[Polcius]

I recently started to calibrate my TV, and have some questions.

1. I have a very strong halogen light behind the TV, brighter than the screen. Is it better to have a completely dark room rather to have a strong light behind? If I remove it, I have the (maybe wrong) feeling that the TV will strain my eyes.

2. I have a 26" LCD Tv. I would like to know how far should I sit from the TV. Right now I'm at 2 meters (6.56 ft).

3. Contrast & backlight. In the majority of the threads I've read, people say It's better to leave it very low, and play with the contrast. The problem is that if I set the contrast high, the peak white in some scenes really hurts my eyes. But, if I turn it down, I seem to lose detail on the "mid-tones".

4. What would be the recommended lighting for my situation?

Thanks in advance

[Polcius]

bump

[Fatwaz]

not an expert but....

1.dont watch tv in a totally dark room it will strain your eyes.a light behind the scren is preferable as it wont be shining onto the screen and give some light for your eyes to focus on and should make the picture look "better" but it shouldnt be brighter than the screen you are watching.about 20% of screen brightness i think i read somewhere though could be wrong but on the dve disc there is a pattern with a centre box showing how bright your ambient light should be for your set up.

2.sit wherever is comfortable but if you mean for hd viewing you would be better suited either sitting closer or get a bigger screen.

[Greyscale]

Originally Posted by Polcius

I recently started to calibrate my TV, and have some questions.

1. I have a very strong halogen light behind the TV, brighter than the screen. Is it better to have a completely dark room rather to have a strong light behind? If I remove it, I have the (maybe wrong) feeling that the TV will strain my eyes.

2. I have a 26" LCD Tv. I would like to know how far should I sit from the TV. Right now I'm at 2 meters (6.56 ft).

3. Contrast & backlight. In the majority of the threads I've read, people say It's better to leave it very low, and play with the contrast. The problem is that if I set the contrast high, the peak white in some scenes really hurts my eyes. But, if I turn it down, I seem to lose detail on the "mid-tones".

4. What would be the recommended lighting for my situation?

Thanks in advance

Neither using a strong halogen light, nor viewing in complete darkness is ideal for your display.
Get a cheap lamp from a DIY store, along with the lowest energy warm-white bulb you can find (if you can source a "daylight" bulb, even better). Place the light behind the LCD to reduce eye fatigue and improve perceptual contrast.

To set contrast find a greyscale ramp on your calibration disc (e.g. DVE).
First make sure there is no loss of white detail in the upper part of the ramp. Then check for any colour shift in the high end (this can be difficult to see). Lastly, if the display still seems too bright with the resulting contrast setting, turn it down until you find a comfortable point.