Change sharpness/gamma on DVD player or projector? (1 Viewer)

[RickardL]

My DVD player, a Pioneer, has settings for sharpness and
gamma correction in 10 step settings and my projector,
a sony 10ht, has settings for sharpness and brightness
in a range of 0 to 100.
Now, does it matter where I change things? Should sharpness
be adjusted on the DVD player or should it be up to the
projector?

I don't know. I fiddled some with it but I can't really
decide what is "best". At the moment, I have the gamma
correction turned to the max on the player and therefore
quite low brightness setting on the projector.

Any opinions/experiences?

Thanks,
Rickard

 

[Don Munsil]

Gamma and brightness are not equivalent. Gamma adjustments on a DVD player change the shape of the response curve, making it deviate from the standard linear response. You can somewhat compensate by lowering brightness, but you destroy your shadow detail.
The best thing to do is to set gamma adjustment at factory default (which I assume is 0) and calibrate your brightness using Avia or something similar. Since you're in Sweden and use PAL, the correct brightness will probably be around 50 on the 10HT, assuming you have your black level on the player set to the correct (darker) setting.
Then for sharpness, I'd use the Avia sharpness pattern, set the 10HT at around 35 sharpness, and then use the sharpness controls on the DVD player to get the minimum amount of obvious ringing you can get on that pattern.
If you can't get your hands on Avia to check sharpness, then I'd just leave the DVD player at the default position and set the 10HT to 35.
You might also want to check my 10HT FAQ page at http://www.munsil.com/VW10HTFaq.htm
Best,
Don

 

[RickardL]

If I have the Gamma setting to the lower levels, I
can not see the pluge patterns even with brightness
at 100. I have set the Gamma high to bring out all details
and then lowered brightness to the right pluge visibility.
I fiddled with different video modes back and forth and
decided that most shadow details were visible with this
setting. It could be my player, DV-F727, that has strange
gamma handling.

Regarding Sweden, it is true that we have PAL with our
region 2 discs but I have about 75% NTSC disc...