Brightness/colour/contrast aaargh help!

[SqueakyG]

I have a new TV. It's just a small cheap 14" TV, but it's all I have. So I know we're not talking about good proper televisions or anything, but I need help! (or at least I need to rant).

I just can't set the EDITED freaking dagdum EDITED brightness/contrast settings correctly!! I just can't get it looking good! I have spent hours and hours over the past week trying to get a good picture and I just CAN'T :( :(

I used the THX test on the Terminator 2 disc... but that only really tests contrast, and it doesn't help me find a good setting anyway.

I just can't find a setting that looks good. Every time I turn on the TV, I think, "Jeez, this is an awful picture". But then I spend hours tweaking it. But I can only get an awful picture! :( If I turn the brightness up any higher, it turns too milky... but if I turn it down any lower the picture is too dark. If I turn the contrast up any higher, I get edge-enhancement that GLOWS... but if I turn it down any lower, the picture is too dark.

And the worst thing is that all programmes on all channels look different. With nearly all TVs, a general brightness/contrast setting should look good across all channels and all programmes. So howcome one programme looks incredibly bright and high-contrast, but a programme on another channel looks very dark and milky? It means that no matter how I set the brightness/cotrast, every single programme looks wrong!

And even though it is a cheap TV, there isn't a fault with the picture. I know I'll never get a *perfect* picture, but c'mon, I deserve a watchable average brightness/contrast setting. I just can't find it! :mad:

Any help? Any way I can look at test patterns, or any guides on how to set the right brightness/contrast?

[Drel]

Squint your eyes?

[ManxMuppet]

smear some vaseline (sp?) on the screen?? :nuts:

[Paul490]

Isn't this better in the hardware forum? :D

[JimNoble]

A quick way of getting a good picture is to turn the colour saturation all the way down (ie so the picture is black and white), adjust the contrast to get a good solid black, then the brightness so that the whites aren't too white, then turn the colour back up.

Actually, it's been a while since I used that method - it might be saturation, brightness, contrast rather than saturation, contrast, brightness...

Jim

[Sputnik]

Originally posted by Paul490
Isn't this better in the hardware forum? :D

Moving to DVD and Home Cinema Hardware Forum :nuts:

[whitty]

Hi

I have my panasonic Widescreen TV in the repair shop for that very reason. If I watch a Film then the Picture looks very dark, but BBC1 and 1 etc look OK. I will let you know what happens to it if anything.

In my view there is a fault with it, Will have to see what they find.

Its VERY annoying. If you adjust the brightness up too much then the Blacks turn to Greys and look awful.

Please someone help us out with this one. Incase they find nothing wrong with it I would like to know what could cause it...

[Bapapapa]

If I watch a Film then the Picture looks very dark, but BBC1 and 1 etc look OK. I will let you know what happens to it if anything.

That's prolly more to do with RGB or the 'movie mode' on your TV. 90% of people have their contrast/brightness settings way too high anyway, so maybe there's nothing wrong with your set, you're just not used to having it set properly.

:nuts:

[whitty]

When I originally bought the set everything seemed fine.

At the moment I have to set the brightness and contrast quite high to be able to see the picture as it very dark. Peoples faces look like they are stood in shadows ( that sort of thing) But if you put the Brightness up too high then the picture looks hazzy. We have another Panasonic TV in the other room and that looks fine.

When I took it into the repair place they had a few other TV's on and when he put mine on next to it, It was very dark and the brightness was way up.

This wasnt even using RGB, just analogue Antenna

[Bapapapa]

Sounds knackered then.

:p

[whitty]

LOL. Is that you professional opinion.:p

Seriously though. I think its knackered but the engineer I think was trying to brush me off a bit.

P.S I have my old 4:3 TV on at the moment and that seems Puuuuuuuurrrrrfect to me