You may be able to make much better sound without auto setup.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)Auto speaker setup and calibration is a popular feature on almost every receiver and a lot of home-theater-in-a-box systems.
Sure, it sounds like a peachy idea, but the accuracy of auto setup is hardly a sure thing; and at their worst, auto setup systems sound worse than no setup at all.
Ideally, the setup system automatically determines speaker sizes (large or small), measures speaker-to-listener distances, sets the volume levels of all of the speakers, determines the proper subwoofer volume level, checks that all the speaker wires' "+" and "-" connections are properly oriented at the speaker and receiver ends, and calculates the subwoofer-to-speaker crossover point. Some receivers also employ EQ (equalization) curves to correct for speaker and room acoustic anomalies.
What's not to like? Well, it the auto setup worked perfectly, nothing.
But they're mostly flawed: Subwoofer calibrations are almost always off. Auto calibration systems boost the sub volume much too high, and overestimate the sub distance to the listener by a factor of two (so a 10 foot distance becomes 20 or more feet).
Worse yet, auto setup systems rarely set the subwoofer-to-satellite speakers crossover frequency to the optimum point. That is, they tend to set the crossover too high, say 150 Hertz, which unnecessarily restricts the speakers' bass response. The speakers might sound better with a lower crossover setting. I recommend 80Hz for all speakers with 4- to 6-inch woofers; 100Hz for 3-inch woofers; and higher settings of 120Hz or 150Hz only for the tiniest speakers.
Accessing the measurement data post auto setup can be tricky on some receivers. Then you really don't know what you have.
Thing is, manual setup isn't all that difficult and will likely be more accurate. And chances are you wouldn't muck up the distances as poorly as the autosetup would. Running the test tones over the speakers and manually adjusting the sound by ear or with a Radio Shack meter isn't so hard to do.
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LG's user menu is more-detailed than the service menus of most TVs.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/LG)Q: As an AVS forum member, I have to tell you we really look forward to your reviews. They are often cited when discussing the various brands and models. I am writing to you however to make a suggestion on how to make your reviews even more effective for the videophiles and those thoroughly researching new TVs. I understand you at one time included service menu calibrations, but now you do not. There are those of us who would like you to access the service menu during reviews, enabling you (and us) to gauge what the real potential of what the TV being reviewed is capable of. Why don't you?
--Dean from Oregon
A: Thanks for writing Dean. I appreciate the suggestion, I understand your reasoning, and I agree that calibrating the service menu is often, depending on the model and its available user-menu controls, the only way to fully realize the potential of the TV.
For the uninitiated, the service menu contained on most TVs is typically only accessible by inputting a string of specific button-presses that aren't described in the manual. It usually contains advanced settings that control all aspects of the TV, from color points to grayscale controls to noise filter thresholds to bulb life countdowns. Some of these controls can be tweaked to improve the picture beyond the controls available in the TV's user menu. But for people unfamiliar with service menus, they can be a minefield of potential screw-ups, and in some cases an incorrect adjustment can completely disable a TV. Moreover, most service menus lack a "reset" button to take everything back to the default values.
A couple of years ago, I decided to stop using the service menu for calibrations of TVs I review. I did so for what I consider a few very good reasons.
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Calibre is a cross-platform, open-source library for your e-books that can also sync them to your e-book reader. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it offers a massive range of individual book customizations, as well as format conversion and newspaper-style RSS feed grabbing, but lacks a slick interface that would go a long way toward convincing skeptics that it's a powerful tool.
Calibre's lackluster interface is nevertheless replete with features.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)The number of things that Calibre can do for your digital book collection is stunning. You can view books in a basic spreadsheet layout or with an adaptation of Apple's Cover Flow. Cover Flow here lacks a default image, and the sudden white rectangle where the book cover should be is jarring. It can be toggled with the big, white arrow icon in the bottom-right corner of the main window--an equally awkward placement.
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Automatic setup programs are supposed to be easy, but they can stump home theater neophytes.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)Most new AV receivers come with an "auto setup" or "automatic calibration" feature, but despite the word automatic, these features can stump AV novices. If you're setting up an AV receiver for the first time, this guide will put you on the right track.
First, let's describe what auto setup systems do.
They send test tones to all the speakers and subwoofer, and use a microphone to pick up the sound of the speakers in your room. Auto setup systems determine speaker sizes and volume levels, set the subwoofer-to-satellite crossover frequency, measure distances from each of the speakers to the listener, and confirm that all of the speaker cables are correctly hooked up. Some receivers also use equalization to balance the frequency response of all the speakers.
Auto setup systems go by different names, but they all do approximately the same thing. Denon and Onkyo feature Audyssey; Sony has Digital Cinema Auto Calibration, Pioneer Multi Channel Acoustic Calibration, and Yamaha uses a Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer.
(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
The exact positioning of the auto calibration microphone is crucial for achieving accurate results. Some auto setup systems work from just one mic position, which would be the primary spot where you sit when watching movies by yourself. Ideally the mic should be placed at the same height as your ears when you're sitting watching a movie.
If you have a camera tripod, use it to place the mic at ear height; perfectionists should move the couch entirely out of the way. Lacking a tripod place the mic on the back of the couch, atop the highest pillow.
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CNET)
Q: I heard that TV calibration could reduce energy consumption and therefore reduce costs to operate. Do you have any evidence of that? --Scott, via e-mail
A: Yes it does and yes I do, but first it's worth mentioning that you don't necessarily need to pay hundreds of dollars for a professional calibration to get the savings.
What saves energy and operating costs, as well as increases product lifespan, is reducing light output. That's typically controlled by the contrast or "picture" control and, in an LCD TV, the backlight control. Since calibration usually involves reducing light output from the very bright default picture settings, it will generally result in cost savings. The picture is still plenty bright after calibration, especially for the kind of darkened home theater environment more conducive to watching movies, it's just not as blindingly bright as the default modes often used to compete with other TVs on the showroom floor.
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The Sony PlayStation 3 has a lot of settings that pertain to Blu-ray playback.
(Credit: CNET)Well, Khurshid, it's no secret that the PlayStation 3 is the best Blu-ray player-- it's the reference Blu-ray player we use here at CNET, and we're not the only ones. To get the most out of your PS3 as a Blu-ray player, however, you'll need to get the settings right. What follows are the settings we use for our reference PS3 units here at CNET for testing HDTVs, including your Panasonic. The two menus referenced below can be found under the main Settings menu.
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Complex picture settings menus like this one can raise a lot of questions.
(Credit: CNET)At CNET we publish our recommended dark-room picture settings with every HDTV we review, and it's one of our most popular features. We also host a picture settings forum that you can search for your model, so you can try our settings and see if you like them. We still get lots of questions from readers interested in picture settings, however, so we'll cover a few of the most popular here.
Thanks for the dark-room picture settings, but could you give me settings for my TV in a bright room?
No, I can't. We don't publish bright-room picture for a number of reasons. First off, room lighting varies tremendously; think about the difference between having a couple dim lamps turned on versus watching in daylight with a window shining on the screen, for instance. Second, a dark room is the best place to enjoy high-quality images, because the screen's reflective properties and the room's ambient light conditions won't influence the onscreen image. Third, we simply don't have the time to do so in every review. For a quick-and dirty bright-room calibration, take our dark-room picture settings and increase the contrast and/or backlight control until the image looks bright enough, then increase brightness until you see all of the detail in shadowy areas.
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Picture settings on today's HDTVs can be overwhelming, to say the least.
(Credit: CNET)David,
I'm trying to find the calibration settings you used during your review of the Pioneer PDP-5080HD, but I couldn't locate the Tips section of the review. Can you please share those? I'd like to try your settings to see how they compare to my current calibration. Thanks, William.
Hi, William,
Here's the direct link to the settings for the Pioneer. For readers who don't know, I publish my post-calibration picture settings as a part of every HDTV review I write for CNET. Typically you can find a link to those settings in the body of the review, usually in the second paragraph of the Performance section. The settings are designed to create the best possible picture the television can provide in a darkened home theater. Before you ask, no, I don't publish settings for brighter rooms--for those situations, I suggest you use my color and color temperature settings in conjunction with a higher light output (i.e. increased "contrast," "backlight" etc) and see how it looks.
To find my post-calibration picture settings for your TV, the easiest way is to search CNET's Tips & Tricks database. Simply type your TV's manufacturer and model number into the search field, and if we've reviewed your TV and published our recommended settings, the tip should appear under the title "Dark Room Picture Settings." You can also browse HDTV recent tips.... Read More
Coming to Blu-ray: THX Optimizer
(Credit: CNET Asia)I just spoke with a few of the people from THX involved in the development of the specification for the firm's new Display Certification, featured on the Panasonic TH-PZ800U and LG PG60 series plasma TVs, and when I asked them whether they'd be letting some of their test material and methods trickle down into disc form, they said "yes." According to THX's reps, the Blu-ray disc would be an expanded version of the THX Optimizer found on select DVDs, and would feature test material aimed at a less-technical audience than the only other full-fledged Blu-ray test disc available now, Joe Kane's Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics, which is used extensively in CNET's own HDTV testing. THX didn't say when its disc would be available or for how much.
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The ColorMunki Photo's Spectrophotometer makes it easier to create a color profile for your printer.
(Credit: X-Rite)X-Rite has announced three new color management products today under the name of ColorMunki. Two of the new products--ColorMunki Photo and ColorMunki Design--will be available later this month and include Spectrophotometers and software to let you make color profiles for monitors, projectors, and printers. The third, called ColorMunki Create, won't be available until June and includes a Colorimeter instead of the fancier Spectrophotometer that ships with the other two and doesn't include printer or projector profiling. If you create a color profile for a device, then software that offers color management, such as photo editing software, can more faithfully depict the colors in a photo. The ColorMunki system also lets you calibrate your monitor to help make sure that what you see is close to what you'll get from your images. When you use profiles for your entire image creation and editing work flow, you create a system in which there is at least some predictability to the outcome.
All three new ColorMunki products include some cool software for working with colors. It'll let you search photos by color, and extract a color from a photo and create a coordinating palette of colors around it. The software also steps you through the calibration and profiling processes. In the case of printer profiles, the newly developed ColorMunki Spectrophotometer makes the process significantly easier and quicker than most of the solutions I've seen in the past. Once you print out the test chart, all you have to do is slide the Spectrophotometer down a column of color patches, while most other solutions require that you scan each patch one at a time. The differences between the Photo and Design versions are fairly minimal and geared toward their respective audiences. For example, ColorMunki Photo includes the ability to optimize printing for specific images and enhance printer profiles for black and white images and flesh tones for portraits, while the Design version focuses more on optimization for specific colors.
Both ColorMunki Photo and ColorMunki Design are expected to cost about $500, while ColoMunki Create should cost about $150 when it hits this summer.
