Sharp LCD: set your contrast as LOW as possible

[illdefined]

like everyone else, i found my 32GD4U way too 'hot' out of the box, but i was also aware of LCD's general weakness in contrast ratio.

i found that putting the contrast (aka Max White Level) closer to ZERO, while darkening the general picture, exposed the MOST degree of detail. try it. you'll be disturbed by the initial darkening, but you'll see detail in the light areas (say football away uniforms) you couldnt see before.

LCD's strength however is in light ouput, so i used the backlight (NOT the brightness aka Max Black Level) to compensate for the image darkening to bust those details through the mask.

watching an NFL game in HD, it's easy to see LCD's tight spectrum of contrast, there's just not enough degrees between Sharp's excellent black (for an LCD) and it's potent white. by default, Sharp has these contrasts set way too high, to get that showroom 'POP'. by putting the contrast DOWN, it felt like i was seeing the most shades of grayscale (again LCD's weakness) the AQUOS could offer.

a big bonus i've noticed by this method: greater viewing angle. i'm dead serious. by setting my contrast to zero, i can now see my Sharp from almost any angle with neglible brightening. again, try it.

if any AV heavyhitters could comment on my method, please do, especially any with Sharps.

[illdefined]

sorry if this sounded obvious. when i said 'closer' to Zero, i actually meant absolute 0, or +1 or +2.

[exNSX]

Are you saying you set your backlight at maximum with this method?

What about detail in the dark areas?

[markrubin]

I think the first thing you want to do with a Sharp LCD is dial down the color setting:

I set mine to -5 as a start

[Leonard Gee]

Interesting. How do your settings compare to calibration with Avia or DVE?

[illdefined]

my backlight and brightness are set to STD (right in the middle) actually. and my contrast is set to 0 (totally to the left). the less contrast, the less intense the WHITES (think less 'overexposed'), and i get more detail in all areas, light and dark. during the day sometimes i have to increase brightness or backlight only +1 or +2 (wanna max out my bulb's life). the color on my Sharp looked great but a bit unnatural, so i have my color set to -12

putting the contrast (max WHITE level) to 0 makes the light blockers not have to work so hard, and thats also why i get the 170 viewing angle with no light 'spillage' (brightening)

[illdefined]

i don't have the DVE or Avia yet, but even then it would only really apply to the DVD player and the DVD player's connection. it's easy to see the detail i get out of my HD/SD over component using this 0 contrast method.

[Paul Bigelow]

Some LCD displays have odd color shifts when making huge adjustments to the contrast. Sometimes the color (at least) has to brought down a good amount when the contrast is at a minimum setting.

Paul

[Leonard Gee]

Originally posted by illdefined
i it's easy to see the detail i get out of my HD/SD over component using this 0 contrast method.

When you turn the contrast down to 0, how does the black hold up? Any problems with getting a green tinge in the shadows?

[rogo]

Keep in mind that the Contrast setting is not setting the contrast at all -- at least not in any direct way. It's setting the black level.

[vman41]

Originally posted by rogo
Keep in mind that the Contrast setting is not setting the contrast at all -- at least not in any direct way. It's setting the black level.

Contrast sets the ratio between the brightest and dimmest areas. Brightness determines the black level. A fooball game is too uniform in brightness to make those settings. I agree with markrubin about turning the color down (reducing color saturation is turning down the 'contras't in another sense).

[illdefined]

contrast is setting the WHITE level as i understand it. i get no tinge at all in my blacks, you're panel my vary, but i've set my color temp to middle-low (as suggested by almost everyone) and have gone in the advanced controls and turned down lots of the red push.

[illdefined]

and yeah again my color is set to -12. could go even lower. maybe this would help your green tinge? and look at your color temp. as well

[xrox]

Contrast: adjusts the top end of the luminence curve (peak brightness) only.

Brightness: adjust the entire curve up or down (black level and peak brightness move simultaneously)

Cheers

[rogo]

Right, sorry for the "dyslexia". Contrast sets white level / peak level.

Forgive the mental lapse and thanks xrox.