Buying the latest generation HDTV doesn't guarantee a great viewing experienceyou need to tweak the settings too

The out-of-the-box picture settings for any LED or LCD television aren’t always ideal for the lighting in a typical living room. Most television makers ship with default settings that are tuned for in-store displays.

For viewing at home, you need to consider eye comfort, viewing distance, etc. Most users, however, don’t make the necessary adjustments suited to their room.

To improve the picture reproduction, change the settings to suit the kind of viewing you often do. We take a look at a variety of content, and suggest the ideal settings for LCD and LED televisions.

Connections: For HD devices, it is best to use an HDMI cable. This cable connects your set-top box or Blu-ray player to the television, carrying the picture and sound to it. You may get an HDMI cable as a part of the package with Blu-ray players, direct-to-home (DTH) set-top boxes and even some television sets. If not, you can buy it for ₹ 250-300. If the source device is standard definition (SD), then use the composite video cable (red, yellow, white). You will get this cable as standard with most televisions, DVD players as well as cable TV set-top boxes.

Overscan: All flat-panel televisions have the image overscan feature switched on by default. This feature is meant to crop the picture at the borders to hide errors that sometimes show up in television channel broadcast, like a flickering green line on the edge of a full-screen frame. While this broadcast issue is visible only on SD channels, the television’s overscan feature reduces the number of lines of resolution for all content, which degrades the picture quality of HD content. The option to switch off the overscan feature is usually available in the advanced menu of the television’s picture settings.

Source resolution: If you have a 1,920x1,080-pixel TV, ensure that all source devices are set to output video feed at the same resolution—set-top boxes, media players, gaming consoles, etc. These resolution settings need to be changed individually on source devices. If there is a mismatch between them, the picture quality on the television will be bad.

TV settings that will give you the best viewing experience of your favourite content

Content source: Cable or DTH settop box

Colour temperature: Standard/Normal/Neutral. Default settings enhance skin tone

Backlight level: 50%. A brighter picture could lead to eye fatigue. Those bright saris in saasbahu soaps could actually hurt the eyes

Sharpness: 20%(HD) and 50%(SD). HDfeed is already sharp. ForSDcontent, compensate for lower resolution video being stretched on a higher resolution screen

Picture conditioning :HD: Turn off Edge Enhancement (amethod of adding sharpness to dull content) and Noise Reduction (a feature that automatically detects unnatural disturbances and tries to smoothen them). SD:Sharpness could introduceminute disturbances, whichNoise Reduction clears.

Motionrate settings: Normal/Clear/Minimum .A higher setting couldmake the picture seemlike it ismoving unnaturally quickly

Content source: Cable/DTH settop box, HDmedia player, DVD or Bluray player, gaming console or direct hard drive plugin.

Colour temperature: Warm/Cinema/Movie. Warmer colour tones are the best because that’s howmovies are recorded.

Backlight level: 70%. Darker scenes in films are better detailedwith brighter backlighting.

Sharpness: 20%(HD) and 30%(SD) Toomuch sharpness couldmake certain movie scenes look unnaturally sharp.

Picture conditioning :HD: Turn off Edge Enhancement but switch on Noise Reduction, to keep fastmoving shots as clear as possible SD: Switch on Noise Reduction. Edge Enhancement is optional, depending on the video quality.

Motionrate settings: High/Smooth/Maximum. Fastmoving scenes look clearer. If turned off, slight judderswill be visible.

Content source: Cable/DTH settop box.

Colour temperature: Standard/Normal/Neutral. The pure white colour enhances the overall brightness.

Backlight level: 70%maximum. Tweak on a case-by-case basis. For example, reduce slightly while watching a cricketmatch being played in the bright sunlight of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Sharpness: 10% (HD) and 50%(SD). Sports look sharp in HD, but dull in SD.

Picture conditioning : HD and SD: Turn off Edge Enhancement and turn on Noise Reduction. Edge Enhancement introduces a ring of unnatural sharpness around players.

Motionrate settings: Normal/Clear/Minimum. If set to High, you will notice image ghosting as the ball is running along the grass in a cricket match.

Colour temperature: Standard/Neutral. Games requirewhite colour to look cleaner and more natural.

Backlight level: 70%. Your mission may take you into dark and dingy places,which need detailing.

Sharpness: 10% (HD) and 20% (SD: 720p) Gaming content is optimized well.

Picture conditioning : HD and SD: Turn off Edge Enhancement and Noise Reduction These settings may introduce a slight lag,which spoils gameplay.

Motionrate settings: Normal/Clear/Minimum. These also induce lag. It’s best to keep them at minimum level.

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