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How to tune up your TV
Before you spend hundreds of dollars on a new television set before the Super Bowl, your existing TV may just need to be tuned up. And you can tune it yourself for free.
HOUSTON - Before you spend hundreds of dollars on a new television set before the Super Bowl, your existing TV may just need to be tuned up. And you can tune it yourself for free.
Consumer Reports says many people have had their TV's on the wrong settings since they bought them without knowing it.
"If you do buy a new TV, a lot of people just leave it on the settings, you know, the out of box settings when you open it up," explained television expert James Willcox of Consumer Reports.
Willcox says manufacturers often put new TV's on low brightness settings to meet Energy Star goals, and cranked older TV's up to what's called "torch mode" to make pictures pop in the store.
First, many newer TV's let you choose a pre-set mode, such as 'Vivid,' 'Dynamic,' "Sports," "Movie," or "Cinema."
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He says don't use the Sports mode for anything, not even for watching sports.
"What it's going to do is artificially boost the contrast, the colors, the brightness, and it's going to give you an unnatural looking image," said Willcox.
He says the best pre-set modes are 'Natural,' 'Cinema,' or 'Filmmaker.'
You can also calibrate the best picture yourself. First, he says freeze a dark scene on the screen and turn the Brightness all the way up until you see details in the darkest parts.
"Then slowly lower the Brightness, because you want to get the blacks looking as black as they can, but still maintain those details that you were able to see," he said.
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Next, use a white image on the screen to lower the Contrast until you see details in the lightest part. Then turn up the Contrast gradually to the brightest level where you don't lose those details.
Use warm or low Color settings, so that white doesn't appear too blue.
Then set the Tint for natural skin tones.
"It allows you to adjust skin tones so that people don't look too pink, or they don't look Yellowish green," said Willcox.
On high quality HD TV's, he says, turn Sharpness and Noise Reduction to zero because they're not needed. Only add Sharpness gradually if images appear soft. Then store your settings, sit back, and enjoy your freshly tuned TV.
If you're not technologically savvy, you can also hire a professional to tune your TV for about $100. Consumer Reports also gives its members its TV Screen Optimizer, a guide to what it found are the optimal settings for different types of TVs.
While you are making adjustments, you can also download the free FOX Local app on your smart TV. It will enable you to watch FOX 26 Houston newscasts, local shows, such as our money-saving show Dollars & Sense, and special content that you won't find on TV or our website.