[JimmyO1]

Hi pc world editors and subscribers,
A few years ago when I bought my latest big screen tv(42")I also bought a video calibration disk. At first I tried running it thinking it would be easy but I found it a bit too technical for me. The disk I have is DVE HD Basics and it is in Blu Ray format. I am looking at it now and on the front cover it says it's easy to use. Unfortunately for me I don't find it so.
Can anyone out there give me any feedback on setting up my tv for my own uses and to my liking?
One more thing if I just set my tv to it's factory settings can it put too much stress on things like backlighting and too much power usage that I might wear out the lamps too soon? I don't want to buy another tv now. Mine still has a pretty good picture and i don't want to break it or send it to an expensive repair shop before it's time.

[LiveBrianD]

Here are a few basic things you should do: For one, set the color to 6500K. (this might be the normal setting or the warm setting, it depends) Second, don't turn the brightness too high. (if your eyes have to adjust to it after looking at things around it, it's too high) With the Sony my dad has, it asked whether it was being used in a store or a home when first turned on, and I think the store setting turns the brightness and contrast up to make it look good, though that wastes energy and isn't accurate. Computer monitors usually have the brightness WAY too high out of the box (my crappy Acer was set to 80 or so percent I think, but I find 5% is comfortable - it's not nearly as low as it seems).

[mjd420nova]

How things have changed. From two controls to over a half dozen. Simple brightness and contrast aren't enough anymore. When starting with a new unit, I always start with the basic ones, brightness and contraast should not be more than 50%. acklighting levels are dependant upon the room lighting and other things like windows and other light emmiting appliances. Some units have light sensors that measure the light levels and adjust certain aspects for better viewing but I found they are worthless, overdrive the unit so should be turned off. CNET has a forum slanted to making adjustments for each set and may help more with your specific set.