I own a Panny 50PH10UKA monitor which I have calibrated myself using HCFR and the EyeOne colorometer. Since my display doesn't have a CMS, I just calibrated grayscale, brightness/contrast, gamma, etc. and never worried too much about the COLOR control other than eyeballing it to the point where skin tones look natural ("steamed rat" method on this one)

I am aware that you are only supposed to use window pattens to set the COLOR control on a plasma display. I have DVE-HD, and the DVE disks do not have primary/secondary window patterns, only full-screen.

Then yesterday I thought, what about using the SMPTE color bar pattern to set the color control? I fired up the SMPTE color bars on DVE, and measured the Y-values of the white bar and the red bar, and used the method of setting COLOR to where the Y-value of the red bar is 0.21 times that of the white bar.

Using this method, to my surprise, I ended up at the exact same value as my "eyeballed" setting for COLOR (-3). I repeated the process with some SMPTE color bars I had recorded on my DVR from an HD cable channel, and the results were identical (COLOR -3), both over component and HDMI. The consistency of my results leads me to believe that this may be an accurate method...

So my question: is this a "legal" way to set color on a plasma? are the SMPTE color bars a viable alternative for setting color on a plasma when you don't have window patterns available, or will this lead to innacurate settings?

I apologize if this is covered elsewhere but I didn't see any mention of this in Tom's calibration guide or the "grayscale for dummies" guide.

Thanks in advance!

Considering I've never seen anyone mention issues with using a color bars pattern, or DVE's color pattern, on plasma it seems valid to me. Plasma is expected to have a uniform screen, so the only place that comes to mind where this wouldn't be a workable solution would be displays like RPTV where brightness varies across the screen.

well, plasma is uniform but the problem isn't about color uniformity, it's about intensity with a full-screen pattern vs. a window pattern. every guide I've read says to only use window patterns for setting COLOR/TINT values because a plasma display will not be as bright with a full-screen pattern as with a window pattern.

with the SMPTE color bars, it is a full-screen pattern... but each individual color only represents a small portion of the screen. so I'm curious if the Y-value readings (and for that matter xyY as well if I'm measuring primaries/secondaries) will be accurate for the purpose of setting COLOR/TINT with this control...

I think the issue regarding the selected pattern with plasma you're talking about has to do with power limits. The issue most likely is that a full screen for different colors probably doesn't tax the power supply by the same amount, so the relative levels in measurements most likely differ for that reason. My understanding is that brightness for white drops with plasma as it takes up more space and the power supply cannot deliver the same brightness for a window and field. If for example brightness for a full screen of red doesn't drop by the same amount as a full screen of white, then the comparison is no longer valid. What you're doing is just putting all the colors on screen at the same time, which eliminates any relative change in brightness due to power limits. This is generally in line with Tom's guide, unless the screen is not uniform.

EDIT: The sticky from TomHuffman you are talking about also has a free DVD with windows, if you want to verify the standard measurement type. The link below can be used with compatible HD players and includes windows, or it has windows where APL remains constant that is effectively the same as what you're doing.

Considering I've never seen anyone mention issues with using a color bars pattern, or DVE's color pattern, on plasma it seems valid to me. Plasma is expected to have a uniform screen, so the only place that comes to mind where this wouldn't be a workable solution would be displays like RPTV where brightness varies across the screen.There are issues with some displays. In particular, I ran across an issue with a Pioneer Elite plasma. Using filters and SMPTE color bars recommended a setting that was grossly too high.

This method will work a lot of the time, but not always. That's why it is always better (and more precise) to set Color and Tint using direct measurment.

Tom - thanks for the response, but I'm talking about using the SMPTE color bars and actually taking measurements of the different color bars to set COLOR using the (red Y-value = 0.21 * white Y-value) formula, not using a color filter.

would I get accurate xyY values with the SMPTE color bar pattern on a plasma?

bump - can one of the experts please answer my question? is the SMPTE color bar pattern an accurate way to measure primaries/secondaries on a plasma? can I use the Y-values I measure from this pattern to set COLOR using the red Y-value = 0.21 * white Y-value method?

thanks!!

bump - can one of the experts please answer my question? is the SMPTE color bar pattern an accurate way to measure primaries/secondaries on a plasma? can I use the Y-values I measure from this pattern to set COLOR using the red Y-value = 0.21 * white Y-value method?These are 2 separate questions. However, in either case, it is not a good idea. You open the measurements to all sorts of inconsistencies and non-linear behavior that window patterns avoid. There are several disc-based test patterns that offer window patterns.

For example, I ran a pair of luminance measurements on my Panny plasma and got

w-----64.5----------67
r-----20.1--0.312---21.6--0.322
g-----46.2--0.716--52.7--0.787
b-----6.4---0.099--6.9--0.103
y-----60.3--0.935--66.9--0.999
c-----47.8--0.741--52.6--0.785
m-----20.7--0.321--23.2--0.346

SMPTE bars on left, window patterns on right. As you can, see I got different absolute and relative results.

Thanks Tom, for taking the time to measure that. Guess it's time to dl a copy of the AVS HD 709 disc...