It may seem extreme, but its possible for one TV to look as good, and as bad, as the two halves of the picture above. (Credit: Geoffrey Morrison) Everyone wants the best performance out of any product they buy. HDTVs can look great in a store, and then terrible at home. If youre not satisfied with how your TV looks, or want to check to make sure youre getting the best out of it, here are five easy steps for better picture quality. Check your cables Any new TV should be hooked up to your sources (i.e. cable/satellite box, Blu-ray, or DVD player, etc.) with HDMI cables. If your equipment is slightly older, component cables (red, green, and blue) also deliver HD signals. If youre using the yellow composite cable for anything, know that youre not getting HD. By far the easiest upgrade is to get new cables, and that will result in the biggest improvement in picture quality if youre still using composite. HDMI cables need not be expensive. A short HDMI cable shouldnt run you more than a couple of dollars. Check out my article on why all HDMI cables perform the same and the follow up Why all HDMI cables are the same, part 2. Some sources, like VCRs and Nintendos Wii, are standard definition only, so if youre using a composite cable for these, thats OK. The Wii will look slightly better if you use component, but its not a tremendous improvement. Bottom line: Use HDMI cables wherever you can. Upgrade your sources Just having an HDTV doesnt mean youre watching HD. You need an HD source as well. If you didnt upgrade your TV service when you bought your new TV, youre missing out. Nearly all cable and satellite providers offer step-up HD packages. Without paying for or activating these, youre not getting HD. Blu-ray offers six times the resolution of DVD. Even the best upconverting DVD players cant match the picture quality of full 1080p HD from Blu-ray. Players are cheap, with some models less than $100. A free option is over-the-air HDTV, where you just need an antenna. Heres an article on how to get free HDTV. Bottom line: You need an HD source to watch HD. The TV alone doesnt make what youre watching HD. Check your source settings Even if you have an HD source, like Blu-ray or an HD cable/satellite box, it still doesnt mean youre getting HD. Make sure the cable/satellite box is set to output HD, generally 1080i. Dont assume it will automatically set the resolution correctly (though it should). You can find this resolution setting in the boxs menu, sometimes labeled Aspect Ratio. Related stories: • HDTV settings explained • What is TV color temperature, and why does it matter? • Contrast ratio (or how every TV manufacturer lies to you) • Geoff Morrisons HDTV and home theater resource center and infotacular Also make sure you tune to the correct channel. Some providers have separate HD channels from their SD counterparts. This would be something like channel 4 being standard-definition NBC, but channel 1004 is high-definition NBC. Your provider will have a listing as to where your specific HD channels are. Its important to note that if youve set your box to 1080i, your TV will say 1080i regardless if the channel is HD or not. Just because the TV says 1080i, doesnt mean youre actually getting HD. You have to be tuned to an HD channel as well. If youre sticking with DVD, make sure you set the players aspect ratio to 16x9. If you bought a new HDTV, upgrading from an old CRT tube TV, the player is likely set for 4x3. Changing this output to 16x9 will increase picture quality, and also minimize the black bars on movies. Similar to the warning about 1080i in the previous paragraph, if the DVD player is set incorrectly youll still get an image, but youll either have black bars on the sides (and the top and bottom) or everyone will be stretched out and fat. Black bars at the top and bottom are normal on some movies, but unless youre watching an old TV show or an old black-and-white movie, bars on the sides are not. Bottom line: Make sure your source is friendly with your HDTV for the best picture quality. Adjust your TV settings (basic) If everything is plugged in and set correctly, a few minutes spent with your TVs settings will be the next tweak toward the best it can look. Setting the contrast and brightness controls will result in the biggest change. Check out my guide on how to do this by eye. Take a few moments to cycle through the preset settings on your TV. For most people, they leave it in the Vivid or Sports mode. These modes rarely have accurate color, and often add edge enhancement that adds subtle halos around objects to give the appearance of sharpness while masking true fine detail. Movie or Cinema mode is often the most accurate setting. If youre looking for even better performance, there are several setup Blu-rays available, which will lead you through each setting and how to adjust it. Disneys WOW: World of Wonder disc is a standout. I review several setup discs here. Bottom line: A few small adjustments in your TVs menus can result in big changes in picture quality (usually for the better). Adjust your TV settings (advanced) If youve adjusted what you can either by eye or with a setup disc, the next step gets a bit more elaborate. Certain settings, like color temperature, can only be accurately adjusted by a trained TV calibrator. HDTV calibration is the ultimate step in ensuring youre getting the best performance from your TV. It isnt for everyone, though. I did an article about the pros and cons of calibration, and got some pretty varied comments that are worth checking out. Bottom line: For the absolute best your TV can perform, consider hiring a professional. Topics: Home video Tags: home theater, HDTV Geoffrey Morrison Geoffrey Morrison was editor in chief of Home Entertainment magazine and before that, technical editor of Home Theater magazine. He currently contributes to Sound+Vision magazine, HDGuru, and several other Web and print publications. He is NIST and ISF trained, and has a degree in audio production from Ithaca College. His debut novel, Undersea is available in paperback and on the Kindle, Nook, iTunes and elsewhere. Follow @TechWriterGeoff Apple Byte What to expect at Apples October 22nd event Well break down everything we expect to see from Apple next week including new iPads, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros and OS X Mavericks. 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Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:28:06 +0000
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