2. home-theater
  3. 1052063525

Zen and the art of home theatre adjustments

All things being equal what is the general principle involved in adjusting home theatre parameters when controls on two pieces of equipment are redundant.
For instance, do you get a better picture if you adjust the color saturation using the video control on the Sony 9000ES DVD player or if you adjust the same parameter using the video control on your Mitsubishi big screen. Do you do a combination of both or does one piece of equipment get adjusted first. Is there a hierarchy to the order?
Same thing for sound...turn up the gain on the back of the subwoofer or do the same adjustment using the gain control on the processor.
What is the choice, from a theoretical perspective, that yields the best sound or picture. Is there a "general principle" involved or am I forever doomed to fiddle with these parameters forever in endless combinations and permutations.
The flip side of which is how much time in your viewing/listening sessions is taken up in adjustments of parameters. Is there any home theatre set-up that automatically remembers your complete last set of adjustments (both audio and video) as it relates to the various source materials that you've previously selected and "adjusted" for.

Otherwise, like me, do you all listen/watch with remote(s) clutched firmly in hand(s)?
arlenm

Showing 1 response by edesilva

edesilva
768 posts
 
I'm a tweaker myself. I'd recommend picking up a decent video calibration DVD like the AVIA home theater disc and following the sequence they lay out. There is a "better" way of sequencing adjustments so that you end up with a decent result.

Based on the fact that you probably have multiple video sources, I typically leave the sources on the most "default" settings possible and tweak the monitor--most monitors, for example, have significant red push. If you fix that by calibrating your DVD player, you'll still have the red pushed when watching DSS.

If you have a really high end video system, getting a certified calibrator may well be worth it. There are a range of settings for most monitors that consumers don't routinely have access too--mainly because you can damage your set if you don't know what you are doing. If you are careful, do so research on www.avsforum.com and poke around on the web--you can find loads of set-specific information, including how to get access to nonstandard controls.
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