SomeJoe7777
This is a brief introduction to how to use the HDNet test pattern to to two basic calibration adjustments to your TV.
Record the HDNet Test Pattern
The first thing you need to do is record the HDNet test pattern if you haven't done so already. The test pattern airs once a week on HDNet (channel 1105), at 7:30AM ET/4:30 AM PT Saturday mornings. It is 10 minutes long, and is labeled "Off Air" in the program guide.
The HDNet test pattern runs 10 minutes, and actually consists of 3 different patterns. The first includes color bars and a brightness scale at the bottom, this is the most important pattern. The second is a convergence pattern, which is pretty useless for most of us, as it only applies to rear-projection CRT TVs. The last one is a sharpness pattern, which we'll use briefly to adjust the sharpness.
Component or HDMI
I have tried to perform adjusments with U-Verse on both HDMI and component settings, and I have successfully calibrated on both, but HDMI has a twist to it. See my next post in this thread for the details regarding HDMI. To summarize, there are some TVs where an extra setting will be required to get a proper calibration on HDMI, and there are some TVs where getting a proper adjustment on HDMI will be impossible. For the easiest calibration, I recommend you use the Component (Y-Pb-Pr) connection.
Initial Settings
There are some settings on your TV that we need to set first. On most of today's TVs, these settings are independently retained by the TV for each different input. You must do the adjustments with your TV selected to the U-Verse input. This shouldn't be a problem when using the recorded HDNet test pattern, as you'll have to have the U-Verse input selected to see the recording. But I mention this because it would not work properly to switch your TV to a DVD input, adjust it using a DVD with test patterns, and then switch back to the U-Verse input.
Also, most TVs nowdays have several "preset" modes available that are variously labeled, such as "Movie", "Cinema", "Standard", "Normal", "Sports", "Vivid", etc. Most of the time, you need to set this to "User" or "Custom" in order to be able to change the base settings. Start with the "Standard" or "Normal" settings, and then switch to "User"/"Custom" to be able to change everything else.
Color Temperature: A few TVs do not have this setting, but if yours does, I recommend setting this to "Neutral" or "Medium". This is somewhat a matter of personal preference. "Warm" settings tend towards the color balance used in movies, whereas "Cool" tends towards the color balance used for sports.
Automatic Brigtness: Some TVs have an automatic or dynamic brightness setting, variously labeled "Auto Brightness", "Dynamic Brightness", "Energy Saver", "Advanced IRIS", etc. This needs to be turned off.
Noise Reduction: Some TVs have settings for noise reduction or MPEG artifact reduction. I recommend you start with these settings turned off, and later turn them on at a low setting to see how they look. With the proper adjustment we're about to do, you may find that you don't need this.
Other Settings: If you have any other advanced settings on your TV such as White Balance, Color Space, Black Correction, Gamma, etc, set these to their default settings, or "Off" if it's an On/Off feature.
Brightness and Contrast
These are the two most important adjustments and the ones we'll be adjusting using the HDNet test pattern.
Brightness
To adjust brightness (may be labeled "black level" on your TV), bring up the brightness adjustment control in your TV menu while viewing the HDNet test pattern 1 (the color bars). At the bottom of the test pattern is a brightness scale consisting of 11 squares that proceed from a bright white square with a "0" in it (the "0" may not be visible) through gray squares, finally ending in a black square with a "10" in it (the "10" may not be visible).
Turn your brightness control up/down until the "10" in the black square is just barely visible in a dark room. The "10" should be such that if you were to turn the brightness level down one more notch, the "10" would disappear.
Contrast
To adjust contrast (may be labeled "picture" or "white level" on your TV), bring up the contrast control in your TV menu while viewing the same HDNet test pattern 1 (the color bars) that you used in the brightness step.
This one is a little more difficult to adjust because the U-Verse outputs seem to be slightly out of spec, and have whites that are a bit too high. Theoretically, what should be done here is to raise/lower the contrast setting until the "0" in the leftmost white square is just barely visible. However, you may not be able to get the "0" to be visible under any setting of contrast on your TV. In this case, turn your contrast up to brighten your whites, but stop turning up the contrast when any of the following occurs:
- The "1" in the second square begins to disappear.
- The first white square "blooms" or begins to get larger than the other squares.
- The first white square begins to change color from white. DLP TVs in particular will start to color this square pinkish when the contrast gets too high.
- Your TV geometry begins to get non-linear, such as when the vertical white bar on the left side of the screen begins to "bow" or show that the line between it and the yellow bar deviates from a straight line.
- You cannot see a difference in the white between the first and second squares. (The second square should actually be a very light gray, not pure white).
At this point, the contrast is now correctly set.
Because the contrast adjustment can affect the brightness adjustment on many TVs, recheck the brightness setting using the black box with the "10" in it. You may need to go back and readjust both the brightness and contrast a few times before you find the right balance.
Color Adjustments
Unfortunately, it is not possible to do proper color adjustments with the HDNet test pattern, because the proper color bars are not next to each other (white has to be next to blue, and magenta has to be next to cyan). If you want to adjust the color and tint, you need to purchase one of the calibration DVDs I talk about below.
Sharpness Adjustment
Fast forward the HDNet test pattern to the 3rd pattern (the sharpness pattern).
Sharpness is an adjustment on TVs that emphasizes edges of objects. Unfortunately, this also blurs fine detail. It is advantageous to actually turn your sharpness down or off to avoid this problem.
In the sharpness pattern, you will see many fine black lines on a gray background on the set in various places in the pattern. If the sharpness is set too high, there will be white bands that appear in between the black lines, obscuring the gray background. Turn the sharpness down until the white bands go away and the gray background is visible betwen all black lines. This enables your TV to reveal fine detail that is otherwise obscured by the sharpness control.
Convergence Adjustment
This is applicable only to people who have rear-projection CRT TVs. The second HDNet test pattern is a series of white crosses on a black background. If you have a rear-projection CRT TV, bring up the convergence adjustment (see your TV manual) and adjust the red/green/blue convergence until all the crosses are pure white, with no red or blue fringe visible at the edges of each cross. This is hard to do, because each time you adjust the convergence for a certain part of the screen, this tends to alter the convergence in another part of the screen. You may want to have a professional ISF calibration done by a certified technician if you have a rear-projection CRT TV, as they are notoriously hard to adjust.
We're Done!
At this point, you have a fairly well-adjusted TV for U-Verse. You may notice the amount of MPEG compression and noise that is visible now, as the factory-setting modes tend to hide that fine detail. If this is the case and you have a "Noise Reduction" or "MPEG Artifact Reduction" setting, you may try turning it on now. Unfortunately, these settings blur fine detail, defeating the purpose of the adjustment you just did, but you may want to see what they look like nevertheless.
Options for More Advanced Adjustment
If you'd like to perform more advanced adjustments for your TV, there are several options.
The least expensive is to use one of the calibration DVDs, such as:
- Digital Video Essentials DVD
- Digital Video Essentials Blu-Ray
- Avia 2 Guide to Home Theater
These calibration DVDs have step-by-step instructions for all adjustments, including color and tint adjustments using the included color filters. They also typically have an audio setup section so that you can verify your surround sound setup. Be aware that if you use one of these to calibrate your TV for U-Verse, you will need to temporarily plug your DVD or Blu-Ray player into the same input you're using for U-Verse so that you're adjusting the correct input.
A more expensive option, but one that will give you near ISF-quality calibration is the SpyderTV. This is a hardware colorimeter that uses a laptop and specialized software to adjust the TV. I have one, it works very well.
Cables
Just a word on cables: I of course recommend you use good cables, as bad ones will cause problems. But component and HDMI cables do NOT have to be expensive. Monoprice.com offers a premium set of component cables for only $10.28, and HDMI 1.3a/Category 2 cables for $4.74.
Remember: Friends don't let friends buy Monster. 
Edit 12/14/2008: Changed "Component or HDMI" section to reflect new information regarding HDMI calibration.
Edit 12/15/2008: Fixed some wording related to HDMI and component connections throughout. Update Monoprice.com cable links and pricing.
SomeJoe7777
SomeJoe7777
hpmsrm wrote:I did not mean to infer that your material came from any other source. It's an excellent chapter and verse on proper adjustment and must have taken quite a bit of thought and effort. I used the term "compilation" to mean "collection" of your own thoughts. Sorry if it came across any other way.
Phil
No problem, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew where I was coming from. I had an incident on another forum where I was accused of plagiarism, and I had to battle for a while to clear my name.
Now for the good news: 
I was able to get my TV properly adjusted using HDMI inputs as well. Here's the deal:
HDMI sends the brightness of each pixel as three 8-bit color values (total 24 bits per pixel). So, in decimal, the red color value can be 0-255, the green color value can be 0-255, and the blue color value can be 0-255.
The problems arise because there are two ways to interpret the 8-bit color values. For the computer/VGA interpretation, the values are interpreted as 0 being pure black, and 255 being pure saturated color. Thus the RGB combination of 0,0,0 is pure black. 255,255,255 is pure white. 0,255,0 is pure green, etc. This is the interpretation that the U-Verse STB is using.
Unfortunately, the more common interpretation is the normal TV scale interpretation, which is leftover from the way that the DV standard records on tape in camcorders. In this scale, 16 is considered the pure black, and 235 is considered the full saturated color. Thus, 16,16,16 is pure black, 235,235,235 is pure white. 0,0,0 is "blacker than black", and 255,255,255 is "whiter than white".
Crushed blacks occur when the U-Verse STB is sending information using the 0-255 scale, and your TV is interpreting the received information using the 16-235 scale, which is what was happening to my setup. Either interpretation is legal to use over HDMI, but there is a setup/configuration procedure that the two devices are supposed to use so that they agree on which standard to use. One of two things is happening:
1) The U-Verse STB is negotiating the 16-235 scale, but is actually sending the 0-255 scale. Or,
2) The U-Verse STB is not properly performing the negotiating procedure at all, and the TV is defaulting to use the 16-235 scale.
I fixed this with a setting in my TV. I have a setting called "RGB Dynamic Range" under my video options. In this menu, there is a setting for each HDMI input that allows you to select "Auto", "Limited" or "Full". I previously had it set on "Auto", which I assume would follow the negotiation procedure, which isn't working. The "Limited" setting corresponds to interpreting the RGB data as 16-235. The "Full" setting corresponds to interpreting the RGB data as 0-255. I switched this to "Full", and immediately was able to get a perfect calibration for brightness on the HDNet test pattern.
Unfortunately, not all TVs are going to have this option. (My TV is a Sony Bravia KDS-55A3000). If your TV doesn't, there are two ways this could go:
1) Your TV properly negotiates with the U-Verse STB and displays everything on HDMI properly, or it doesn't properly negotiate, but defaults to using the 0-255 scale so that everything displays properly anyway.
2) You get an incorrect display with no recourse except to switch to Component.
If you can't tell if your TV is properly displaying the HDMI data or not, then perform the HDNet test pattern adjustment as I outlined in the first post in the thread, and then look carefully at your picture. If your TV is using the 16-235 scale, the brightness of the overall picture will look too bright, with washed-out looking colors and a "hazy" look in many darker parts of the picture. In this case, you'l have to find the RGB Dynamic Range adjustment (if your TV has it) or switch to component.
I hope this helps and explains why some people may be seeing crushed blacks on HDMI while other people aren't.
SomeJoe, on my Panasonic plasma I have a 'black level' control that has 'light' and 'dark'. 'Light' looks very good/natural, but 'dark' makes everything darker and the backgrounds pretty much just black. Could this be a 0:255, 16:235 switch like your "RGB Dynamic Range" on your Sony? 
Chris
I want Good weather w/radar & 6 day forecast -coming soon!
I want CBET Channel 9 Please NO SD stretch-o-vision HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
SomeJoe7777
mibrnsurg wrote:SomeJoe, on my Panasonic plasma I have a 'black level' control that has 'light' and 'dark'. 'Light' looks very good/natural, but 'dark' makes everything darker and the backgrounds pretty much just black. Could this be a 0:255, 16:235 switch like your "RGB Dynamic Range" on your Sony?
It's possible it is the same kind of setting. What model is your Panasonic? Maybe we can look it up.
SomeJoe7777
SomeJoe7777 wrote:
hpmsrm wrote:I did not mean to infer that your material came from any other source. It's an excellent chapter and verse on proper adjustment and must have taken quite a bit of thought and effort. I used the term "compilation" to mean "collection" of your own thoughts. Sorry if it came across any other way.
Phil
No problem, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew where I was coming from. I had an incident on another forum where I was accused of plagiarism, and I had to battle for a while to clear my name.
Now for the good news:
I was able to get my TV properly adjusted using HDMI inputs as well. Here's the deal:
HDMI sends the brightness of each pixel as three 8-bit color values (total 24 bits per pixel). So, in decimal, the red color value can be 0-255, the green color value can be 0-255, and the blue color value can be 0-255.
The problems arise because there are two ways to interpret the 8-bit color values. For the computer/VGA interpretation, the values are interpreted as 0 being pure black, and 255 being pure saturated color. Thus the RGB combination of 0,0,0 is pure black. 255,255,255 is pure white. 0,255,0 is pure green, etc. This is the interpretation that the U-Verse STB is using.
Unfortunately, the more common interpretation is the normal TV scale interpretation, which is leftover from the way that the DV standard records on tape in camcorders. In this scale, 16 is considered the pure black, and 235 is considered the full saturated color. Thus, 16,16,16 is pure black, 235,235,235 is pure white. 0,0,0 is "blacker than black", and 255,255,255 is "whiter than white".
Crushed blacks occur when the U-Verse STB is sending information using the 0-255 scale, and your TV is interpreting the received information using the 16-235 scale, which is what was happening to my setup. Either interpretation is legal to use over HDMI, but there is a setup/configuration procedure that the two devices are supposed to use so that they agree on which standard to use. One of two things is happening:
1) The U-Verse STB is negotiating the 16-235 scale, but is actually sending the 0-255 scale. Or,
2) The U-Verse STB is not properly performing the negotiating procedure at all, and the TV is defaulting to use the 16-235 scale.
I fixed this with a setting in my TV. I have a setting called "RGB Dynamic Range" under my video options. In this menu, there is a setting for each HDMI input that allows you to select "Auto", "Limited" or "Full". I previously had it set on "Auto", which I assume would follow the negotiation procedure, which isn't working. The "Limited" setting corresponds to interpreting the RGB data as 16-235. The "Full" setting corresponds to interpreting the RGB data as 0-255. I switched this to "Full", and immediately was able to get a perfect calibration for brightness on the HDNet test pattern.
Unfortunately, not all TVs are going to have this option. (My TV is a Sony Bravia KDS-55A3000). If your TV doesn't, there are two ways this could go:
1) Your TV properly negotiates with the U-Verse STB and displays everything on HDMI properly, or it doesn't properly negotiate, but defaults to using the 0-255 scale so that everything displays properly anyway.
2) You get an incorrect display with no recourse except to switch to Component.
If you can't tell if your TV is properly displaying the HDMI data or not, then perform the HDNet test pattern adjustment as I outlined in the first post in the thread, and then look carefully at your picture. If your TV is using the 16-235 scale, the brightness of the overall picture will look too bright, with washed-out looking colors and a "hazy" look in many darker parts of the picture. In this case, you'll have to find the RGB Dynamic Range adjustment (if your TV has it) or switch to component.
I hope this helps and explains why some people may be seeing crushed blacks on HDMI while other people aren't.
Wish I knew what this all means, but this fall right in my category of my problem. I have a DLP Samsung hls4666w and cannot for the life of me get my blacks to "calm down" with HDMI. I have dynamic settings in my service menu but I have tried to change some of them and no avail.
On component I was fine before but since I switched to HDMI my blacks went really black on both component and HDMI (I can use both at the same time)
I used the HDnet calibration recording and everything is great, colors detail etc... (except for black) but I fall in that categorie of blacks being very dark and can't see anything in a night scene. all the detail is blacked out.
Not sure if it is a setting on my TV or if it is a TV to STB deal???
SomeJoe7777
On my Panasonic plasma TH42PZ80U (same as the 85U) has the 'black level' "light" or "dark" choices, the "light" setting gives the natural setting and "dark" tends to make the backgrounds (and the whole picture sightly) darker.
Chris
I want Good weather w/radar & 6 day forecast -coming soon!
I want CBET Channel 9 Please NO SD stretch-o-vision HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
SomeJoe7777
the 'green free color' on the test pattern is very bright...
SomeJoe7777
showtime48 wrote:
ok joe, recorded the test pattern saturday, when can you be here to do my FREE calibration?.
Hehe ... are you in Houston? We should have a calibration party ... invite all the Houstonites. Where's spd2demun? 
SomeJoe7777 wrote:
showtime48 wrote:
ok joe, recorded the test pattern saturday, when can you be here to do my FREE calibration?.
Hehe ... are you in Houston? We should have a calibration party ...
SomeJoe7777
SomeJoe7777
SomeJoe7777