Hi all,

Could really use some help here.

Just got a Samsung 32B650 and i'm trying to do a rough calibration by eye. Primary use will be xvid/games/surfing from the PC via HDMI.

I've been using the AVSHD709 HD test patterns. And I have to say, they are great. I'm using the mp4 versions of the test pattern files playing in zoom player using ffdshow as I dont have a HD/BD player.

My PC can put out either YCbCr 4:4:4, YCbCr 4:2:2, limited RGB 4:4:4 or full RGB 4:4:4. I have calibrated it properly (using the correct HDMI black level) so I can use the full 0-255 RGB space for surfing and games etc. No problem there. It looks great.

I've set up another calibration "profile" on the TV for xvid's and DVD's (no HD content yet) and calibrated the blacks/whites correctly to 16-235 as instructed. But when I play a DVD or an xvid DVDrip what should ffdshow be outputting? RGB 16-235? or RGB 0-255 because I already calibrated the black to 16 and the HDMI connection is running 0-255?

PS. I do have the ability to change the HDMI black level if needed also.

EDIT: Does it matter that these test patterns are HD and im using only SD content? BT.601 vs BT.709 etc?

Please help... I hope it makes sense to you.

If you want to calibrate for standard definition video material then you should use SD video patterns to check. It's possible that SD and HD could match, but different programs or video drivers can alter the output on a computer. For example a couple years ago ATI was notorious for HD and SD video outputting different levels (search usebt601), and it's possible Nvidia could have had the same issue at different times. I know that when I was using video levels on my computer that Quicktime still didn't match the other programs. Anyway, to have a better idea of what your software is doing it's best to have a video test pattern that is similar to what you will be watching.

Generally your specific questions about things like ffdshow would probably be better discussed in the HTPC area.