How do I find best settings for brightness/contrast?

[Brian Kendig]

The more I fiddle with the settings on my HT200DM DLP projector, the more I'm unhappy with the picture I'm getting from it. I'm using the test images on the Video Essentials DVD as well as the THX test images on the Star Wars DVDs, but I just can't get it right, and I could use some help. (My projection screen is a Greyhawk, and that's probably adding to the problem.)

I first became unhappy when I saw the output of my $10,000 projector beside the display of a $120 tube TV set, and the tube looked a whole lot more vivid.

The problem is, when I fine-tune brightness and contrast to the THX images, the video image from my projector just appears too overall dark. First of all, I don't know how to set brightness properly - Video Essentials says to raise it until just before the "blacker than black" bar on the test image becomes visible, but I can never see that bar on the image from my projector no matter how much I turn up the brightness. (The black background will become grey when I turn brightness up enough, but still, no 'absolute black' bar.)

So what I've been doing is going to the "white boxes" THX test image and reducing contrast until I can distinguish between the slightly-different levels of white, then adjusting brightness and contrast in opposite directions to try to come up with something I'm happy with while still being able to differentiate between the whites.

If I lower contrast too much, the picture looks like there's a grey film over it. If I raise contrast too much, colors bleed badly. If I raise brightness, the picture looks washed out. If I go for middle-of-the-road settings, I end up with a dull washed-out image. I can't figure out how to find the right compromise between brightness and contrast.

It's even worse because it seems like the ideal settings for my DVD player (connected over component video) are different than the ideal settings for my TiVo (connected over S-Video), but the HT200DM won't let me maintain different settings per connection.

Am I asking too much, to get a bright, vivid, yet accurate picture from my projector? Is the Greyhawk screen the problem, should I throw it out and get a brighter screen? Is there a web site anywhere which discusses how to find the best brightness/contrast settings for a DLP projector?

[KraGorn]

I'm not sure there's much more you can do, tweaking-wise. The THX calibration tests are rather simplistic perhaps, getting an AVIA CD is probably worthwhile, but since you've pretty much exhausted the possibilities with Brightness and Contrast then AVIA isn't going to do much for that.

Does your DVD player not have image controls? If so you could calibrate the projector for the TiVo and then hopefully the DVD player can be persuaded to set itself satisfactorily.

Unlimately though I suspect you may be simply seeing how CRT technology is superior to digital panels for image generation, even your $120 CRT. I've never owned a CRT, given the price, but reading comments from the CRT owners round here I don't think I've ever seen a comment indicating digital projectors can equal CRTs .. though DLPs can come close I think you'd need a 3-panel one to rival a CRT maybe.

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

It sounds to me like your DVD player doesn't pass blacker than black which is why you never see it. You need an alternate method of adjusting black. Put up the 20 ire window with the three black stripes (two for youas the third is always invisible). Turn down brightness until the darker one disappears. Now turn up brightness until that bar re-appears. Then give it a click or two more. Look at the solid black background around those bars.....does it have flickering pixels in it? If so go back a click until they disappear but the two bars are still visible.

Now use the white block test for setting contrast. Then go back adn check brigthness.

Gordon

[RTFM]

Get yourself a copy of Avia and use the needle pulse test patterns.
It's the quickest, easiest way I know of getting black level and white level spot on.

Jeff