Panny PZ700U/750U Calibration Settings & Black Level Poll (Light or Dark?) - Page 2

I adjusted the Color Temp to "Warm" per the almost universal sentiment that this is closest to 6500K. It took a few days to get used to the adjustment from "Normal" but once I did, it really does provide the most "accurate" color; it's the only way to get skin tones right. "Normal" now looks "bluish". This, of course, also required me to recalibrate; the only thing that changed though, was Color was bumped up from -4 to -2 (also modified above). Still, thought I should point out I revised it.

Interesting. He more or less gives away his settings in his response to the comment -- use Warm for color temp, set contrast and brightness using the DVE Pluge patterns (which, when I did it were about 24 and 19 with black level turned to "light", respectively), set Color to between -1 and -4, and leave Tint at 0. That's pretty consistent with most of our settings. Shouldn't be much of a surprise to those of us who cheated by using a calibration disc, but should be a compliment to those who didn't. Good job eyeballers!

--Mav

Eric, I did not mean "giving away" in the sense you took it. Of course, it's not exact (he even says so), but it it, by his own admission, a handy guideline. I'm not criticizing the guy at all. Just making an observation.

As for his final settings, though, you're right; adjusting the subbrightness and gamma will mean it's an apples and oranges situation. If his subbrightness were lowered and his non-service menu picture and brightness settings were (hypothetically) at 13 and 8, respectively, then our settings would, by definition, have to be higher to be even in the ballpark of his.

Not to mention, there are a lot of variables introduced by the room conditions (which is why I asked that folks post those conditions when they post their settings). In my case, my room is not a dedicated HT and it gets entirely too much ambient light to have my "picture" set at 13 and have it be watchable. The absolute lowest I could reasonably go would be +20, but I was able to go as high as 24 before blooming set in on the DVE Pluge patterns, so that's where I set it. As for brightness, of course, that's a function, in part of "picture", but as I've said elsewhere, with my picture set at 24, the point at which the "blacker than black" bar on the pluge pattern disappeared was at 19. Of course, ymmv (hence the point of having a whole thread with various sets of settings).

--Mav

Looks "gray" to you or looks "gray" according to an SMTPE test pattern designed to set brightness and contrast (DVE or GetGrey or Avia or some other such calibration disc) to the standard? If it's the former, set it however you like; what matters is what looks good to you, but just be aware that you may be sacrificing some detail at the low end. No controversy with that; the controversy arose from the refusal of another poster to recognize that this is a balance between sacrificing some depth by setting it just high enough to see *every* detail (which I prefer) and sacrificing some detail by darkening/deepening the image (which others prefer). There is not a right or wrong answer to this (although, there is a "correct according to the standards" answer), so go with whatever you prefer.

Also, please post your settings. We'd love to see them and this thread is starting to run dry of "new" settings.

--Mav

That's fair. I'm sure A LOT of people feel that way. The only thing that's important to me is that people realize "ain't nothin' free" -- going "too dark" (below the reference point) has its advantages in terms of depth, but also its disadvantages in terms of detail; going "too bright" may show all of the details, but it "sure as $h!t" reduces the depth. The trick is to find the middle ground. The test patterns give you a "standardized" middle ground, but there's no question that different strokes for different folks. Eyesight differences, room conditions, different sets, and, most importantly, personal preferences mean just about everyone's settings will be different, I think.

Good luck!

--Mav

P.S. I would REALLY like to see your settings when you get a chance, though.

I'd like to keep the "fight" out of here, too. Please just ignore him. We've been up and down these issues with him in the Owner's thread, but still he evidently prefers to remain consciously ignorant of the subject matter, and would apparently rather "troll" for fights and dole out half-baked "advice" than actually take the time to learn about it. All we can hope for is that folks who come here to look for *competent* advice avoid his.

--Mav