Screen Calibration

[Robbks]

Hi all,
Long time lurker and finally bought a PS3 for the sole purpose of GT6.

I'm a big movie buff and have quality AV gear, etc. Audio and Screen Calibration is a big part of the viewing experience in my opinion and as such looking for information on what PD and Sony require of my Screen Calibration so that I end up viewing what the video production team spent countless hours designing.

I.e Normally the DVD and film industry standard is an sRGB colourspace with 2.2 Gamma
I would assume the game has been coded as such, but may be wrong so any correct info would be appreciated.

 

[Anomaly]

I too am a big-time film buff and collector, as well as an audio/videophile. As far as I understand, ALL video is (or is supposed to be) calibrated to the same standards (6500k, etc). I have all of my video equipment running through a Yamaha Aventage receiver then out to the display through a single HDMI cable. Since everything is displayed via the same input, the pictures settings for each device (Blu-ray player, DVR, PS3, PS4, 360, Wii, etc) are the same settings. Since those settings have been professionally calibrated to the industry standard, everything should look the way the producers, directors & even game developers intended. I can tell you (as a videophile), games on my display look amazing. In other words, if your display is calibrated to the industry standard for films, it is calibrated properly for games.

 

[Robbks]

I thought as much,
But figured I'd check, especially after I read a few complaint threads about the "poor" graphics compared to GT5.

So if that is indeed the case, here's a note for them.
Turn off all the image enhancement modes (RGB extended, deep colour, frame creation, dynamic black, blah blah.
you generally make your picture worse by introducing extra or fake image processing. (some high end LCD's do benefit from the dynamic/ intelligent blacks processing)
If you don't have a calibrated display, I recommend you purchase the gear to DIY or have it calibrated (Eye One Display2 is a good product for this purpose)
Otherwise set your display to either the default sRGB mode. OR Movie/ Cinema mode, and select the "warm" colour temp.
Gamma Setting should be 2.2 (if your display has it)
Use the Contrast setting to increase or decrease the physical light output to suit the brightness of your viewing environment,
And use the Brightness setting to adjust your black level (shadow detail)

There's calibration files/ discs and programs around the inetrnet or on most THX certified DVD's/ BR discs (Pirates Of the Caribbean)
And a simple guide here http://www.missingremote.com/guide/display-calibration-part-i

 

[nowcontrol]

I have a 'THX Cinema' preset on my LG LH5000, should I be using that for my PS3 when gaming as apposed to the standard 'Game' preset I am using now?

 

[Robbks]

Generally yes. As far as correct colours, etc goes.
BUT some screens suffer from terrible input lag. So the manufacturers adjust the Game mode to have as less lag as possible.

 

[Anomaly]

Generally yes. As far as correct colours, etc goes.
BUT some screens suffer from terrible input lag. So the manufacturers adjust the Game mode to have as less lag as possible.

It seems a lot of people like exaggerated pictures, especially when it comes to video games. When most people see a properly calibrated picture for the first time, they think it's adjusted wrong. Everyone is used to the torch mode they see in stores.

Very, very rarely are any of the presets close to what the picture should look like. Cinema/Movie is almost always the closest (but still off). Modes like Vivid, Sports and Game are so far off, it's not even laughable.

 

[Robbks]

And my final piece of advice is bias lighting.
I wear glasses, so most ambient lighting gives reflections that i have to look through, combined with my astigmatism (which gets worse in low light situations) having a bias light behind the screen makes the blacks look blacker (tricks your pupils into closing a little), and gives you less eye strain too as you always have a more constant light-source in front of you..

6400K Bias light behind my old Plasma TV (looks much brighter than it really is)

 

[Anomaly]

And my final piece of advice is bias lighting.
I wear glasses, so most ambient lighting gives reflections that i have to look through, combined with my astigmatism (which gets worse in low light situations) having a bias light behind the screen makes the blacks look blacker (tricks your pupils into closing a little), and gives you less eye strain too as you always have a more constant light-source in front of you..

Don't forget to use a 6500k bulb for the lighting, and (if you're real serious) paint the wall a neutral light grey.

 

[Robbks]

Post edited,
my walls are an off-grey (has a tinge of green), and the closest light I could buy was 6400K
But the resultant reflected light is pretty close to neutral white at about 6460K
Kind of by luck really.

My light is a little brighter than Ideal, but i also run my plasma pretty high as far as output goes to combat the large windows and daytime viewing requirements.

 

[Forester XT]

My wife got tired of me using our 65" TV in the living room.
I got a 27" HP Pavilion 27xi computer monitor from Costco. Full HD. It was cheaper and better resolution than HD TVs and other monitors. I would look at the picture from 24" and this was the only one that I couldn't see the pixels. At 24", it appears to be bigger that the TV was. I wear glasses and have a pair that focus at arm's length so it works out great.
At first the colors were off but after I figured out how to adjust the picture it is great. The adjustment was not very intuitive and there were no instructions included or online. Not being a TV, it didn't have a remote with a handy "menu" button. I also turned down the contrast and sharpness to make it look more natural. I have a 20" X 32" piece of granite counter top on an IKEA adjustable desk base to hold the monitor and wheel. It's solid as a rock, literally. Every one that comes by to play is amazed. Of course, there is no sound from a monitor. I use a headset anyway so that just makes my wife happy. We can both hang out in the living room on the sofa. When not playing, I just turn the monitor to the side and move the wheel over and use the table as a desk.

As far as back-lighting our big TV; I got a set of four 10" under cabinet LED strips from IKEA and used the self-stick tape included to stick them to the back of the TV. One on each side and two behind the top which gave a very even light. It has an adjustable color control so I can make it white or any color I want. It was a little too bright so I toned it down by covering them with several layers of Scotch Magic Tape (the invisible stuff that looks frosted).

 

[Anomaly]

My wife got tired of me using our 65" TV in the living room.
I got a 27" HP Pavilion 27xi computer monitor from Costco. Full HD...

The term full HD is only a marketing ploy. They slap the label on the highest resolution of the day. The reality is there's no such thing as "full HD" because resolutions will continue to improve. People called 1080p full HD, but compared with 4k resolution, 1080p is less than a half full glass. The only full HD will come when there are no pixels to measure a count of.

 

[Forester XT]

The term full HD is only a marketing ploy. They slap the label on the highest resolution of the day. The reality is there's no such thing as "full HD" because resolutions will continue to improve. People called 1080p full HD, but compared with 4k resolution, 1080p is less than a half full glass. The only full HD will come when there are no pixels to measure a count of.

Your right. Just slang.
Has anyone tried OLED?

 

[Robbks]

OLED on my phone, does that count.

unsure on OLED yet, for pure realism as if you were "looking through a window", Plasma is still superior in my eyes.
LCD always looks fake/ cartoonish.

Another 5 years and we'll see where technology goes.
OLED is "basically" plasma anyway. Organic phosphors excited by a diode that produce light.

 

[MerleApAmber]

OLED on Sony's headset currently; provides a nice controlled environment but as it hangs on your head, it is a time on station relationship. Oh, and Phillips HUE controllable LEDs are a must see for diy environmental staging. They have a 6 foot controllable strip thread too.

 

[phil_75]

I have a 'THX Cinema' preset on my LG LH5000, should I be using that for my PS3 when gaming as apposed to the standard 'Game' preset I am using now?

As Robbks said, that setting will more than likely have high input lag.

On GT5/6 i find even the slightest difference in input lag makes huge differences in the way i can control the car.

A tip for Samsung users (may work on other makes) is to use the DVI/HDMI input for the PS3 and then name that input PC in the settings.
This puts it in a faster response mode, the image takes a hit as all processing is turned off but its hardly noticeable compared to the much better feel and response from the game.