3 On Your Side: Tune Up Your TV Before The Big Game
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The countdown to the Super Bowl is on. If you're having a game-day party, chances are that you've thought about the food and drinks, but how much attention have you given to the TV set that you'll be watching it on? 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds that you may want to give your current TV a pre-game tune-up.
Some of the most diehard football fans will watch the big game on a brand new TV. If that's not in your budget, Consumer Reports says there are easy steps to get any TV Super Bowl-ready.
"A lot of people bring a TV home, they may have set it up once, maybe they didn't even set it up, they just left it with the factory settings. And in most instances, that's not going to get you the best picture quality," says James Wilcox, of Consumer Reports.
Start by reviewing the menu of pre-set picture modes. Wilcox says, "A lot of times it may be set to a 'vivid' mode, which is going to be overly bright, or it might be set to an 'echo' mode, which is going to make the TV look dim. So automatically, the first thing that you could do is use one of the pre-sets that's going to give it a more natural looking picture, and this is typically a 'movie' or 'theatre' mode, or a 'custom' mode or a 'normal' mode."
For further adjustments, set black and white settings before color and tint. Colors should look vivid and realistic, without a glowing effect. Flesh tones should look natural. And for sharpness, resist the urge to set it too high - edges can create an unnatural effect. Also, if you find you've over-adjusted, simply hit your TV's reset button to go back to factory settings.
The engineers at Consumer Reports have a great user-friendly guide that covers how to get the best contrast, brightness and color quality on your set. To read it, visit: http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2013/01/super-bowl-xlvii-give-your-tv-a-big-game-tuneup.html
