More than black

kennith

Hello,

I am new to the forum, and I have a question.

I recently purchased a Plasma display. I wasn't going to bother for a while, as my CRT was dialed in so well, but Circuit City, and all. I think I came out rather well, all things considered. I bought a Panasonic THZ PZ800u. I'd seen them before, but I knew I was taking a risk, as my home is FAR from a display shelf. Regardless, the television seems to function well. I've got a bit of burn in, the Circuit City logo in the lower right hand portion of the screen, but I'm past it. It isn't what's bothering me. That isn't the question. This is.

I cannot see a television in a store the way it will appear in my home. I despise lighting overall. I have very sensitive eyes, and my home is incredibly dark by most standards. As an idea, most people cannot move across the room in my house without a flashlight. This is not an exaggeration, believe it or not. My walls are indeed colored, but everything in my home is a muted color, with all color descriptions starting with "grayish". My living room is essentially a perfect environment for a display device.

Now, I am blinded in the stores by the lights. I can't exactly ask them to turn them all off, and I did sort of snap this one up based on the reviews (something I normally advise against). I can't see what the things actually look like. As you might imagine, I have owned a lot of televisions, and only a few I was happy with. So, this brings me to my problem, and my question.

Black bugs the heck out of me. I see light where others see none. I have learned to get past things, but I think my new Panasonic is leaving something to be desired in this department.

So far as shadow detail and overall black processing is concerned, it is spot-on. I have done everything I can with all the filters and test patterns I have, and it does show. It isn't perfect, but the thing will put out one heck of a picture when it gets an HD signal, and a darn good one with SD on a good broadcast. So, you see, what most people mean when they talk about black isn't my problem.

My problem is the actual amount of light being emitted by the cells that are supposed to be displaying an absolute black signal. I know the television can adjust this, as I see it do so between signals at times during HDMI switching operations and when loading Bluray discs. I can see the absolute black screen adjust it's light output at times, when it is deciding what to do with a signal.

My question is this: If I were to hire a calibrator, would he be able to adjust this light output in the service menu? Would he be able to turn down the voltage, the power, what the heck ever needs to be turned down to make absolute black on this display actually emit less light?

I just can't believe that this is as dark as this thing will go, but I don't want to pay the money if this can't be done. The rest of the performance is acceptable. I like the picture otherwise, and I certainly don't require any adjustment in that regard. What I am concerned about is minimum light output, and that, to me, would be worth the money.

So, can it be done? Or will I have to purchase another television in a while, once they get a bit better in this regard.

This is the one question that has been bugging me so far as calibration is concerned for a while now.

d6500k

It certainly appears that you have your ambient lighting controlled, perhaps even too much so.

Calibrators, ISF or otherwise have argued that a certain amount of "backlighting" or bias lighting can improve perceived black levels. Normally a bias light would be just behind the display and generate between 5 to 10% of the overall white light output of the display.

You can purchase a high end, calibrated to d65, lamp from companies like Idealume, or place a 5 watt nightlight back there. The Idealume requires/works best with a neutral wall color (dark gray) which may or may not be aesthetically pleasing.

Will this improve the actual black level output from your display? No. It will help your eyes although in two regards.

1. Reduced eyestrain.
Your eyeballs have to react to the rapid changes in light output. If they have to do this many times over the time a film runs, it can cause some pain in a totally black room. Especially if the white light levels are still set to produce output levels much above 30 foot Lamberts. Remember, a cinema screen reflects to your eyes about 16 fl.

2. Display limitations.
While TV's and monitors of all ilks are getting their black levels down to photographic darkroom blacks, they still have to be calibrated to actually be able to start showing an image when necessary. Gamma controls may indeed be adjusted in some cases so that differentiation between 0 to 5 IRE can be noticed. Pretty cool!

This may be an issue resolved with the use of the aforementioned bias lighting. Or you might go the route of calibration to the nth degree. Your Panny does have the ability to get very black and quite quickly. Frankly, I'd try the bias light first, even the 5 watt nightlight as a trial. Then go up the food chain to the NASA buck level if that is your desire.

Hope this helps,

Doug k

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kaosinkingst

no good