70 JULY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE389
T
Vsallshipwithadefaultconfiguration,
whichisallrightforgettingstarted,but
tweakyoursettingsandyou’llget
betterpicturequalityacrossalltypesof
content.Ifyou’veboughtaparticularly
expensiveTV,you’llwanttogetitproperly
calibratedbyanexpert;fortherestofus,
tweakingthepicturesettingswilldoa
reasonablejobofboostingimagequality.
Here’swhatyouneedtoknow.Menus
differbetweenTVs,soyou’llneedtocheck
yourset’smanualtofindwheretheexact
settingsare,althoughouradvicewillwork
acrossalltelevisions.
Choose the viewing mode
TVshavemultipleviewingprofiles,called
thingslikeMovie,VividorGamemode.
Changingaprofileautomaticallyadjusts
picturesettingstogivewhatyou’rewatching
adifferentlookandfeel.Mostadjustthe
standardappearancesettings,butthereare
acoupleofexceptions.
Gamemodetypicallydisablesalotofthe
onscreenprocessingtospeedupresponse
timesforplayinggames.Ifyouconnecta
console,youshouldusethismode.Ifyou’ve
gotamodernTVwithFilmmakerMode,this
isdesignedtoletyouwatchfilmsasthe
filmmakerintended:thismodeturnsoff
motionsmoothing(moreonthatlater),
forcestheTVtoshowtherightcolours,and
dropsbrightnesstoalevelthat’sidealfor
watchinginadarkenedroom.
Finally,you’lloftenfindanExpertmode
(orsimilar),whichopensupmorefeatures
toadjustandistypicallydesignedfor
professionalcalibratorstouse.
It’sbesttostartwithaprofilethatyou’re
happiestwith,rememberingthatyoumay
needtopickdifferentprofilesfordifferent
inputs:youmaychooseoneforliveTV,
andthenuseGamingmodeforyour
console,forexample.
Onceyou’vechosenyour
profile,youcanstarttoadjustthe
settingstofine-tunetheimage.
Adjustcontrast
Contrastisdefinedasthedifference
betweenthedarkestandlightest
partofanimage.Usingthecontrast
settingofyourTVadjuststhe
highlights(thelightest)partofthe
image.Turnupthecontrolandyou’ll
seemoredetailinthebrighterparts
oftheimage,butgotoofarand
you’llfindthateverythingmerges
intowhiteandtheimagewilllook
blownout;turnitdown,andyou’ll
findthateverythinglookstoodull.
Settingcontrastmeansfindinga
bitofafilmorTVprogrammewitha
brightscene:somethingoutsideonasunny
daywithsomecloudsmakessense.Adjust
thecontrastsettinguntilyougetallofthe
detailinthebrighterpartoftheimage.
Adjustbrightness
ThebrightnesscontrolonyourTVactually
dealswithshadowdetailinthedarkerpart
oftheimage.It’seffectivelytheopposite
controlofcontrast.To adjustthissetting,find
adarkandmoodyscenethatyoucanpause.
Turnthebrightnessdowntoitslowestlevel,
thenslowlyincreaseituntilyougetdetail
appearinginthedarkestpartsoftheimage:
ifyougotoofar,blackswillstarttolookgrey,
soturnthesettingdownabit.
Adjustthe backlight
or OLED light
IfyouwantyourTVtoactuallybebrighter
(moreeasilyviewableunderbrightlight),you
needtoadjustthebacklightorOLEDlight.
Thesecontroltheintensityofthelightcoming
fromtheTVwithoutaffectingthebrightness
andcontrastthatyou’veconfigured.
HOWTOCONFIGUREYOUR
TV FOR THE BEST PICTURE
ABOVE:Youcan choose different viewing profiles to
changehow the picturelooks
ABOVE:With the contrast up too high (top),you starttolose detail in the brighter parts of the image;
turning down the contrast (bottom) brings detail more evenly across the image
Normalcontrast
High contrast
