Help me maxamise my picture quality on a Sony Bravia LCD TV.

May 13, 2007 10:44 PM

I've just bought a Sony Bravia 40" LCD TV. I'm interested in what others here think are the optimal settings for viewing HDTV? And, while we're at it, for watching DVDs, as I'm sure that HDTV would benefit from different settings than DVDs would. I think I have the settings pretty much as good as I can get them, and I recognise that different settings suit different people, but I would be interested in what other Bravia owners think are the best settings for optimising their picture quality.
posted by Effigy2000 to technology (6 comments total)

On my 46" Bravia, I went with cnet's settings, but I toned down one of the settings (I think it was the overall color tone setting, and cnet suggested a too warm of a tone). Home theater nerds at AVS forum posted their settings too but they tend to overthink everything.

No question, going from the default new TV settings to cnet's settings improved things greatly.
posted by mathowie at 11:32 PM on May 13, 2007

http://www.avsforum.com/
posted by rhizome at 11:39 PM on May 13, 2007

Another recommendation for avsforum. The thread #1 linked is where I got my starting point settings for my Bravia as well.

Hope you enjoy your new TV! I like mine plenty.
posted by cmm at 4:16 AM on May 14, 2007

If you really care, which you probably don't unless you're a geek like me, buy yourself (or if you're a real geek, build!) a sensor that works with Color HCFR and calibrate it properly.

The Spyder sensors work OK, but are essentially useless at low IRE, so aren't really very good. They're just easy to find, since most big box stores have at least one version of the Spyder stocked.

You'll want/need a copy of the GetGray DVD for the test patterns to use with the meter, except when you're calibrating the VGA port (if any), in which case you can have the software generate it on its own if you hook the computer up to the TV.

Of course, after spending somewhere between 12 and 24 hours playing with the settings on my LG, I found myself not very far from the "movie" preset. Turns out that that one is nearly optimal for my set, but I wouldn't know for sure if I hadn't spent the time with it! :p
posted by wierdo at 5:53 AM on May 14, 2007

I went for the CNet settings for my Vizio LCD Display and they work pretty well.

My computer input is more independent and I have to use software to lower the contrast and sometimes increase brightness.

I would recommend AVSforum as well and the Avia guide to home theater disc has great video and audio calibration tools to get the entire theater experience just right.
posted by ijoyner at 6:47 AM on May 14, 2007

On our Bravia, we just found the preset that looked best. Anything on that set will look great, so we just set it and forgot it. (After all, it has Colour like no other... I love that commercial.)

Maybe this isn't the most helpful answer, but my point is that you don't have to go to great lengths to get a good image.
posted by fogster at 10:47 AM on May 14, 2007