1. Use the display presets<\/strong><\/h3>\nYour TV likely has several built-in presets geared to different uses, like movie-watching or sports channels. You can find these in your TV’s picture settings menu. Look in your TV manual to find them. If you don’t have your manual, tap or click here to find it online.<\/p>\n
Sometimes your new television might have defaults for presets like vivid<\/strong> because that gives colors the most pop \u2014 often too much. Many store models use this preset.<\/p>\nFor general TV viewing, the standard<\/strong> preset \u2014 or whatever your TV calls it \u2014 is your best bet. Just making that switch alone can fix a lot of image quality problems.<\/p>\nTry cycling through the other options and see which one you like best. You can also test out settings for different scenarios. Some TVs even have presets for specific types of sports, so load up a game or two and see what those do for you.<\/p>\nYour TV likely has several built-in presets geared to different uses, like movie-watching or sports channels.<\/figcaption>Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n2. Use your eyes<\/strong><\/h3>\nIf none of the presets are to your liking, take more control of your picture settings. You’ll be the one watching it, after all. Settings you can adjust include contrast, hue, brightness, sharpness, and color temperature. <\/p>\n
To start, put on a few of your favorite movies with various scenes and lighting. Keep these tips in mind:<\/p>\n
\nBe sure to set your room lighting to how it typically is when you watch TV.<\/li>\n Make sure the films include very dark scenes, very light, filled with people, and are extra colorful.<\/li>\n In the dark scenes, adjust the brightness setting so shadows are as black as they can get while still showing detail.<\/li>\n Then head over to a light scene and adjust the contrast up, so the white spaces are as white as possible without blowing out all the detail.<\/li>\n Next, adjust the color temperature until skin tones and colors look natural. If your TV has saturation controls, you can fine-tune how vivid the colors look. You want the sweet spot between \u201cwashed out\u201d and \u201churts your eyes to look at.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nOnce everything looks good, test your settings with a few more movies at different lighting levels in the room. You also need to turn the TV off a few times and come back after a few minutes to see your changes with fresh eyes.<\/p>\n
If you don’t entirely trust your eyes, or want a bit more help, there’s another step you can take.<\/p>\nIf none of the presets are to your liking, take more control of your picture settings. You’ll be the one watching it, after all.<\/figcaption>Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n3. Use a calibration disc<\/strong><\/h3>\nTo get a more exact calibration, you can use a calibration disc. This walks you through each setting and gives you carefully created visual images to help guide your tweaking. It works well in most cases, but don’t be afraid to change specific settings based on your preference. It’s your TV, so the best picture is the one you like the most.<\/p>\n
There are a couple of options for buying a calibration disc. You can get this Blu-ray from Spears & Munsil that’s helpful for around $40.<\/p>\n