Advanced Calibration
If my early experience is any indication, there can be quite a large degree of variance between displays, even those of the same model. Advanced calibration is used to quantitatively measure how far the TV display differs from a reference model and make changes to compensate for that.
Don't dismiss calibration DVDs used for basic calibration, they still serve as a useful tool for getting your TV display in the right performance ballpark before pursuing more advanced calibration.
Note: You don't necessarily need to adjust service menu settings to calibrate your set, depending on what changes you wish to make you may be able to confine adjustments to the user menu settings.
The tools you'll need: HCFR software and the HCFR DVD (both of which are free to
download) and a supported colorimeter (a device which measures the wavelengths of light). AVSForum contains a
thread which discusses HCFR and the supported colorimeters in great detail so I won't dwell on either but get right onto the process I used to calibrate my TV display.
A PC laptop will be extremely handy in enabling you to locate the probe on TV and viewing the results of live measurements recorded by the HCFR software.
Recording a Baseline
Before you do anything you'll want to take note of all your TV's settings both in the user menus and in the service menu *if* you intend making adjustments. If you do access the service menu, please note that by doing so you could invalidate your warranty and potentially cause damage to your TV display, so read up thoroughly and understand the risks.
To record a baseline of the performance of your TV display, you'll need to install the colorimeter (typically a USB device such as the Spyder 2) also referred to as a probe, followed by the HCFR software. This is an important step, you'll want to record the current performance of your TV display before you start making adjustments to it. That way you can compare your newest readings with your baseline and see what effect your adjustments are having.
Upon launching the HCFR application you'll be prompted a couple of times: select 'DVD manual' and 'Spyder II' if you're using a Spyder 2 colorimeter (also referred to as a probe). The blog post
here describes the process in a little more detail.
Note: All Spyder2 products (Express, Pro and TV) use the same hardware colorimeter so you should encounter no problem using either in conjunction with the HCFR software.
Select References from the Preferences menu and ensure HCFR is using D65 white and REC 709 colourspace as a reference model.
Let your TV display warm up to operating temperature over a few minutes before you start recording measurements. Dim the ambient light in the room according to your preference.
To start with, ensure the probe is fitted with an 'LCD baffle' if one is provided, position the probe centrally along the screen taking care not to hit the pointy sides of the probe against the screen, you should take extra care to ensure that the probe gently meets the screen; you might use a pillow to apply some gentle pressure on the probe. Any undue stress could damage your screen so please be careful.
Click on the Measure button in the Grayscale window. You'll be prompted to select 10 levels of grey by navigating to the appropriate option on the HCFR DVD. Take care to pause the DVD once the appropriate grey level is output, unpause and skip to the next grey level and click OK to take a reading when prompted.
You'll be asked to do the same for the Primary (Red, Green, Blue) and Secondary (Yellow, Cyan, Magenta) colours.
The process takes about 10-20 minutes depending on the speed of your colorimeter.
In my next post I'll discuss a couple of the graphs and offer some guidance on how to interpret the results.