Best CRT Television Settings...?

[JamezHill]

OK, I'm getting a little frustrated here. I bought the Avia Home Theater Setup Disk AND the Sound & Vision Disk to help me optimize my home theater. Now I sat down for a couple hours and fooled around with all the settings and it looks horrible under the conditions that were "optimal." I was wondering what settings everyone else has with a Toshiba 34" Widescreen TV. I just got it recently and here are my settings:

Contrast: 60 (originally it was optimized at 40)
Brightness: 48
Color: 42
Tint: -12
Sharpness: 45

Color temp: Cool
flesh tone: off
DNR: ON
Cinema Mode: Video

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Slosh]

here are my settings:

Contrast: 60 (originally it was optimized at 40)
Brightness: 48
Color: 42
Tint: -12
Sharpness: 45

Color temp: Cool
flesh tone: off
DNR: ON
Cinema Mode: Video

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Yeah, here's one. Leave the settings at the properly calibrated levels -- for a week. Then change them to your current preference. My guess is you'll leave it at the proper settings from then on. You're simply not used to seeing what a correct picture looks like. You'll soon notice natural detail that you've never noticed before because it has been obscured by overblown settings.

Also set the color temp to warm, turn the DNR off, put the Cinema Mode in Movie (or Film or whatever it's called - I have a Sony so I'm not sure), and turn Velocity Modulation Scanning off if possible. And the sharpness seems set way too high (most TVs can't take more than 20% without ringing)

You might also want to see how the different upconversion modes work with various sources.

[JamezHill]

Yeah, here's one. Leave the settings at the properly calibrated levels -- for a week. Then change them to your current preference. My guess is you'll leave it at the proper settings from then on. You're simply not used to seeing what a correct picture looks like. You'll soon notice natural detail that you've never noticed before because it has been obscured by overblown settings.

Also set the color temp to warm, turn the DNR off, put the Cinema Mode in Movie (or Film or whatever it's called - I have a Sony so I'm not sure), and turn Velocity Modulation Scanning off if possible. And the sharpness seems set way too high (most TVs can't take more than 20% without ringing)

You might also want to see how the different upconversion modes work with various sources.

Welp, I did what you said as far as your preferences at the bottom and it made a DRAMATIC difference right off the bat. I lowered the sharpness to about 25 for now. I am going to fool around with that more later, I increased the contrast to 80 (because the whites seemed very yellow). For now it looks acceptable. I was wondering if anyone else has any other suggestions...?? Also,I noticed that during some situations (text is most noticeable) that its very fuzzy. It is actually shaking. It looks like it is a rectangle in the center of my tv. For instance when looking at menus on the tv, the text in the menus shake. I looked up fuzzy text and no one is having the exact same problem. I have everything connected through component connections and have a A/V Selector. I just bought a Monster Power Center thinking maybe it had something to do with the power, but to no avail. I am really getting frustrated with this. Please help!

[Smokey]

On most Tvs, color temperature is really useless. They either make the picture either too red or blue. So I would leave it at Natural or Normal setting.

Also calibration TV setting will only apply to the TV's input it was calibrated initially. If calibration was done thru TV's component input, then that particular setting will look at its best when TV's component input is used. It might not look so good when using S-video or TV's cable input.

So most of time calibration will get you in the ball park, but you may have to use your eyes to get it right, and to be also acceptable when using TV's other inputs. Also turn DNR off as was mentioned.

I would play with TV's internal linedoubler such as Cinema Mode to see if it make a difference concerning fuzzy text.

[skeptic]

Forget about the test set up disc. Use the source you normally use such as cable TV. Start by tuning in images that have a lot of caucasian flesh tones. Turn the color intensity down until the picture is slightly pale. Adjust the tint until the flesh tones are neither purplish or green but in between. Switch to other channels to get the best average adjustment for flesh tones. Getting flesh color right is the hardest and when that is right, everything else will be right. Increase the intensity of the color control until the color is naturally intense. Color settings that are too high may look impressive at first but will eventually give the impression of a cartoon. Adjust the brightness and contrast so that you can see a full gradation from blackest black to white. If the contrast is set too high, subtle variations in color and brightness will be lost. This is especially true for dark colors which will all look black. These settings will have to be changed for different room lighting conditions. Generally the more light in the room the higher both the brightness and contrast should be set. If there are multiple memory settings for you video controls, optimize one for each major light level you are accostomed to. Adjust the sharpness until the edges are as sharp as you can get them without distortion. If there is a color correction switch, turn it on since this will minimize the variation from one program to another using the VIR (video index reference) signal. Play with the controls until you are very familiar with them and accostomed to tweaking them for each program that is important to you for long term viewing (such as football.) Keep in mind that there are major variations from one signal to another in the NTSC system we use and sometimes cable companies can get very careless about the way they adjust the signal at their facilities so there is nothing you can do about it. Don't pay any attention to the numbers on the settings. What looks right IS right regardless of what the numbers say. If satisfactory adjustment is impossible under any circumstance and you have verified that the quality of the signals you are looking at is good, it's time to call for service. Start with the cable company themselves. That service call is usually free.

BTW, the temp control set to cool will shift colors to the blueish side. warm will shift them to the redish side. I leave my at neutral.