DVE help: Contrast setting on a Toshiba (1 Viewer)

[AngeloNA]

Sorry for all the questions, but you guys know how it is!

I've been running through DVE on my Toshiba 34hf83, and I can't seem to get the pictures settings down. Before I received my DVE disc, I used a DVD with the quick THX calibration. After going through DVE a few times, my settings are:

NEW
Contrast: 54
Brightness: 60
Color: 65
Tint: -9
Sharp: 40

Between the THX calibration and DVE, the biggest change in settings was of course, the contrast. But I don't like the way the picture looks now (DVD-component output). There's no sparkle to the image, likely because of the contrast reduction. It's a little too dark and rich now, but I think I set my Color saturation correctly. But I'm not sure if I'm setting the contrast correctly because I can't see much blooming using the DVD Pluge w/ Gray Scale image. I know you guys say to lower the contrast, but should it be this low? If anyone has a Toshiba CRT HDTV, what are some settings that you have?

I used the disc in a darkened setting with all the auto-picture settings set to off and with the color temperature set to "Warm".

Thanks.

 

[AngeloNA]

Hmmmm, I guess nobody here calibrates their tv's...

In any case, I think the contrast and brightness might be fine after all. The culprit may be the color and tint settings. I used the blue filter to set the color settings as closely as I could, and then I used the red filter to fine-tune it. But maybe I should back down on the color saturation? The people in the DVE restaurant scene look rather "glowy" and red, but after turning down the color, they're now pale and red. I've found that turning the Flesh Tones option to "on" makes them look normal. So should I turn it on and then calibrate? How should the people look?

 

[ThomasL]

Angelo,

When setting the contrast, you should try to shoot for the point when the pattern goes from a shade of gray to white. Make sure to do the adjustments in the same lighting levels that you'll be watching movies. The contrast and brightness controls will interact so you'll need to adjust the brightness afterwards and then go back to the contrast setting and tweak it further if necessary. Also, you should turn the user color setting to 0 before changing these (as well as the sharpness pattern) just to make sure that any color saturation doesn't "creep" into the pattern affecting the setting. Then go ahead and do color and tint last.

If you're used to an overdriven image with a high contrast then the new settings may take some getting used to. Give yourself a week or so to adjust with normal viewing material. If you still don't like the image then go back and tweak the settings.