White level/ Picture

[tcm5]

I just purchased a Panasonic TH-42PX75U Plasma and have been going through calibration with both the Avia and DVE disks, played through an Oppo 981 DVD player, with good results. My question is (given a standard darkened room) is there a way to select the right white level or is it purely an issue of taste. The Avia disk states "Adjust your white level until the right hand side bar of the two moving white bars becomes invisible. Then bring down the setting until the right hand side bar becomes just slghtly visible". With the Panasonic and my Sony before that, I can see both white bars across all the white level settings. I realize that getting full contrast across a greyscale step pattern is a combination of both white and black levels, but I can achieve this with a wide range of white levels. High levels of white are overly bright and low levels make the picture look dull. Is there a correct white level or is it up to taste. Can anybody comment on this issue?

 

[FORDRACEFAN]

I am having the same problem. I am using the Halo 3 calibration disk on my Panasonic 58PZ700 and I am having trouble adjusting the contrast. It has a white screen with shaded images in and it tells you to turn the contrast up until you can't see the images, and then back the contrast down until you can just start to see the image. My problem is, even when I turn the picture setting (which I believe is contrast) all the up I can still clearly see the image. My other settings are brightness 15, color +3, tint -1, sharpness at 5 and warm color. I have the color management and the C.?.?. set to off. Is there some other way to adjust the contrast? I have also tried using the THX optimizer with similiar results.

 

[tcm5]

Contrast

I think I have solved the problem or should I say, I have reached a final calibration I am happy with. The Avia and DVE disks have crossed step scale diplays. http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/Video-calibration.html Go to the bottom of the page at this site to see them. Using the DVE scale I was able to achieve good contrast and brightness settings. I have listed my settings below. I think your set has the same menus as mine. let me know if they work out.

Normal No
Picture mode Cinema
Picture +12
Brightness +14
Color -1
Tint +1
Sharpness -15
Color Temp Warm
Color Mgmt On

Other Adjustments

Video NR Off
3D Y/C Filter Off
Color Matrix HD
MPEG NR Off
Black Level Light