode settings cannot be changed as to do so would negate what the mode is for. Its to refresh the screen as quickly as possible so that whenever you press a key or whatever the change is as fast as possible on screen. To turn on 100Hz mode or whatever would slow down the refresh rate.
HOWEVER, The Sony tvs (I assume thats what you bought?) have a very good refresh rate anyways, so shouldnt be a need to set to GAME mode.