[therealdjnugz]

I recently purchased the Spears & Munsil 2nd edition calibration disc. The results I'm getting for contrast and color saturation are pretty different than the results I get using Disney Wow. Contrast using S&M is -17 while with Wow it is -2. It's a big difference considering my projectors contrast setting can be set anywhere from -24 to 24. I've made sure my projector is in the same color mode and its power is set to eco every time. Also, I make sure the projector has been running for at least an hour to warm up before calibrating. After calibrating with S&M , I popped the Wow disc back in to see how the contrast setting would look on Wow, and it obviously was way off according to the Wow test. Basically what I'm asking is what calibration disc is more trustworthy? The results I get using Wow and the home theater maximizer on Pixar blu rays are the same, while S&M gives me different results.

 

[therealdjnugz]

I did just think of something. When using the Disney Wow disc, it asks you your display type first. I always select projector since that's what I'm using. I wonder if the results would be different if I selected LCD or something else. Spears & Munsil doesn't ask which display type you're using.

 

[Dominic Chan]

I recently purchased the Spears & Munsil 2nd edition calibration disc. The results I'm getting for contrast and color saturation are pretty different than the results I get using Disney Wow. Contrast using S&M is -17 while with Wow it is -2.

What criteria are you using to set the Contrast? On many displays, the different steps from 236 to 254 are easily distinguishable from the adjacent colours, i.e., there may not be any obvious clipping even at very high Contrast settings.

 

[therealdjnugz]

What criteria are you using to set the Contrast? On many displays, the different steps from 236 to 254 are easily distinguishable from the adjacent colours, i.e., there may not be any obvious clipping even at very high Contrast settings.

That kind of went over my head.

 

[Dominic Chan]

That kind of went over my head.

What I meant was, how did you "end up" with a Contrast setting of -17 using S&M? In other words, what test pattern were you looking at to adjust the Contrast, and why did you think -17 was the "best" setting?

 

[therealdjnugz]

What I meant was, how did you "end up" with a Contrast setting of -17 using S&M? In other words, what test pattern were you looking at to adjust the Contrast, and why did you think -17 was the "best" setting?

The test patterns for both discs are pretty similar. For the S&M disc there's white bars and you adjust the contrast until you can barely tell the difference between the last bar and the background. The wow disc is a little different but same idea. The wow disc has stars marked visible and invisible and you adjust contrast until the star marked visible is visible and vice versa.

 

[Ellebob]

You adjusted the difference between video and computer levels. On the computer the range from black to white is 0-255 on video the range is from 16-235. For setting blacks using the brightness control you don't want to see anything below 16 and if you set the brightness higher to see it will have a washed out picture. For whites although you can cut it off at 235 you don't have to and you will see material above 235 and it won't hurt picture quality. I am guessing you turned down the contrast with S&M so you can see as many bars as possible, if you turn up the contrast so you can't see above the 235 bar your setting will probably be closer to the WOW disc.


Which is correct is a little more complicated, there is nothing wrong with seeing the information above 235. However, if you turn the contrast up you will gain brightness and cut of the bars above 235. In some environments the extra brightness might be welcome. The one problem with turning the contrast up too much is you might get color shifts and you might clip some colors. Use a grayscale ramp and the clipping pattern on S&M to test these. So you did nothing wrong and either could be correct, use the contrast setting which best suits your viewing conditions.

 

[therealdjnugz]

You adjusted the difference between video and computer levels. On the computer the range from black to white is 0-255 on video the range is from 16-235. For setting blacks using the brightness control you don't want to see anything below 16 and if you set the brightness higher to see it will have a washed out picture. For whites although you can cut it off at 235 you don't have to and you will see material above 235 and it won't hurt picture quality. I am guessing you turned down the contrast with S&M so you can see as many bars as possible, if you turn up the contrast so you can't see above the 235 bar your setting will probably be closer to the WOW disc.


Which is correct is a little more complicated, there is nothing wrong with seeing the information above 235. However, if you turn the contrast up you will gain brightness and cut of the bars above 235. In some environments the extra brightness might be welcome. The one problem with turning the contrast up too much is you might get color shifts and you might clip some colors. Use a grayscale ramp and the clipping pattern on S&M to test these. So you did nothing wrong and either could be correct, use the contrast setting which best suits your viewing conditions.

Thank you! So what you're saying is, for video sources I should only be calibrating to the 235 bar? Unless I'm calibrating a computer correct? Are these numbers the same for brightness and contrast?

 

[Dominic Chan]

Thank you! So what you're saying is, for video sources I should only be calibrating to the 235 bar? Unless I'm calibrating a computer correct? Are these numbers the same for brightness and contrast?

For video sources, the lower end is 16 - 16 and below are all black (i.e., anything below 16 is indistinguishable from 16). The high end is 235 but nothing "magical" happens there, i.e., it is quite OK to be able to see levels above 235.

 

[therealdjnugz]

For video sources, the lower end is 16 - 16 and below are all black (i.e., anything below 16 is indistinguishable from 16). The high end is 235 but nothing "magical" happens there, i.e., it is quite OK to be able to see levels above 235.

Thanks man. My knowledge of video calibration is very limited. You've helped tremendously. Going to calibrate the contrast using S&M again using these numbers. I'll repory back on how close it is to the Disney Wow disc.

 

[therealdjnugz]

Thanks man. My knowledge of video calibration is very limited. You've helped tremendously. Going to calibrate the contrast using S&M again using these numbers. I'll repory back on how close it is to the Disney Wow disc.

Just did the calibration again, and the results are exactly the same that I get using Wow. Thanks again man! Just goes to show how user friendly Disney Wow actually is, while Spears & Munsil requires the user to have a basic understanding of calibration.