*This may be nothing new to a majority of the people here, but maybe it will help answer questions for some.*
Finally after piecemealing several threads together, I have come up with a method that works for me and maybe will help others newbies that are trying to figure out the relationship of brightness, contrast, and the back-light setting on LCD displays.
My equipment consisted of the AVS HD disc, an i1D2 and Chromapure.
Step 1: Brightness / black level
Use the black clipping pattern on the AVS HD disc. Crank your back-light up as high as it will go. It makes the flashing bars easier to see. Adjust the brightness until only 17 & up flash. Brightness is set for now.
Step 2: Contrast / White level
The 3 rules for setting contrast
1-No clipping
Use the white clipping pattern to see if your display clips at 235. Chances are it won't and you can 235 and above.
2-No discoloration
Here you need to use HCFR, ChromaPure, or CalMAN and your colorimeter. I am using ChromaPure and an i1D2.
Set your back-light to zero and put up either a 100% window or field. I checked both and had the same result. Set your contrast to about 75% and start raising it one step at a time. What you are looking for is when color is not being added anymore. You will most likely run out of red first. My red output peaked at a setting of 89/100. One step higher and red output dropped 3%. That is now the max your contrast can be without discoloration.
3-No eye fatigue
With my contrast now set and a back-light of zero, I was only outputting 17 ftL. I had to raise it to a setting of 3 to get 35 ftL. A setting of 4 gave me 43 ftL, and so on. In my normal viewing environment, either setting worked for me. I set mine at 3 for typical viewing. Make sure step 2 is still valid and your contrast and back-light are now set.
For a back-light check, go to the APL clipping pattern and make sure you can see 19-21 & up flash. If you can see below that, chances are your back-light may be too high.
This is the first time that I bothered checking all 3 rules on contrast and I have ended up with my best starting point heading to gray scale calibration. I didn't realize before how key step 2 is and the difference it makes.
Finally after piecemealing several threads together, I have come up with a method that works for me and maybe will help others newbies that are trying to figure out the relationship of brightness, contrast, and the back-light setting on LCD displays.
My equipment consisted of the AVS HD disc, an i1D2 and Chromapure.
Step 1: Brightness / black level
Use the black clipping pattern on the AVS HD disc. Crank your back-light up as high as it will go. It makes the flashing bars easier to see. Adjust the brightness until only 17 & up flash. Brightness is set for now.
Step 2: Contrast / White level
The 3 rules for setting contrast
1-No clipping
Use the white clipping pattern to see if your display clips at 235. Chances are it won't and you can 235 and above.
2-No discoloration
Here you need to use HCFR, ChromaPure, or CalMAN and your colorimeter. I am using ChromaPure and an i1D2.
Set your back-light to zero and put up either a 100% window or field. I checked both and had the same result. Set your contrast to about 75% and start raising it one step at a time. What you are looking for is when color is not being added anymore. You will most likely run out of red first. My red output peaked at a setting of 89/100. One step higher and red output dropped 3%. That is now the max your contrast can be without discoloration.
3-No eye fatigue
With my contrast now set and a back-light of zero, I was only outputting 17 ftL. I had to raise it to a setting of 3 to get 35 ftL. A setting of 4 gave me 43 ftL, and so on. In my normal viewing environment, either setting worked for me. I set mine at 3 for typical viewing. Make sure step 2 is still valid and your contrast and back-light are now set.
For a back-light check, go to the APL clipping pattern and make sure you can see 19-21 & up flash. If you can see below that, chances are your back-light may be too high.
This is the first time that I bothered checking all 3 rules on contrast and I have ended up with my best starting point heading to gray scale calibration. I didn't realize before how key step 2 is and the difference it makes.