The top-of-the line 42-inch Hitachi plasma has a lot of picture controls exposed in the user-accessible menu. In particular, the "Video" menu has the following features:

* White level (instead of Contrast)
* Black level (instead of Brightness)
* Color Management, which includes phase and gain for Magenta, Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue. It also has a 2d diagram of phase/gain relationship.
* Color decoding, with sliders for Red, Green, Blue and Tint
* Auto Color
* While Balance with Drive and Cutoff options for Red, Green and Blue.

I have several questions in regards to the above controls.

I would like if someone explained what are "phase" and "gain" for M, R, Y, G, C, B, especially considering that "White balance" already has Drive for R, G and B. I thought that Drive and Gain are the same thing. I would appreciate an explanation of phase/gain relationship diagram.

What are "Color Decoding" sliders (besides Tint) and how to use them?

Greetings

The Color management stuff is for changing the color points on the color matrix. (AKA the triangle) Cyan is supposed to be a certain cyan ... etc ...

One control changes the "tint" of the color ... making a cyan more green or blue. Other one changes the intensity of the cyan.

Can only be properly done with instrumentation. Spectrometers.

If you change this ... it will alter your grayscale work.

Color decoding needs the red/green and blue filters and appropriate test patterns. (or color isolation)

Regards

Michael, thanks for answering.
The Color management stuff is for changing the color points on the color matrix. (AKA the triangle)
Do you mean CIE chromacity diagram in (x,y) coordinates? This diagram has no "phase". Can you explain what might "phase" mean and how it should be used? How does "Gain" in this section correspond to R,G,B Drive in "White Balance" section?
One control changes the "tint" of the color ... making a cyan more green or blue. Other one changes the intensity of the cyan. Can only be properly done with instrumentation. Spectrometers. If you change this ... it will alter your grayscale work.

Color decoding needs the red/green and blue filters and appropriate test patterns. (or color isolation)
Yes, I know about Tint. Are you saying that R, G, B sliders change the intensity of cyan only? Umm, I take it that R, G, B sliders in color decoding are meant as more precise instrument than basic "Color" slider?

I have a DVE disk with filters. I also ordered a Spyder2 colorimeter, but have not received it yet. Can I use colorimeter instead of spectrometer?

Thanks!

Greetings

Colormeter cannot be used for realigning the triangle ... just a spectrometer. You will get readings from the spyder meter, but given the limited way in which the item works, the readings may be wrong.

The way things are supposed to work is that one control slides the colors along the outer edge and the other moves it inward toward the neutral center.

Too many names for it and sometimes one company reverses the meanings ... just try it and see what happens.

My description about the Tint of Cyan is different from the "tint" we associate with the color and tint controls.

Regards

Gain for the color management will generally adjust the saturation or brightness of the color. As Michael says try them and see what they do, using some sort of measurement device. Opinions vary about the S2 and similar meters. there will be issues using the S2 at low %stim. the color patterns found on getgray, DVE, etc. are not low light levels, so it should work pretty well.

Best,
jeff

I received Spyder2 meter and I used it with HCFR program on my Pioneer plasma. I started this thread because I was considering returning the Pioneer and getting the Hitachi. The Pioneer does not store my custom Gamma value, so I was interested in Hitachi's tweaking ability.

So far I learned the following:
- I know how to adjust Gamma curve with black/white level controls. This adjustment is quite limited and works only if the curve is smooth and close to target curve.
- I know how to adjust grayscale tracking and color temperature with RGB gain and bias controls.

The Color management stuff is for changing the color points on the color matrix. (AKA the triangle) Cyan is supposed to be a certain cyan ... etc ... One control changes the "tint" of the color ... making a cyan more green or blue. Other one changes the intensity of the cyan.
Got this. I understand that Magenta, Yellow and Cyan are not primary colors, so they might be off and can/should be calibrated. What about primary colors Red, Green and Blue? Since a TV contains a triad of red/green/blue, I thought that when red is displayed, then only red phosphorous is lit up. Am I wrong? So if "native" red of the panel is not a proper red, then calibrating red color would cause all three phosphorous to be lit when pure red color is requested?

Now I seem to understand what color management is, the color points. Phase/Gain can be treated as abstract names for the coordinates.

If you change this [Color management] ... it will alter your grayscale work.
I would like more explanation on what color decoding is, still did not get the difference from color management. Of course I can move sliders, but I want to understand the idea of what they are doing before moving them ;) Do I need a meter for this task along with filters, or do I need only patterns and filters and can do it "by eye" looking through the filter? I have filters, they came with DVE disk.

I've read in numerous articles and confirmed myself that basic "Color"/"Tint" settings do not affect grayscale tracking. In regards to the settings available on this Hitachi, which area these basic settings correspond to? Color Decoding? Because as Michael said Color Management settings affect grayscale.

I would appreciate an explanation, like this (or you can mark every bullet as true or false):
- white/gray/black color is combination of primary RGB
- Changing RGB gain/bias affect "color mixture" in grays, thus affecting grayscale tracking and color temperature.
- It is possible to calibrate grayscale even if color points on the CIE diagram are off.
- IF color points are calibrated to represent proper CIE colors, then RGB gain/bias settings will be altered, thus altering grayscale. Therefore, this calibration should be done before grayscale.
- I am still in the dark about what color decoding does.

Also, based on the controls that I listed, it seems that there is no way to adjust gamma curve besides pulling the ends of the curve with black/white level controls, is it? This is sad, the Pioneer allows to choose Gamma value explicitly from 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2.

Thank you guys, I appreciate the replies.

- RGB gain/bias is for obtaining a neutral shade of gray throughout the entire gray scale
- the RGBCYM color management controls are for ensuring that your display reproduces the color gamut accurately. Each of the 3 primaries and 3 secondaries is defined at a specific x,y color point. The CMS allows you to adjust this to get it right. Almost all sets have errors here and you are lucky to have a set with a CMS that allows you to adjust it out. A filter-based probe will not do as good a job here as a spectroradiometer, but it will in most cases get a result that is much better than the unadjusted state. I assume Phase means Hue and Gain means Saturation, though it could mean Value.
- Color decoding concerns the set's ability to properly decode (generally) analog YPbBr signals into RGB. You use the color filters (or isolation controls some TVs provide) and test patterns on Avia or other test discs.

These three color parameters are independent of each other, though they often have an interactive effect, so after adjusting one you should go back and check the other.

You get gamma right by a combination of Gamma presets, good gray scale tracking, and a proper setting of White and Black levels.

Nice explanation Tom ;-)

jeff

Tom, great explanation, thanks! Nevertheless, I would like to bring this topic up again to make sure that I properly understand everything :)

The RGBCYM color management controls are for ensuring that the display reproduces the color gamut accurately (adjustment of primary/secondary colors):

Color Management
Use this function to adjust and balance the listed individual colors to make them either deeper or more pure depending on the user’s preference. Adjust the GAIN settings to make the color brighter (+) or darker (-). Adjust the PHASE settings to make the colors deeper (+) or normal (-) to match real life colors.

http://www.jspcontrols.net/misc/hitachi/color_mgmt.gif
Color decoding concerns the set's ability to properly decode (generally) analog YPbBr signals into RGB. You use the color filters (or isolation controls some TVs provide) and test patterns on Avia or other test discs:


Color Decoding
Use this function to adjust and balance the percentage of Red, Green and Color according to the user’s preference in each of the four color temperature settings. Use TINT to adjust flesh tones so they appear natural.

http://www.jspcontrols.net/misc/hitachi/color_decoding.gif
RGB gain/bias is for obtaining a neutral shade of gray throughout the entire gray scale:

White Balance
Use the CUTOFF functions to adjust the color temperature of the dark areas of the picture.
Use the DRIVE functions to adjust the color temperature of the bright areas of the picture.

http://www.jspcontrols.net/misc/hitachi/white_balance.gif
So, for an analog input I would use Color Decoding control to "map" analog signals to RGB values, so when my DVD players asks for red, it should be indeed red, is this correct? If I use digital input like HDMI, then Color Decoding should be unavailable? This particular TV uses Red, Green, Color and Tint controls, but regular Color and Tint controls are basically the same thing? One small issue here, on at least two TVs that I worked with the Color/Tint controls were available for HDMI input. What is the point then? To map one set of RGB into another set, just to make a correction?

Then I use Color Management to ensure that primaries and secondaries are in place. Question: on previous Color Decoding stage I mapped analog signals to RGB. These RGB, are they in one universal CIE coordinate plane, or are they relative to my specific color gamut, which is adjusted by Color Management?

White balance is the easiest thing to understand. Still, another question: the RGB cutoff/gain controls are not based on my specific color gamut, which is adjusted by Color Management, they are based on some unchangeable values, like red, green and blue phosphors. Am I right?