HDMI cable/HD calibration recommendations.

penrhyn

I've recently upgraded the TV (40" Samsung) and lashed out on a Bluray player, presently connected up with the Sky supplied HDMI cable, and an Amazon basics one.
All seems well, however, I realise I may be opening a can of worms here but, is it worth spending more money on HDMI cables or would I be fooling myself?

Also I noticed the Toy Story Blu Ray had some calibration patterns, are there others that walk you through the procedure that don't need test equipment?

sjp1966

There are several discs out there that you can get, Avia and Digital Video Essentials are the best known, I have DVE and it is awkward to use to be honest, I found it easier searching on google for my TV model calibration settings, so for me "Sony W5710 calibration settings" and I tried several examples on there until I found one that looked good to me, calibration really is a personal thing but the figures you find should at least put you in the ballpark.

what is interesting is that most settings I found advised turning off most of the technology on the TV, like noise reduction, auto contrast, auto black levels etc, even sharpness.

aliEnRIK

The THX disc you have will set brightness and contrast. Monster have one that I used to use to set colour (Sharpness by all intents shouldnt be adjusted, it should be off or at zero unless its a cr*p tv)

Generally speaking CINEMA MODE is best setting without proper calibration. Sharpness zero, use a disc to set brightness and contrast, set colour so everything looks natural (Far too many people set colour too high)
All extra processing modes OFF (Contrast enhance, live colour, DNS and all the other silly names they have)

As for HDMIs, im not getting into that. But I do recommend THAT CABLE HDMI which is about a fiver and is as good as youll get for anything under 30 quid
Im sure someone will be on saying you can get them for 99p from amazon or whatever. Choice is yours, id rather have a quality cable for a fiver personally

Richie-from-the-Boro

aliEnRIK wrote: »

The THX disc you have will set brightness and contrast. Monster have one that I used to use to set colour (Sharpness by all intents shouldnt be adjusted, it should be off or at zero unless its a cr*p tv)

Generally speaking CINEMA MODE is best setting without proper calibration. Sharpness zero, use a disc to set brightness and contrast, set colour so everything looks natural (Far too many people set colour too high)
All extra processing modes OFF (Contrast enhance, live colour, DNS and all the other silly names they have)

As for HDMIs, im not getting into that. But I do recommend THAT CABLE HDMI which is about a fiver and is as good as youll get for anything under 30 quid
Im sure someone will be on saying you can get them for 99p from amazon or whatever. Choice is yours, id rather have a quality cable for a fiver personally

Hey RIK, - you can get them for 99p from Amazon or whatever ! - :beer: