How to improve your new or old TV’s picture quality
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TVs are on sale this time of year, but many people are disappointed after purchasing a new set. The picture quality falls short of expectations. Fortunately, a better image is only a few tweaks away.
Consider this
Assume you find a great deal on a brand-new television. Simply plug it in and begin watching your favourite TV shows and movies. However, as soon as you begin, you will notice that the colors are off or too bright.
It isn’t always the fault of the television. When you first get a new television, you may be disappointed. This is frequently due to the fact that they are not always properly calibrated for your home’s lighting.
It would be worse if you purchased the store’s floor model. The saturation and hues of floor models have been heavily tweaked to catch your eye in fluorescent lighting. When you put it in standard lighting at home, it looks awful.
You could hire a professional to install your new television, or you could do it yourself and save money. Let’s start with the basics.
1. Make use of the display presets
Your television most likely has several built-in presets for various purposes, such as movie viewing or sports channels. These can be found in the picture settings menu on your television. Look for them in your TV’s instruction manual. If you don’t have your manual, you can find it online by tapping or clicking here.
Your new television may have default presets for colors like vivid because that gives the most pop – often too much. This preset is used by many store models.
The standard preset – or whatever your TV calls it – is your best bet for general TV viewing. Making that switch alone can solve a lot of image quality issues.
Cycle through the other options to see which one you prefer. You can also experiment with different settings for different scenarios. Some televisions even have presets for specific sports, so load up a game or two and see what they can do for you.
2. Make use of your eyes
If none of the presets appeal to you, you can take more control over your image settings. After all, you’ll be the one watching it. Adjustable options include contrast, hue, brightness, sharpness, and colour temperature.
To begin, play a few of your favourite movies with different scenes and lighting. Keep the following suggestions in mind:
Make sure your room lighting is set to how it is when you watch TV.
Ensure that the films include very dark, very light, people-filled scenes, and are extremely colorful.
Adjust the brightness setting in dark scenes so that shadows are as black as they can be while still showing detail.
Next, go to a light scene and increase the contrast so that the white spaces are as white as possible without losing detail.
After that, adjust the colour temperature until the skin tones and colours appear natural. If your TV has saturation controls, you can adjust how vibrant the colours appear. You’re looking for a happy medium between “washed out” and “hurts your eyes to look at.”
Once everything appears to be in order, test your settings with a few more movies at various lighting levels in the room. You should also turn off the TV and return after a few minutes to see your changes with fresh eyes.
If you don’t completely trust your eyes or want a little more assistance, there is another option.
3. Make use of a calibration disc
A calibration disc can be used to obtain a more precise calibration. This guides you through each setting and provides carefully crafted visual images to aid in your tweaking. It works well in most cases, but don’t be afraid to tweak the settings to your liking. Because it’s your TV, the best image is the one you prefer.
There are several options for purchasing a calibration disc. This Blu-ray is available from Spears & Munsil for around $40.
Other calibration possibilities
If you don’t want to buy a disc, you have other options. First, consult your TV’s manual to see if it has a calibration routine built in.
If you have a Smart TV, you can also load some calibration videos from YouTube. A string of them can be found by searching for “AVS HD 709.” They do, however, necessitate a little more effort on your part.
Netflix has a calibration option if you want to get technical. Log in to Netflix and go to netflix.com/title/70136810. Click My List to add this video to your list, then launch Netflix on your TV and search for Example Short 23.976 in your list.
