You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a better picture from your TV. Our instructions and a $30 disc are all you need to perform a basic calibration.

您无需花大价钱就可以从电视上获得更好的图像。 执行基本校准只需要我们的说明和30美元的光盘。

By Will Greenwald

由 威尔·格林沃尔德

You can get a much better picture out of your TV by calibrating it. Professional calibration is a time-consuming and expensive process that requires special equipment and training, but you can tweak your TV to look better by spending only $30 on a test disc and taking half an hour to play with some settings. Our instructions will walk you through a very basic calibration process based on Imaging Science Foundation methods and require no experience on your part. All you have to do is order a Spears & Munsil HD 2.0 Benchmark and Calibration Disc and follow the seven steps below.

通过校准，您可以从电视上获得更好的图像。 专业校准是一个耗时且昂贵的过程，需要特殊的设备和培训，但您可以调整电视，使其外观更好，只需在测试光盘上花费30美元，并花费半个小时进行一些设置即可。 我们的说明将引导您完成基于Imaging Science Foundation方法的非常基本的校准过程，并且不需要任何经验。 您所需要做的就是订购Spears＆Munsil HD 2.0基准和校准光盘，并按照以下七个步骤进行操作。

The Spears & Munsil disc is a very useful tool for consumers looking to calibrate their TVs or just understand more about how video signals work. It’s recommended by ISF founder and president Joel Silver and comes with extensive instructions both on the disc and in the booklet, but many of them are unnecessary and can be disregarded unless you’re a professional and familiar with TV calibration to begin with.

Spears＆Munsil光盘对于希望校准电视或仅了解视频信号工作原理的消费者来说是非常有用的工具。 它是ISF创始人兼总裁Joel Silver推荐的，在光盘和手册中均附带有详尽的说明，但是其中许多都是不必要的，除非您是专业人员并且熟悉电视校准，否则可以忽略它们。

This is a standard Blu-ray disc, so it doesn’t reach 4K resolution or offer calibration for HDR content. Spears & Munsil is putting the finishing touches on its Ultra HD Blu-ray calibration disc, which will support testing and calibration for 4K and HDR content. We’ll take a look at that disc when it launches, and for now you can still tweak your TV to get better colors and contrast with the current disc.

这是标准的蓝光光盘，因此无法达到4K分辨率或无法对HDR内容进行校准。 Spears＆Munsil正在对其Ultra HD Blu-ray校准光盘进行画龙点睛，它将支持对4K和HDR内容进行测试和校准。 我们将在启动时查看该光盘，现在，您仍然可以调整电视以与当前光盘获得更好的色彩和对比度。

1. Find the Best Picture Mode You’ll get the best results by starting in the correct picture mode. This is the general mode that dictates many of the television’s individual picture settings, and often enables some of the higher level options for making calibration adjustments. Ideally, your television will have an ISF picture mode, which means it provides a complete suite of settings to perform a full calibration (you won’t need to touch most of them; that’s for professionals). Otherwise, look for any Cinema or Theater mode and start from there. If those aren’t available, look for Custom. Stay away from any Vivid, Game, or Sports modes.

1.找到最佳图片模式从正确的图片模式开始，您将获得最佳效果。 这是一般模式，它决定了电视的许多单独图像设置，并且通常启用某些更高级别的选项来进行校准调整。 理想情况下，您的电视将具有ISF图像模式，这意味着它提供了一套完整的设置来执行全面校准(您无需触摸大多数设置；这是针对专业人士的)。 否则，寻找任何电影或剧院模式，然后从那里开始。 如果这些都不可用，请查找“自定义”。 远离任何生动，游戏或运动模式。

2. Use the Warmest Color Temperature Setting Once you find a mode that seems right, look for the Color Temperature setting and make sure it’s set to Warm. This works with the picture mode to produce, for most modern TVs, fairly accurate colors across the board. You can get pinpoint precision for color levels with a full white balance/RGBCMY calibration, but that requires a calibration professional with special equipment. For most consumers, the warmest color temperature preset will do the job.

2.使用最暖的色温设置找到正确的模式后，请查找“色温”设置，并确保将其设置为“暖色”。 这适用于图片模式，对于大多数现代电视，都可以产生相当准确的色彩。 通过全白平衡/ RGBCMY校准可以获得色彩级别的精确精度，但是这需要专业的校准专家和特殊的设备。 对于大多数消费者而言，最暖的色温预设将起作用。

3. Turn Off Unnecessary Picture Features Your TV probably comes with several options designed to let it tweak the picture settings on the fly to ideally suit whatever you’re looking at. They have their place, but they’re the bane of calibration. You need to make sure the test patterns you’re looking at are displayed with fixed settings and that the TV isn’t adjusting them while you’re working. In your TV’s picture settings menu, look for any submenu that sounds like Advanced Picture, Expert Picture, or Picture Options. Disable any feature with the words Adaptive, Dynamic, Motion, Processing, or Smoothing. While you’re there, make sure Overscan is turned off, if it’s an option (this will help in the next step).

3.关闭不必要的图片功能您的电视可能带有几个选项，旨在让它即时调整图片设置以理想地适合您所看的任何内容。 他们有自己的位置，但它们是校准的祸根。 您需要确保正在查看的测试图案以固定设置显示，并且在工作时电视不会调整它们。 在电视的图片设置菜单中，查找听起来像“高级图片”，“专家图片”或“图片选项”的任何子菜单。 使用“自适应”，“动态”，“运动”，“处理”或“平滑”一词禁用任何功能。 当您在那里时，请确保“过扫描”已关闭(如果可以选择)(这将在下一步中有所帮助)。

Incidentally, disabling any motion-enhancing features will reduce that jarring soap opera effect many users dislike. Motion enhancements have their place, often in live sports or video games, but most movies and TV shows are much more pleasant to watch with them turned off. Our guide to refresh rates offers a deeper explanation of just what these modes do and whether it matters that your TV is 60, 120, or 240Hz.

顺便说一句，禁用任何运动增强功能将减少许多用户不喜欢的刺激性肥皂剧效果。 运动增强功能在现场体育或视频游戏中通常会占有一席之地，但是大多数电影和电视节目在关闭时观看起来都更加愉悦。 我们的刷新率指南对这些模式的作用以及电视60、120或240Hz的重要性是否有更深入的解释。

4. Check Picture Geometry No matter how you adjust other settings, your TV will look best if it is set to display whatever you’re watching in the right aspect ratio. This can be a problem for cable boxes if you’re flipping between HD and SD channels, but otherwise you should be able to set everything up to display pictures at their native resolution. Look for a button on your remote or a setting in your Picture menu called Aspect Ratio, Picture Size, or Zoom. Make sure it’s set to Normal or Just Scan. Don’t select anything called Wide, Zoom, 3:4, or 16:9.

4.检查图片的几何形状无论您如何调整其他设置，如果将电视设置为以正确的纵横比显示正在观看的任何内容，则电视将看起来最佳。 如果要在高清和标清频道之间切换，这对于电缆盒来说可能是个问题，但否则，您应该可以将所有内容设置为以其原始分辨率显示图片。 在遥控器上查找按钮，或在“图片”菜单中查找名为“长宽比”，“图片大小”或“缩放”的设置。 确保将其设置为“普通”或“仅扫描”。 不要选择“宽屏”，“缩放”，“ 3：4”或“ 16：9”。

You can check that the picture geometry is correct with the Spears & Munsil disc. Under Advanced Video, select Setup and then Framing. A test pattern will appear that displays the boundaries of various resolutions. If your TV is 1080p, the white arrows pointing at the 1920 x 1080 lines will touch the edge of the screen. If you have an ultra high-definition ( UHD, or 4K) TV, you can still use the 1080p lines to check your screen geometry; they’re the same proportions, and most video sources still output at 1080p, so your TV needs to be able to handle that signal properly regardless.

您可以使用Spears＆Munsil光盘检查图片的几何形状是否正确。 在高级视频下，选择设置，然后选择取景。 将出现一个测试图案，显示各种分辨率的边界。 如果您的电视是1080p，则指向1920 x 1080线的白色箭头将触摸屏幕的边缘。 如果您拥有超高清( UHD或4K )电视，则仍然可以使用1080p线来检查屏幕的几何形状。 它们的比例相同，大多数视频源仍以1080p输出，因此您的电视需要能够正确处理该信号。

5. Set Contrast This is where the Spears & Munsil disc becomes useful. You’re going to adjust the Brightness and Contrast settings using PLUGE test charts on the disc. In the main menu of the disc, select Video Calibration and then Contrast. Adjust the Contrast setting on your television until the numbered bars below 238 are distinct shades of gray, and the numbered bars above 238 are white. The gray boxes surrounding the ten colored squares on the top and bottom of the screen should be visible, and the gradient in the middle should ramp down smoothly from a white band in the center to black on the sides.

5.设置对比度这是Spears＆Munsil光盘变得有用的地方。 您将使用光盘上的PLUGE测试图调整亮度和对比度设置。 在光盘的主菜单中，选择“视频校准”，然后选择“对比度”。 调整电视上的“对比度”设置，直到238以下的数字条为明显的灰色阴影，而238以上的数字条为白色。 屏幕顶部和底部的十个彩色正方形周围的灰色框应该是可见的，中间的渐变应该从中间的白色带平滑地倾斜到侧面的黑色。

6. Set Brightness It sounds counterintuitive, but the Brightness setting of your TV actually adjusts black level. Press right on your Blu-ray player’s remote to go to the Brightness test pattern. Crank up the Brightness setting of your TV until all four gray bars in the middle are visible, then slowly turn the Brightness down until just the two right bars are visible and the two left bars have disappeared into the background.

6.设置亮度听起来似乎违反直觉，但是电视的“亮度”设置实际上会调整黑电平。 在您的Blu-ray播放器遥控器上按向右以转到“亮度”测试图案。 增大电视的“亮度”设置，直到中间的所有四个灰色条都可见，然后慢慢将“亮度”调低，直到只有两个右条可见，而两个左栏消失在背景中。

7. Note Your Settings If you followed these instructions, your TV should now be calibrated as well as it can be without professional equipment. Ignore the instructions on tweaking color or sharpness in the Video Calibration menu; the vast majority of TVs sold in the last few years have sorted out those settings as defaults that work pretty solidly, and trying to change them can lead to picture errors.

7.记下您的设置如果您按照这些说明进行操作，则应该对电视进行校准，并且无需专业设备即可进行校准。 忽略“视频校准”菜单中有关调整颜色或清晰度的说明； 过去几年中出售的绝大多数电视都将这些设置作为默认设置进行了分类，这些设置可以很好地起作用，而尝试更改它们会导致图像错误。

You can check your results by going into the Demonstration Materials menu and looking at some of the video clips. They should look full of detail in both light and shadow, with fine textures appearing distinct. Colors should look natural and not garish or tinted blue or pink.

您可以进入“演示材料”菜单并查看一些视频片段来检查结果。 它们应该在光线和阴影下看起来都充满细节，细腻的纹理看起来也很明显。 颜色应看起来自然，而不是扎眼或蓝色或粉红色。

Write down the Picture setting, Color Temperature setting, and any features you disabled, along with the Brightness and Contrast levels. If you make changes in the future, you can fix any problems that arise with the picture by resetting the TV to default settings and using your notes.

记下“图片”设置，“色温”设置以及您禁用的所有功能，以及“亮度”和“对比度”级别。 如果将来进行更改，可以通过将电视重置为默认设置并使用笔记来解决图片出现的任何问题。

Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on December 26, 2019.

最初于 2019年12月26日 发布在 https://www.pcmag.com 。