Am I some kind of mutant?...52"XBR4

It should simply tell you your viewing preference different than others and what's right for you is all that matters - this isn't a contest except for the fact if you tweak it to your pleasure you WIN!

I've never posted my settings or used anyone elses since I know I prefer a bright picture and I don't really care what anyone else's preference may be nor will I post my own - I really don't give a crap if anyone agrees so why bother they didn't pay for my HT so they get no power or say so.

All I care for is how the PQ pleases my viewing and could care less if it matches anyone's on this forum or anyone's posted calibration.

Enjoy your own Preference! No one's going to place a star on your forehead for following the herd.

I agree, go with what you like because in the end, it's your tv.

That said, I don't own that display, but you might want to experiment with less sharpness (perhaps zero for a HD source), as well as turning off any kind of processing enhancements, which tend to cause more damage to a picture than benefit (i.e., picture looks artifical rather than natural).

There is a tendency here for people to assume that someone else not in their house with a different viewing environment and numerous other variables can provide a better calibration than the person configuring their own TV. That said, its fun to experiment with others settings but in the end you have to trust your own eyes.

Drew

The only things that really seem weird are the max sharpness, 90 brightness, and max contrast.

The brightness especially is at an extremely high setting. Doesn't everything look washed out?

I cannot recall seeing a tv that responded well with a max sharpness setting. Personally I think setting it too high leads to a lot more jaggies and artifacts.

To the OP: Go with what looks good to your eyes since you are the one viewing it day in and day out.

I completly agree with you, i have tried all the settings that people have put on here from pros and all of them are way to dark for anyroom and the colors are all way off. im not sure how anyone could watch their TV like that maybe im not seeing something rite, i have 40XBR4 and ive been playing with the settings by myself and here is wat i have come up with so far. (but i keep changing them cuz its hard to get it right.)

backlight - 8
picture - max
brightness - 43
color - 57
hue - 0
temp - neutral
sharpness - 30
noise reduction - low
black correction - off
Advanced C.E. - Medium
gamma - Low
clear whit - high
color space - wide
live color - low
detail enhancer - high
edge enhancer - high
motion enhancer - high
cinemotion - auto2

White balance.
R- gain -2
G- gain -3
B- gain -0

i don't think there's some be-all and end-all setting that makes everything look perfect. I use different settings for different uses and situations. those settings you think looks too dark is actually great for watching movies in a dark room at night where the colors appear more natural and soft; and blacks and shadow details aren't sacrificed. but this picture setting is not appropriate for playing video games or watching sports in the middle of the day with lots of lights around.

To each his own, but my eyes are bleeding just from reading your settings.