Going to view LCD tv's. Optimum settings?

Hi guys, i'm going to view several LCD tv's (well any that my local stores stock) over the next few days/weeks.

I've not much experience with setting up an LCD's. Only ever had CRT (not counting my 18" NEC TFT PC monitor which i love, HD on that looks amazing )

I'm going to try and take my Pioneer DVD575 player along with me, as well as viewing the instore Analogue/Freeview pictures )

It would realy help if anyone with a screen that is listed below (or if i havn't posted a model still feel free to post!) can either post here or PM me their settings as it would appear from viewing/reading posts here and elsewhere that the setting in the stores are often factory settings and way OTT.

I have found a few settings from reading a number of posts but some of the threads are 100 pages long and it would take me days to read through them all

Many Thanks

Phillips 32PF9830
Panasonic 500/52 Series
Samsung 41/51 series
JVC 32DS6B
Toshiba 32WL58
Sony V & S Series
Sharp GA6&7 series
Hitachi 32LD7200

 

Hmm, 32 view and not one post

Seems theres a few other posts asking for setup advice as well....

Maybe ther should be a sticky post where people can post there settings for their LCD's. That way, anyone who had a setup query could find posts (admittedly about umpteed LCD's) all in one thread......

 

Having tried going around the stores myself this sounds like a big task, I wish you luck, and am very interested to hear the results. The freeview / sb broadcast in the stores isn't much use as normally the signal is split across my tvs.

as to the settings i suggest you either switch off all digital processing features or search on here separately for the best settings. eg the philips tv's settings have been posted elsewhere on here.

best of luck and let us know what you think is the best.

Personally on freeview, the best picture I have seen so far is the panasonic 500

 

OK will bear that in mind

Thanks for posting anyway

 

Unfortunately settings largely depend on room lighting conditions, source material and display variations, so you won't be able to take someone else's settings and assume they will look good, or show off the display at its best.

I would recommend, at the very least, bring an AVIA / Digital Video Essentials DVD with you and do a quick calibration of each LCD in the showroom. (should only take 2/3 minutes to get it roughly right with the user settings) or even more preferable, taking your DVD player and component cables with you, keeping the source material identical across the board.

 

Aye, will be taking my pioneer and component cables.

Best freeview pic i've seen from the LCD's on display in Currys (only a parting glance though) was a Phillips 32PF9986...

There so slow getting new models in though

 

The problem with settigns is they are condition dependant, as well as highly personal.
I've seen some people's set-ups, and wondered how they could enjoy watching it - but they do.
Only you will know what looks best to your eyes, with your bits, and the ambient lighting or lack thereof.
I'd imagine most sets are too bright and too coloured, but then that doesn't mean the contrast isn't too high either.
If you have a DVD Essentials disc, you could set them up accordingly, but be warned, it took me 2-3 hours of playing with the controls on a Sharp GD1 to get it pretty much spot on for me, and even then, tweaking for the next day or two, before settling for what looked acceptable to my eyes.
If you employed that same attention to detail for each TV, you'll be there the whole day, and most of the next.
Best narrow it down to 2 or 3 to preserve your sanity and to set-up with a view to opting for.
Turn off all auto controls - especially noise reduction, and dynamic this and dynamic that. Most are overkill and useless, adding little and removing plenty of life from the image.

 

pjskel; while it should take a fair amount of time to get things just right, it should only take a couple of minutes to get things nearly right in the shop, as long as the DVD player passes blacker-than-black information.

I don't have my DVE disc at hand right now, but there's only three patterns you need to get a good rough calibration. I'd turn off all processing and set sharpness controls to 0 first, then load up a 100% white screen and turn down contrast until it wasn't blindingly bright. I'd also set the colour temperature to "low" "warm" "6500" etc, based on the TV's settings.

I'd then load up the pattern that's an "I" bar of pure white, with two black sections that have the video black patterns in them. I'd turn up brightness until all three vertical bars are visible on both sides, and then turn it down until the outside one just disappears into the black around it.

Finally, I'd go to the pattern used to set colour (two horizontal rows of coloured squares) and set it based on the blue filter.

That should all only take 2/3 minutes, especially if you're just entering the title/chapter rather than using the menus for navigation, and while it won't be perfect, it should at least set up all the televisions roughly the same, and you'll have a point for comparison.

I quite like some of the videos they have to evaluate your system, so I'd play one or two of them after they've been set up. Again, this will give you an equal point of comparison.

Unfortunately with the store lights usually being very bright, you won't really be able to evaluate black levels on an LCD, but this is probably the best you'll be able to do short of actually having them all in your home. (I'd love to be able to do that and write detailed reviews for each of the manufacturer's current LCDs)