Calibration Notes for Video Reviews

The Perfect Vision #73, December 2006

LG 50PC1DRA | Panasonic TH-50PX60U | Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1 | Sony VPL-VW50 | Westinghouse LVM-47w1

LG 50PC1DRA

Out of the box, the color decoder was off, Brightness and Contrast were high, and the grayscale was blue. Unlike the majority of flat-panel displays we have evaluated, this one did not seem to have excessive edge enhancement, a move in the right direction. Calibration corrected the color decoder and improved contrast ratio, grayscale, and various other picture parameters. Frequency response appeared to be rolling off, but it was difficult to say where due to image processing (overscan) with 1920x1080 signals, which could be contributing to the rolloff. The set's contrast ratio may not appear to be the best, but it is important to note that the amount of noise near black was significantly less than what we are used to seeing on other displays in its class. The display failed many of the HQV video-processing tests, including 3:2 pulldown, even when the 3:2 mode was engaged.

Panasonic TH-50PX60U

Out of the box, the color decoding was incorrect, color saturation was too high, and edge enhancement was apparent. Black level appeared to be low, but it was dynamic and changed with APL; this appears to be disabled in the Cinema picture mode. The color decoding error is an internal matrix issue--even with an RGB input, color decoding is incorrect. After aligning the Color and Tint controls, the primaries remained constant while the secondaries changed, indicating a color-decoding error in the system. The set applied the same color-decoding error to both HD and SD sources. To correct for the red push in the decoder, color saturation had to be reduced. Gamma was also incorrect and did not appear to be adjustable. The user controls are tied to picture modes, not inputs, but you can correct each mode and assign them to different inputs.

Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1

Out of the box, this display exhibited edge enhancement and the color decoder was not aligned. The grayscale was significantly blue, but the overall light output was approximately 30fL, which fits the specification of a broadcast display monitor. The display came in the Standard picture mode with the Mid color-temp preset selected, but the Movie mode with the Low color temp was closest to correct, though not as close as you can get with a full calibration. To optimize the system's performance, Pioneer and DataColor make a custom ISF C3 software package that allows a professional calibrator equipped with the proper instrumentation and knowledge to customize every input for both day and night viewing.

With a 1080p/60 input, the display clipped all information below black and some of the information above white. In addition, the frequency response severely rolled off at 1080p/60. There appeared to be some kind of dynamic circuitry that was affecting black and white level based on APL. Contrast ratio was lacking; however, it is important to note that the noise near black was lower than any other plasma we have seen to date. Color primaries and secondaries were off, and even with Pioneer's color management system, they could not be adjusted to broadcast standards.

Sony VPL-VW50

Out of the box, black level was low, color decoding was incorrect, and Contrast was high. Pre-calibration grayscale was blue and the color primaries/secondaries did not meet the standard. With a significant amount of work, the display's grayscale could be calibrated quite well; however, calibration was quite difficult, with lots of interaction between controls. White uniformity was poor, leading to low ANSI contrast. With our limited evaluation, we were unable to determine if this was due to the screen or the projector itself. The projector's processing did quite well on the HQV test disc, though it did not pass every test; for example, the projector rolled off chroma frequency response quite a bit. The display was not capable of fully resolving 1080i material as indicated by looking at a 1080i pixel phase pattern. It was able to resolve 1080p with only slight rolloff at the highest frequency.

Westinghouse LVM-47w1

Out of the box, the image was shifted to the left, enough so that it did not completely fill the screen on the right side. Changing the sync on our AccuPel test-pattern generator corrected this. Color decoding was off with undersaturated colors. HD appeared to be decoded using the 601 SD color matrix. Edge enhancement was almost non-existent from the get go. The display appeared to go out to the Nyquist frequency with 1080i material, it was only on still images; motion images caused rolloff of high frequencies. The processing did better than most on the assorted-cadences test from the HQV disc, but it fell short in other areas. The off-axis viewing of the display was poor.

The Perfect Vision video specialist David Abrams is available for home theater consulting and video display calibration; he can be contacted at www.avical.com.

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