…Optimize your HDTV picture

By Bill Pfleging

That new HDTV looked so sharp in the brightly lit store. But now that it’s home in your darkened living room, it might need some tweaking. Here's how you can make that picture pop:

1. Calibrate the picture settings The factory default settings of HDTV sets are optimized for the showroom, not for your living room, making it too bright for your darkened room. Using a DVD such as Monster/ISF's HDTV Calibration Wizard ($30) should do the trick. Calibration DVDs contain a specially designed series of tests and test patterns to get the settings right. And if you don't want to spend the money on a calibration disc, you can get almost the same capabilities with any movie DVD that includes the THX Optimizer (it will be listed on the box). Like the commercial calibration discs, the Optimizer walks you through a series of steps to adjust your display.

2. Add an inline amplifier Weak signals can drop in and out, causing programs to break up into pixels and then back to normal. Ask your cable or satellite installer to check if DTV signals are strong enough for your set-top box. If the signals are too weak, a commercial-quality inline amplifier costing about $80 will provide the needed boost. If you receive digital TV signals off-air, install a preamplifier for about $60 at the antenna to boost signal strength. “My cable signal was just too weak, and I almost returned the HDTV to the store,” said Michael Belfiore, author of Rocketeers (Smithsonian Press 2008). “But the dealer suggested I try an amplifier, and bingo -- worked like magic! Now it's gorgeous!”

3. Hire a pro Only two things separate a professional calibration from the one you can do -- knowledge and tools. An HDTV calibration professional should be trained and certified, not to mention experienced. He or she will also have invested in much better equipment than what's available to the average individual, giving a much more precise calibration. If you have a professional calibration done, make sure you choose someone certified and trained by the Imaging Science Foundation (or ISF). You can find a calibration professional by searching the listing on ISF's Web site.