"How can I calibrate my HDTV to make my movies look great?"
I'm frequently asked about my favorite tools for calibrating HDTV screens. There are a bunch of solid choices, but many of them are expensive. Brandon Wirtz, an expert on video quality, recently put together a set of still images perfect for calibrating everything from 1080p screens down to your standard CRT. Best of all, Brandon is making them available free for personal use.
You can download the set of HDTV calibration slates directly and then start calibrating everything from your DVD movie watching experience, to your PS3 gaming experience, to your home media center view experience. I think one of the best things about this particular set of slides is they are optimized for normal people, so you don't need to be a HDTV geek in order to improve you home theater viewing experience.
Properly adjust your HDTV brightness, contrast, and sharpness settings. Make sure scaling is configured correctly and tweak the spatial geometry of your high definition screen for optimal home entertainment.
Update August 2009: About a year ago, these slides stopped being free because someone was trying to sell them without permission. That's been fixed and they are free once again!
Download Free HDTV Calibration Slates
Read more about HDTV Calibration
