Xbox 360 HDTV Calibration App

Deathwish238 · 04-01-2009, 07:06 PM

Microsoft has put out a calibration app for $2.50. Well worth it if you don't already own DVE or another calibration disc.

Official Info

Full review in the post below.

How to use the Xbox 360 TV Calibration Application

Many people wonder why they should bother calibrating their HDTV. They're happy with their picture and don't think it can be better. However chances are, the picture of their HDTV is far from accurate and their picture quality can improve immensely. By calibrating your HDTV, you get the best possible picture from your HDTV. On top of that, you see material how it was meant to be seen by the producer and your image is as lifelike and natural as possible.

A few definitions you'll need to know:
Contrast - Controls white level. Can also be called Picture.
Brightness - Controls black level.
Color - Controls color saturation. If it is not called color on your TV, look for the setting that when turned to 0(minimum) makes your picture black and white.
Tint - Called Hue on some HDTVs, controls how Red or Green your image is.

0. First things first, set your HDTV's video preset to either Cinema/Movie, Accurate or Custom. Different HDTVs have different names for their preset.

1. Start up the TV Calibration app and enter the Color section. Press X until the calibration image fills the screen and none of it is cut off. Click the Left Thumbstick to turn the border off.

2. To calibrate your Brightness, first set your Contrast to the middle position. By middle, I mean if the lowest setting on your HDTV is 0 and highest is 100, then the middle is 50(or if the lowest is -50 and highest is 50, the middle is 0). Turn your brightness way up, max it if you want to. You should be able to see the two darkest shades of gray clearly. The goal here is to make those two darkest shades vanish into the background completely. Turn your brightness down until the three darkest shades of gray disappear and then turn it back up until the third darkest shade of gray reappears but the two darkest shades both look like the same dark black.

3. To calibrate your Contrast, turn your contrast to max. You should notice the lighter shades of grey and white get so bright that they just blend together. What you're seeing here is detail in the image being destroyed and this is what happens when contrast is set too high. Lower the contrast so that every shade of white/grey is visible and try to make each shade of white "step" uniformly down as the brightness gets dimmer. Pay special attention to two brightest shades of white as they should be distinct.

4. Double check your brightness level but this time do not set your contrast to the middle. Tweak both as needed.

5. To calibrate your Tint level accurately, you need to have a blue color filter(I will update how to do this with one in the future). Without it, the best you can do is change the tint level until your blue looks to be a pure blue without any hint of purple(too red) or cyan(too green).

6. To calibrate your Color level, start at the middle setting. The goal is for colors to be saturated, but not overly saturated where people look unnatural. The best way to do this is with a movie you watch often or know well. Find a scene with lots a person or two and good lighting. Adjust as needed so the image looks as natural as possible. Usually, you will end up with a Color level a little less than the middle setting. Double check your Tint levels as a change in your Color levels can effect your Tint level as well.

Deathwish238 · 04-01-2009, 07:07 PM

Xbox 360 TV Calibration Review:
The app is broken down into four sections: Color, Dead pixels (1:1), Size, Measure Tool. The most important section is the Color section although the other sections can be useful as well.

Color
This section is the one you will most likely spend the most time in when calibrating your HDTV. It contains 8 screens, each containing strip of gray, red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, and magenta. The first two screens are almost the same, the difference being the first screen is broken up into 20 pronounced sections of descending brightness while the second screen is a smooth gradient. The third screen, my screen of choice, is the same as the first screen but contains contains a black area above the gray and below the magenta. The fourth screen is like the first screen but with a solid bar of each color and their maximum intensity. The remaining four screens are identical to the first four just turned 90 degrees clockwise and stretched to fill the screen.

The controls are simple, the thumbsticks and d-pad control which screen you're on, X changes the size of the image, Y changes the direction of the image, B goes back to the main menu, A toggles a button layout display. The image itself is framed and that frame can be toggled on and off by click the left thumbstick, I prefer it off at all times. The right thumbstick toggles between fading each color to black or white. It's an interesting inclusion that I have not seen before and it can definitely be useful when calibrating your contrast(white) levels. Another interesting inclusion is being able to choose which colors to display by using the bumpers. The rotation starts with all 7 colors, then goes to gray, red, green and blue, then only red, green and blue, then simply white and red and finally red by itself. Quite interesting, but I would have liked to see the option for displaying each single color by itself. Almost there, and I'm sure it could be added through a simple patch.

Dead pixels (1:1)
This section contains 13 screens with various patterns. All are in black and white but are rather different. The first screen helps you find dead pixels on your screen and also tells you if your HDTV is capable of 1:1 pixel mapping. If your HDTV is using 1:1 pixel mapping, this image should appear gray without any banding. A few screen later, there is a larger grid with lines evenly spaced apart forming a square. This screen would let you see any geometry issues your HDTV might have. You can control the background and foreground colors of each image. For digital HDTVs(Plasmas, LCD, DLP for example) looking at each color will not give you much information, however on those with analog displays like CRTs, you can check each color to see if your convergence is off or not. More information about convergence can be found elsewhere. The remaining screens in this section show you various geometric patterns which can help you find any geometry issues your HDTV might have.

Size
This section contains only two screens and both pertain to overscan. The first screen is a grid containing 11 horizontal and vertical lines. Every line contains a percent indicating the distance from the center of the screen to the very edge, the edge being 100%. The more of the screen you can see, the better. The next screen shows a green rectangle surrounded by a yellow rectangle which is in turn surrounded by a red rectangle. The green rectangle is the absolute minimum any HDTV must be able to show as important information will be displayed there. Most HDTVs should be able to show the yellow rectangle as well and only a few HDTVs show the entire red rectangle. Almost all HDTVs have some level of overscan which is basically your HDTV zooming the image in just a little. It is possible to change the amount of overscan as most HDTVs do not need any overscan at all, but doing so often requires going into the service menu which I do not recommend doing with thorough knowledge of what you are doing.

Measure Tool
This section is a bit different than the others as it is more interactive. There is only one screen and lets you adjust a rectangle so you can figure out how much of an image your HDTV actually shows and if your image is centered or not. To use it, first set the left and top edges with the left thumbstick also using the left trigger to fine tune the movement as needed. Move each edge until it's off the screen and then move it back on until it's one pixel from being off the screen. Do the same for the bottom and right edge using the right thumbstick and right trigger. Once all edges are correct, you can see what percent of the width and height are being displayed. There is also a white cross in the middle of the screen indicating centered. The actual center of your HDTV's image is indicated by the yellow cross and the distance between the white and yellow crosses is displayed on the screen as well.

Closing Comments
All in all, for $2.50 this TV Calibration application exceeded my expectations. It's easy to use and is a great tool that has the potential to drastically improve an HDTV's image enhancing not only movies but your gaming experience as well. I recommend getting your hands on a blue color filter so you can accurately calibrate the colors of your HDTV.