Sony KDL-W5500 calibration settings thread

OneMoreSolo

Established Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
921
Reaction score
59
Points
207
Age
37
Seeing as several people (including myself) now have one of the new series of Sony TVs, it makes sense to have a settings thread - especially as the other thread is now very large.

I have no experience of calibrating televisions, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who isn't an expert, so if people could post their calibrated settings that would be excellent!

Thanks in advance to anyone who posts suggested settings :thumbsup:
 
Anyone got any good settings yet? The default settings seem pretty good but in a pitch black room the backlight on my tv has some bleed...
 
I would be very happy to see some guidance on how to calibrate the W5500 from the resident experts on the forum :)
 
hi guys i am looking to get this TV but i cant find any calibration settings, did anybody find any :lease:
 
Right!

I've been playing around with the DVE disc and have the following settings:

for Blueray (source is Sony BDP-S350)

Backlight - as required
Contrast 70
Brightness 44
Colour 49
Sharpness min
gamma +2
colour temp neutral
film mode auto1

All noise reductions/colour corrections etc off

have played around with the white balance a bit and have fidled a bit of
B bias to +4
G bias to +5
G gain -7
B Gain -2
R Bias -1

But I am still playng with the white balance as my knowledge of what do is limited.

It seems to have got rid of the nasty backlight bleed in the corners although there is still a bit of screen non-uniformity when there is no input.

I'm currently trying them on the Sky + SD content but with noise reduction set to low and Mpeg reduction set to medium.

feel free to give them a try - and I'd welcome any comments.

Cheers
 
would the same settings suffice for playing your ps3 as your blueray settings?
 
Having read all three parts of the W5500 thread your very question (and my own recent request) has been asked many times but seldom answered.

Personally I was just trying to avoid the constant fiddling that was seemingly mandatory with my previous two out of the box Sony TV's.

I was pleasantly surprised with my W5500 and haven't fiddled at all.
 
Hi,

I am slightly amazed that these settings have improved your picture quality:

1. DVE Standard Def calibration disc for a Full HD panel
2. The Blu-ray player will only upscale and not give you TrueHD results and will give you false positive results
3. The backlight setting (As Required) as you put it is totally wrong, the backlight is one of the most important factors when calibrating as this will effect the overall results in a number of ways
4. You don't say whether these are day or night time settings or what kind of enviroment your results are based on
5. Your white balance settings are way off, this is a result of the above points

Last but by no means least: The backlight bleed that everyone keeps on referring to, a KDL-W5500 out of the box for the first time will have backlight bleed as do most LCD TV's and will do for anything upto 4 weeks (This will slowly disappear as the TV is run in and settles into its new enviroment), Sony has worked hard to correct this issue and its better but still not resolved - What I will say is run your TV in at min settings for the first 3 months and then either have it calibrated correctly by an engineer or do you research and buy good quality Pro HD calibration disc's.

The above is my own personal opinion as I am a TV engineer and I also own a Sony KDL-46W5500 which is it last 2 weeks of run in and will calibrated by myself shortly after that.

I will post my results after i've calibrated it.......!

The calibration results will be for PS3/SATHD sources and of course the KDL-46W5500....!

What I will say though is that this TV in particular is fantastic with the correct settings/quality sources and I have not had any issues with the backlight bleed since passing the 4 week run in mark at all.

Thanks - :)



Right!

I've been playing around with the DVE disc and have the following settings:

for Blueray (source is Sony BDP-S350)

Backlight - as required
Contrast 70
Brightness 44
Colour 49
Sharpness min
gamma +2
colour temp neutral
film mode auto1

All noise reductions/colour corrections etc off

have played around with the white balance a bit and have fidled a bit of
B bias to +4
G bias to +5
G gain -7
B Gain -2
R Bias -1

But I am still playng with the white balance as my knowledge of what do is limited.

It seems to have got rid of the nasty backlight bleed in the corners although there is still a bit of screen non-uniformity when there is no input.

I'm currently trying them on the Sky + SD content but with noise reduction set to low and Mpeg reduction set to medium.

feel free to give them a try - and I'd welcome any comments.

Cheers
 
it will be extremely interesting to see your settings in two weeks :)

also, i've had minor backlight bleeding in 3 of 4 corners and a bit more in the fourth. now, after more than a month the bleed is not gone as in yours and has not decreased that much infortunately, only in the fourth corner (the one that had the most bleeding)...
 
Hi,

There are various reasons as to why:

  • How long did you run it in for and what are your picture settings - List what your picture settings are and tell me what sources are connected, also does the bleed change over each target input/build in DVB?
Picture Mode: ?
Backlight: ?
Contrast: ?
Brightness: ?
Colour: ?
Colour Temp: ?
Sharpness: ?
NR: ?
MPEG: ?
Motionflow: ?
Film Mode: ?

Advanced Settings:
Black corrector: ?
Adv Con Enhancer: ?
Gamma: ?
Auto Light Limiter?
Clear white: ?
Live colour: ?
White Balance: ?

Scene Mode: ?

Also, tell me the following:
  • What size is your TV?
  • How far away are you from it?
  • Do you have natural/artificial light bouncing onto the panel?
  • Do you have settings for daytime and night time viewing?
Usually its the simple things we overlook...!

Let me know the above and I will try to help you out...!

Thanks :)
 
sorry to jump in on this. i'm having a 40W5500 delivered next week & would like to know what settings to use for the "running in period"

the tv will have a 360 & Sky SD connected to it
 
Hi,

Not a problem, its about time we get some settings sorted out for the W5500.

Picture Mode: Standard
Backlight: 3 - Change to 4 or 5 if the images look washed out in daytime or if you have a lot of light in the room in the night time
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 49
Colour: 49
Colour Temp: Netural
Sharpness: Min
NR: Low
MPEG: Low
Motionflow: Standard
Film Mode: Auto 1

Advanced Settings:
Black corrector: Low
Adv Con Enhancer: Med
Gamma: +1
Auto Light Limiter: Off
Clear white: Off
Live colour: Low
White Balance: All 0

Scene Mode: Auto

All ECO settings off

For the 360, turn it on and run video setup wizard again...set it to 1080P 60Hz
After "Run In Period": Use the game mode as this will improve input lag time...!

For the SKY, change the video settings to RGB or PAL, depending on how the TV handles the input, you will notice the difference when you change the setting.

You will not regret buying this TV, I was lucky enough to be able to test a lot of models and makes of this years released LCD's/Plasma's, the W5500 ticked all the boxes for me as I use various inputs as listed in my signature and they all perform flawlessly - Even better when I calibrate it...!

Thanks :smashin:
 
Last edited:
Just got my 37 yesterday and last night picture didn't look great through sky in fact was better through the crappy loft aerial we have. However this morning it looks significantly better, does LCD settle down?

Will try xCAUSALITYx settings tonight, thanks:smashin:

Have sky in av1, does it matter whether it's av1 or 2, still using an old cheap scart, qed sqart should be arriving today/tomorrow, good if this thread stays as a tech thread rather than price/availability shopping thread imo

cheers
 
Hi,

The TV will settle itself in over the next couple of days, as you are using Sky SD it doesn't matter which scart you use as they both except RGB sources - Go into the Sky menu and try changing video output to RGB to see if this improves the picture, do this first and then setup the TV settings - The DTV tuner is very good in this series, good picture quality and it will get better as they increase the power output of the transmitters.

What I would advise if possible is to upgrade your Sat source STB to one that has HDMI output (FreesatHD various boxes now, SkyHD etc...)as this will take full advantage of the TV's HD side of things.

Like i've said before, after the "Run In Period" set the TV up with Day and Night time settings.

Once i've calibrated mine I will post both Day and Night time settings, what my living room enviroment is like, how far I am away from it and a lot more other factor results that we sometimes overlook.

You won't regret your purchase.....!

Thanks
 
Hi,

The TV will settle itself in over the next couple of days, as you are using Sky SD it doesn't matter which scart you use as they both except RGB sources - Go into the Sky menu and try changing video output to RGB to see if this improves the picture, do this first and then setup the TV settings - The DTV tuner is very good in this series, good picture quality and it will get better as they increase the power output of the transmitters.

What I would advise if possible is to upgrade your Sat source STB to one that has HDMI output (FreesatHD various boxes now, SkyHD etc...)as this will take full advantage of the TV's HD side of things.

Like i've said before, after the "Run In Period" set the TV up with Day and Night time settings.

Once i've calibrated mine I will post both Day and Night time settings, what my living room enviroment is like, how far I am away from it and a lot more other factor results that we sometimes overlook.

You won't regret your purchase.....!

Thanks

out of interest, why do LCD's take so long to "settle down" or "run in".....surely they should just work straight out of the box...u mentioned before that it takes weeks for them to settle to your environment...how do they do this...?...surely the tv just displays a source and u need to alter settings to your taste.

.....interested as my friend has a new panel in his toshiba and the backlight is very strong especially from a slight angle either way.....how long should he leave it before its decided there is a problem with backlight???

thanks....
 
Using xcausalityx settings but with a bit of sharpness upto 4, looking quite good I think. Got my qed scart but it's that heavy it fell out the socket at first. Connected my BDPS360 up and watched madagascar 2 dvd OMG!!! what an amazing amazing picture...will keep tweaking sky sd
 
out of interest, why do LCD's take so long to "settle down" or "run in".....surely they should just work straight out of the box...u mentioned before that it takes weeks for them to settle to your environment...how do they do this...?...surely the tv just displays a source and u need to alter settings to your taste.

.....interested as my friend has a new panel in his toshiba and the backlight is very strong especially from a slight angle either way.....how long should he leave it before its decided there is a problem with backlight???

thanks....

Hi,

The "Run In Period" is purely optional, however I personally run all my TV's in at minimal settings for this period of time to prolong the life of the components and the panel, this also allows me time to get used to the TV as I have owed all formats of display types and sometimes it takes longer to adjust to a new format i.e Plasma > LCD or Rear Projection > Plasma - Also this way you will notice any imperfections or faults easier as you will not be fiddling with the settings.

I won't go into too much detail but you will get the general drift.

The factors to mostly take heed to are as follows:
  • How long has the TV been in storage since it left the factory?
  • What temperature was it being stored at (Mostly cold all the time)?
  • How well has it been handled since it left the factory?
  • The TV has never been in your living room environment before, so you need to take into account: Heating or Lack of, Ambient Light (Built in sensor now, this TV will adjust to optimal settings and remember not to put anything in front of it), Altitude, position of where the TV will be located
  • You and your family's viewing preferences: Viewing distance, Seating angle, Height of you and the TV
Panels and electronic components are very sensitive, the more you take care of them, the more they will last and perform well over time, quality is always in the eye of the beholder.

If you gently increase the performance levels over time and give the TV and yourself time to adjust the better they will perform in the long run.

You get the idea, the most important thing to remember is that everyone is different and that my viewing preferences/run in process or thoughts will be different to someone else’s - Like I said it’s optional, I just prefer it this way.

As far as the Toshiba with the new panel, you say its bright, what its brighter than before, if so the panel before was failing, was it a soft pink or dull image, let me know - I dare say it’s just working as it should be, just turn it down to suit.

I will post my calibration settings next weekend, please don't forget calibration settings are for my environment alone, but at least it will give others somewhere to work from. :)

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
I'm very interested in what settings everyone is using - having got my 37W5500 last Friday, I was quite unimpressed with the picture quality of SD VM when straight out of the box - however, without doubt the qulaity has improved - and 1080P 360 is incredible!

I've been running it with xcasualtyx's settings and so far so good - very pleased. I have however come across one issue…(not to do with the settings - it was there before I applied them) I don't know whether it's a light sensor problem - and I don't want to hijack this thread - but if anyone could advise - it can be found here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-televisions/1094089-w5500-light-sensor-fault.html

Cheers chaps!
 
Last edited:
used THX optimiser and knocked colour right down to 35, quality has improved somewhat, sharp with sharpness set on min as there is no bleeding, you might want to try it...
 
Hi,

Not a problem, its about time we get some settings sorted out for the W5500.

Picture Mode: Standard
Backlight: 3 - Change to 4 or 5 if the images look washed out in daytime or if you have a lot of light in the room in the night time
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 49
Colour: 49
Colour Temp: Netural
Sharpness: Min
NR: Low
MPEG: Low
Motionflow: Standard
Film Mode: Auto 1

Advanced Settings:
Black corrector: Low
Adv Con Enhancer: Med
Gamma: +1
Auto Light Limiter: Off
Clear white: Off
Live colour: Low
White Balance: All 0

Scene Mode: Auto

All ECO settings off

For the 360, turn it on and run video setup wizard again...set it to 1080P 60Hz
After "Run In Period": Use the game mode as this will improve input lag time...!

For the SKY, change the video settings to RGB or PAL, depending on how the TV handles the input, you will notice the difference when you change the setting.

You will not regret buying this TV, I was lucky enough to be able to test a lot of models and makes of this years released LCD's/Plasma's, the W5500 ticked all the boxes for me as I use various inputs as listed in my signature and they all perform flawlessly - Even better when I calibrate it...!

Thanks :smashin:

Hi thanks so much for all the help. i just wanted to ask, are these settings for SkySD or SkyHD? as iv tried many settings on the 40w5500 TV i recently bought but its not improved a great deal. i still get watery text on some channels and dots around the text for example on Sky Sports News channel where there's alot of text, and the pictures arent perfect. im really desperate for any help as iv had this problem sincie i got the TV in late august and still not found a solution.

Thanks again
 
Hi thanks so much for all the help. i just wanted to ask, are these settings for SkySD or SkyHD? as iv tried many settings on the 40w5500 TV i recently bought but its not improved a great deal. i still get watery text on some channels and dots around the text for example on Sky Sports News channel where there's alot of text, and the pictures arent perfect. im really desperate for any help as iv had this problem sincie i got the TV in late august and still not found a solution.

Thanks again

Hi,

These are just general settings for "Run In Period" they are not for any specific input source, when I referenced the Sky setting it was for the member who was unhappy with the SkySD image displayed.

The poor image quality that you describe is due to SD output via scart on your SkySD, if the image doesn't improve by changing the PAL/RGB setting I would personally upgrade to a HDMI input from a HD source like FreesatHD/SkyHD or CableHD or you could try connecting the SkySD to a source that can upscale via HDMI.

Thanks
 
Hi,

These are just general settings for "Run In Period" they are not for any specific input source, when I referenced the Sky setting it was for the member who was unhappy with the SkySD image displayed.

The poor image quality that you describe is due to SD output via scart on your SkySD, if the image doesn't improve by changing the PAL/RGB setting I would personally upgrade to a HDMI input from a HD source like FreesatHD/SkyHD or CableHD or you could try connecting the SkySD to a source that can upscale via HDMI.

Thanks

ok thanks, il try the setting anyway.

im not really sure what you mean by a 'source which can upscale via HDMI'?

even freeview through my aerial has the same problem, and another foreign satellite which i use is even worse quality. looks like youtube. i tried changing the scart leads but didnt work

thanks again
 
ok thanks, il try the setting anyway.

im not really sure what you mean by a 'source which can upscale via HDMI'?

even freeview through my aerial has the same problem, and another foreign satellite which i use is even worse quality. looks like youtube. i tried changing the scart leads but didnt work

thanks again

Hi,

What I mean is to feed the Sky SD through another device with a HDMI output, but I have looked into to it for you but it will cost more than a Sat HD box, so thats not an option now - Consider upgrading instead.

You should get a good image on the aerial as Sony has invested time and money into increasing the SD signal quality on this series, do you have a loft or external aerial? and do you get a good picture on channel 5 or does it break up?

Using scart inputs on this TV is bad to ok depending on the source its coming from, HDMI is the way to go with this TV.

Sorry....

Thanks
 
Hi,

What I mean is to feed the Sky SD through another device with a HDMI output, but I have looked into to it for you but it will cost more than a Sat HD box, so thats not an option now - Consider upgrading instead.

You should get a good image on the aerial as Sony has invested time and money into increasing the SD signal quality on this series, do you have a loft or external aerial? and do you get a good picture on channel 5 or does it break up?

Using scart inputs on this TV is bad to ok depending on the source its coming from, HDMI is the way to go with this TV.

Sorry....

Thanks

I followed your advice from earlier in the thread and have bought a brand new PACE sky HD box from ebay so will see how it fairs with HDMI
 
thanks for replies. but do you have to get a skyHD subscriptoin in order to view channels such as Sky1, skysports news etc? i mean, is it just a case of plugging out your old SD box and putting in the HD box and everything keeping everything else the same?

thanks
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom