Samsung 5053 Settings Revisited

Nailzaz

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I hope it's appropriate to post this - I know it's been covered and maybe this belongs in a current thread? My apologies if so.

Samsung 5053 Settings Revisited

Last night I was adjusting my settings on my Samsung 5053 plasma and wanted to post to get some feedback about my settings.

Notes:

1. I think the settings are probably varied based on a number of factors, including the room, lighting, etc... correct?

2. I originally used the "Sound & Vision" calibration DVD but was not happy with the results. They do state that it is for calibrating CRT's, maybe that's why? Also, I cannot afford to buy a different calibration DVD right now.

Questions:

1. I would like to hear feedback on my settings and what other people have their settings at.

2. Is it ever a good idea to enable Digital NR?

3. Is it ever a good idea to enable DNIe?

4. When does one switch modes? For example:
Is "Standard" for normal TV watching with an SD signal?
Is "Dynamic" for sports or some other type of shows/movies?
Would "Movie" be good for any good HD signal?

Thank you in advance for any helpful advice and here are my current settings:

.................................................. .......... ..........
MODE: STANDARD
CONTRAST: 80
BRIGHTNESS: 33
SHARPNESS: 20
COLOR: 38
TINT: N/A
COLOR TONE: Cool 1
Digital NR: Off
DNIe: Off
.................................................. .......... ..........
MODE: DYNAMIC
CONTRAST: 100
BRIGHTNESS: 45
SHARPNESS: 75
COLOR: 55
TINT: N/A
COLOR TONE: Cool 1
Digital NR: Off
DNIe: Off
.................................................. .......... ..........
MODE: MOVIE
CONTRAST: 77
BRIGHTNESS: 33
SHARPNESS: 20
COLOR: 30
TINT: N/A
COLOR TONE: Normal
Digital NR: Off
DNIe: N/A
.................................................. .......... ..........
MODE: CUSTOM
CONTRAST: 77
BRIGHTNESS: 33
SHARPNESS: 20
COLOR: 30
TINT: N/A
COLOR TONE: Warm 1
Digital NR: Off
DNIe: Off
.................................................. .......... ..........

Nailzaz

How about just some basic settings from other Samsung 5053 owners?

Bueller? Bueller?

__________________
..................................................
TV: 50" Plasma Samsung HP-5053
Receiver: Sony STR-DG800
Speakers: Bose Acoustimass 6
Sub Woofer: Mitsubishi M-SUB 10
DVD player: Samsung DVD HD860
DVR: VIP622
Remote: Universal Remote Control MX-500
HD Programming:Dish Network (HD, Everything & Movie Packages)
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Nailzaz

Hi Everyone,

I had originally posted about calibrating my Samsung S5053 but yesterday I received my Digital Video Essentials calibration DVD. It is an extensive, information packed DVD and in trying to find the best settings for my TV, it did help.

Here are some notes & questions I wrote down and would love any help I can get from you guys.

According to the DVE DVD...

1) Movie Mode is the setting to use

2) Use "warm" color tone (but warm 2 or warm 2?)

3) I learned that Sharpness should be set to "0"

4) Color: Using their filter and my wife's help, I was able to calibrate the color correctly. However, it looks "unnatural" to me - too much color. Is this normal?

5) Brightness: I was able to finally calibrate this, which is great but...

6) Contrast, I couldn't seem to find a test/calibration for - any ideas?

Here are my settings now...




Again, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul in Arizona

__________________
..................................................
TV: 50" Plasma Samsung HP-5053
Receiver: Sony STR-DG800
Speakers: Bose Acoustimass 6
Sub Woofer: Mitsubishi M-SUB 10
DVD player: Samsung DVD HD860
DVR: VIP622
Remote: Universal Remote Control MX-500
HD Programming:Dish Network (HD, Everything & Movie Packages)
..................................................

billinprinceto

Well, here are some thoughts. First, I would suggest that you read this Monster / I.s.f. Calibration Disc and this Basic Television Setup Tips.

1) Not sure how you settled on "movie mode". I would think you might have prefered to leave the factory modes alone and make your adjustment to the "custom" mode. Anyway, no matter, if you can actually set each of these modes separate from the factory settings, that is great as later you may wish to set things up a little different for live sports, live TV, TV movies, etc. Note, also that you should recalibrate for each input (HDMI, component, S-video, etc. )

2) Not sure what "color tone" is on your set. Might be a preset color temp in which case your choices should be cool, normal, warm, or something similar. If so, select normal, or the middle reading BEFORE you do the saturation(color) adjustment.

3) Yep, leave sharpness at 0.

4) Yes, even with color set dead-on using the filters, I find them to be a bit oversaturated, so just turn it down a notch or two; also, I find that I occasionally adjust the color up or down a notch or two depending on the programming that I am watching.

5) Great, once you have Brightness dead on, DO NOT TOUCH IT. However, in making the setting, you may want to take it as dark as seems reasonable according to the instructions and then (maybe) just one notch further, no more.

6) Yea, isn't that a bummer, that the DVE disc doesn't have a reasonable way to calibrate Contrast. One solution is to tune into HDNET on Saturday morning and use thier test pattern which works pretty well. Once you have Contrast set correctly, don't under any circumstances turn it up any higher; you may want to crank it down just a bit; as these sets and some shows are just two bright.

Nailzaz

This is one of the best responses I've received!

1. I'm using Movie Mode because the instructions on DVE suggested it. It stated that there maybe different modes for a TV and that if one is labeled "Movie" or "Cinemia" or such, use that one.

2. Yes, the "Color Tone" is for preset color temps. Again, DVE suggested using one labled "warm" to bring it closer to an objective standard. I do have a "warm 1" and "warm 2". You make a good point about setting it to "normal" though before adjusting.

3. Sharpness "0" sounds good to me and to DVE - I see people's various settings for this set (Samsung Plasma's) and they have some sharpness, but according to DVE it would only seem to take away from the picture quality.

4. Okay, I'm not crazy about the color test then. You do say that one can take it down a notch or two, but I found that using the test, it "passes" at a setting of 48, however colors only begin to look fairly natural with most HD sources at around 38 - that's more than a couple of notches

5. Brightness - this one was easy to calibrate with DVE. I guess though my problem is with contrast so should I leave contrast at 50 before calibrating the brightness?

6. You are the first person to mention this - again, confirming my sanity. There is a test patern for non-crt sets, but even using that one I can't seem to find a definitive way to calibrate it. You mentioned a test pattern on HDNet - do you know what it's called (so I could record it)? And if so, what's the best way to calibrate Contrast using that test pattern?

Thank you again - you seem to know what's going on here pretty well :-)

Do you have the same TV?

Paul

__________________
..................................................
TV: 50" Plasma Samsung HP-5053
Receiver: Sony STR-DG800
Speakers: Bose Acoustimass 6
Sub Woofer: Mitsubishi M-SUB 10
DVD player: Samsung DVD HD860
DVR: VIP622
Remote: Universal Remote Control MX-500
HD Programming:Dish Network (HD, Everything & Movie Packages)
..................................................

billinprinceto

No problem, if you get addicted, you can play with the others for different source material as I mentioned earlier.

Yes, best to pick one in the middle, then you can (occasionally) go up or down for a warmer or cooler picture depending on the source. I actually set my color temp with Spyder, but still find that I often prefer to take it down a notch because so much broadcast content is full of reds.

Yep, sharpness was for CRT displays and turning it on or up will just detract from a good picture.

That's ok, they're your eyes. Experiment a bit, I still find that FPs are so much more "vibrant" (god, I hate that word) than old CRTs, that they seem too saturated. In time, you may want to crank it back up a bit, or you may not - it's your tv and your viewing preference that matters.

And like I said earlier, don't touch it!!!! (unless to recheck calibration)

Check HDNet on the internet, I think it runs at 7:45 am eastern time, and may only be labeled "off air program" or something like that.

If you have a DVR, tape the HDNET test pattern so you have some time to experiment with it (it's 13 minutes long, I think). With this you can set contrast pretty well using the white boxes with the numbers in them - (you turn contrast up until you can't see the "0" in the white box, then you crank it back down until you can just see the number "0") but, remember, don't be afraid to crank this a bit below your goal or your overall screen may seem too bright.

Thanks, I've been studying this for quite some times just for personal reasons, and glad to help. Personally, I think that FPs are much less forgiving of improper setup than CRTs were, but I still think that the "professional calibrators" are pretty much a rip-off.
So . . . . do it yourself is my motto.

Nope, just a basic 32" LCD, but, since calibrating it, I'd put it up against most other sets, whatever people say. They're all pretty much the same no matter what the marketing guys would have you believe (in my opinion).