[RoscoLabri]

Hello all,

Got my dads 40" LCD setup yesterday, and we are having trouble trying to get the picture just right. We havn't changed any settings as of yet, and after reading the manual we are more then a little confused.

The NTL box is connected to the LCD via scart so maybe this is part of the problem (although we arn't going to be ditching it any time soon and jumping to Sky)

The other connections are the HDMI from LCD to DVD, and DVD to HTSS1000.

I'm not sure whats wrong with the picture but it does seem a little fuzzy at times, any help would be tremendous.

Thanks

[David Mackenzie]

I always ignore the manuals I get with TVs unless I have a technical problem I'd like solved. They usually feel like strange Japanese to English translations.

Most likely you're seeing the blocky, compressed nature of a Digital TV signal (it's how they fit so many channels in) and the TV's normal settings are amplifying this.

What to do is go into the picture menu and change the Picture mode out of "Vivid" and into "Custom". The first step is to turn down the Sharpness fairly low to stop the faults in the picture being oversharpened and amplified and to preserve the most detail possible (oversharpening removes detail).Turn down the contrast a little as well.

Secondly, a good tip is to dim the Colour a little. I think our brains (I'm no scientist though) perceive less saturated images as more detailed, and they will certainly look a little more realistic.

BTW, is the TV a KDL-V40A12U or -S40A12U?

[Argee1977]

As Lyris says, out of the box its set in Vivid mode with high contrast and brightness, this may look good in the white lighting of a comet or currys but in the house it looks a bit off, best bet is to go into Custom and change the settings to your liking, below is a guideline to start with, its not perfect as i don't know what your house lighting is like but you can tweak it from these settings:

Custom
Contrast - 68
Brightness - 58
Colour - 25
Sharpness - 0
Backlight - 5 (This will probably need changing)
Colour tone - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Off (BNR is also good for some shows)
Dynamic picture - Off (Doesn't make that much difference, its best on for some shows)
gamma reduction - 3

Another thing to do is to go into the menu feature of the Sony and put it onto 'Power Reduction' mode, its on the third or fourth menu down.


Now i will say that you will notice the picture looks pretty dark now, but only if you've been watching the Sony with vivid mode for a while, your eyes will get used to these settings and these settings are more in line with your old CRT than Vivid. Noise Reduction can cause a few problems on some channels so its sometimes best to turn it off completely, contrast and brightness is really up to the user for settings and the backlight and gamma are there to lighten up the picture if needed (if the room is dark or the LCD is in a corner away from light). Best bet also is to turn sharpness to 0, this may be what is causing the blockiness of the picture as it'll be set to max on vivid.

[David Mackenzie]

Another thing to do is to go into the menu feature of the Sony and put it onto 'Power Reduction' mode, its on the third or fourth menu down.

Yeah, I forgot about that - turn on Power Saving to dim the backlight intensity. You can read all about the evils of a dazzlingly bright backlight here:

http://www.lyris-lite.net/bravia_tips_backlight.html

[Argee1977]

When i turned the power reduction on i thought the screen was way too dark at first, but after a few hours you get used to it and it is a lot easier on the eye and very close to what my picture brightness was on the old CRT, give the new settings a couple of days to settle on your eyes, after a couple of weeks go watch a show on vivid settings and you'll see a huge difference, its almost unwatchable and your eyes strain to view it.

[David Mackenzie]

When i turned the power reduction on i thought the screen was way too dark at first, but after a few hours you get used to it and it is a lot easier on the eye and very close to what my picture brightness was on the old CRT,

That's why I started using Power Saving in the first place as well. When I first got my first LCD TV it was far too bright to look at and the blacks were pretty mediocre. That sorted it out.

Agree totally about it being impossible to move back. Other manufacturers should add this option as well (or make the backlight intensity go this low) so I have some more LCD buying choices in the future.

When you first turn on Power Saving, close your eyes or look away from the screen when you give the TV the remote command so you can't compare.

[PeteD64]

Have you enabled RGB scart output on the NTL box? The default may be composite.

On my Samsung NTL box its..
Settings
2 Visual settings
7 Set TV picture signal to... RGB

[RoscoLabri]

Originally Posted by Lyris

BTW, is the TV a KDL-V40A12U or -S40A12U?

, thought I had put the letter in. It's the V model.

Originally Posted by PeteD64

Have you enabled RGB scart output on the NTL box? The default may be composite.

On my Samsung NTL box its..
Settings
2 Visual settings
7 Set TV picture signal to... RGB

Aha! This was to be a question that I was going to ask at a later date. I never knew which to set it to, tbh I always thought the Composite was supposed to be the normal setting...I'll go change it all later today.

Thanks for the replies all, I'll test it a bit later and come back here to tell you the results. Still loving the change from CRT to LCD, watched Sharpe's Challenge last night and I must say it was superb

[Argee1977]

Originally Posted by RoscoLabri

Still loving the change from CRT to LCD, watched Sharpe's Challenge last night and I must say it was superb

We can help you with the LCD picture, but i doubt we'll be able to help you with your viewing choices

[Wookie04]

Originally Posted by Argee1977

As Lyris says, out of the box its set in Vivid mode with high contrast and brightness, this may look good in the white lighting of a comet or currys but in the house it looks a bit off, best bet is to go into Custom and change the settings to your liking, below is a guideline to start with, its not perfect as i don't know what your house lighting is like but you can tweak it from these settings:

Custom
Contrast - 68
Brightness - 58
Colour - 25
Sharpness - 0
Backlight - 5 (This will probably need changing)
Colour tone - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Off (BNR is also good for some shows)
Dynamic picture - Off (Doesn't make that much difference, its best on for some shows)
gamma reduction - 3

Another thing to do is to go into the menu feature of the Sony and put it onto 'Power Reduction' mode, its on the third or fourth menu down.


Now i will say that you will notice the picture looks pretty dark now, but only if you've been watching the Sony with vivid mode for a while, your eyes will get used to these settings and these settings are more in line with your old CRT than Vivid. Noise Reduction can cause a few problems on some channels so its sometimes best to turn it off completely, contrast and brightness is really up to the user for settings and the backlight and gamma are there to lighten up the picture if needed (if the room is dark or the LCD is in a corner away from light). Best bet also is to turn sharpness to 0, this may be what is causing the blockiness of the picture as it'll be set to max on vivid.

I have power reduction on with these settings the trouble is every time i change the channel i get Power Saving text come up in the bottom right hand corner,is this normal?

[Argee1977]

Originally Posted by Wookie04

I have power reduction on with these settings the trouble is every time i change the channel i get Power Saving text come up in the bottom right hand corner,is this normal?

If you're switching using the TV controls then yes, you get all the info on the screen such as what channel it is, power saving and what sound effect you have on. If you're changing the inputs then it also comes up with what input you have. If you're using sky then it shouldn't show up anything. Also if these info texts are staying on screen then you can hit the I+ button on the TV controls to remove all the text (you might have to press it twice, first time you press it might bring up more info, second time will clear the lot). I take it you're using the freeview on the TV as this is the only time this happens when i use it?

[RoscoLabri]

Originally Posted by Argee1977

We can help you with the LCD picture, but i doubt we'll be able to help you with your viewing choices

Each to their own and all that

As for the settings and picture quality after changing the suggested options, all I can say is that it's a ton (907.18474 Kilograms if you prefer) better. The picture is nice and smooth, no more fuzz or anything. Very happy with that, and I'll be sure to use those settings when I put up my 32" KDL V32A12U to get the same results.

Thanks again!

[Argee1977]

Those settings i put up have since changed, its a case of tweaking them until you're happy, infact you'll probably find yourself tweaking them for certain types of shows, football on sky thats in bright sunshine has me lowering the brightness and contrast, some dark films/shows has me putting up the backlight by one or two and upping the contrast and brightness by 5.

You'll find out whats best yourself though as its all down to the amount of light and whereabouts the lights coming into your room, and of course how dark the broadcasts are, but the settings above do seem to be a good benchmark to tweak from, well they're a lot better than the vivid settings.

[neilers]

im having real problems with my Sony KDLS40A12 I cannot get a decent picture at all. I tried the settings above

the picture on dvd and using the 360 is great but on analogue or sky it seems very dull and lifeless am i doing something wrong?