How to achieve high brightness?

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Hello all,
I have a question about brightness. I have an European Pioneer PDP-LX5090 (non-H) model and I wonder:

How does one achieve high brightness on the TV?

I have played a bit with calibration, but I am only at the beginning, currently with the TV on my table near computer. I have read some calibration reports on this forum where the measured 100% white is around 150 cd/m2 and my guess is that this value is not the maximum the TV can produce.

The "problem" is, that I can achieve only 80-90 cd/m2 - which is fine for me, but I was wondering how to get more just for the sake of information. I tried setting contrast to maximum, tried various HDMI input settings (PC and Video), also tried measuring white off some test DVD and Windows dekstop window. I understand that values like 1500 cd/m2 are really a marketing gimmick and far from real-world viewable values, but surely the TV must be able to produce more brightness that 90 cd/m2...

I am using Monaco Optix XR and ColorHCFR if that makes any difference.

[Turbe]

Hi,

Can you post your settings and ColorHCFR reports (and screencaps/pics for those who don't have ColorHCFR installed). Are you calibrating PURE (or another standard AV Selection) or the ISFccc Interface?

Did you look at this Thread: http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119

Please don't set your Contrast over 40.

90 cd/m2 (approx. 26fL) is low if that is the max you are getting your light output.

Please outline your calibration workflow as well.

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Hello,
I will post whatever I got, but since I am really just beginning to get into this I don't know if I answer all your question correctly or if I make sense in some answers.

First, I found old calibration report from ColorHCFR from October 2008 and of course the measured 100 IRE has 122 cd/m2 (35.8 ftL) brightness -- so yes, it can go higher, but somehow I can't get it there now (my TV is not currently calibrated as I was switching HDMI ports and played with various settings). But I wonder how does one achieve something like... 500 cd/m2, which I know is ridiculous value for normal viewing, but I am curious.

The first picture shows the measure 122 cd/m2 value:
http://www.abload.de/thumb/100iregmss.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=100iregmss.png)

Now some screens from ColorHCFR. The .chc file is attached at the bottom:
http://www.abload.de/thumb/1-luminance0m6m.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=1-luminance0m6m.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/2-gammajuct.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=2-gammajuct.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/3-rgb_levels3mee.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=3-rgb_levels3mee.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/4-color_temprtix.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=4-color_temprtix.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/5-cieekpp.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=5-cieekpp.png)

Now some background: I use a soon-to-be-HTPC connected to the TV via a HDMI cable (mainboard has integrated GPU and HDMI out). The cable is connected to HDMI #1 which of course is enabled in the Options menu.

I tried both settings of the HDMI Input: PC and Video. I like PC more, because the picture is more sharp and calm (or so it seems). When set to Video, the image is more blurred on -15 Sharpness setting or it is similarly sharp (but not so nice that PC setting) on 0 Shaprnes, but has that weird over-sharpened halos around high contrast areans (e.g. fonts). Currently I am using Video setting, because it offers MUCH more image parameters. I haven't tried yet, so I don't know if the image can be calibrated via ISFccc interface when HDMI input is set to PC.

Back to your questions: I used various settings on "USER" AV mode and also used ControlCal later to create ISF-Night profile -- so I guess I used both methods over time. I tried using D-Nice's settings even when he suggested not to use US settings on EU models, I also tried bumtious' (http://www.avforums.com/forums/plasma-televisions/787159-pioneer-plasmas-settings-information.html) settings from AVForums and of course johannesk's settings. The outcome was similar. But what I will right now after writing this post - I will reset the settings and try to set everything again, because when you do two same things, the result is never the same :).

My contrast also is not set to 40, that was just for few seconds to try. I use 32 now.

And I really don't have any calibration workflow... I am too lazy to get through the whole calibration procedure you wrote in the readme .doc file that comes with ControlCal (which probably is D-Nice's workflow?). I am more like learning and playing right now and will do the proper calibration step by step when I finish my living room and buy proper calibration tools (i1 Pro + CalMAN probably).

Oh and one more thing if that makes difference: As color patterns I use these (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496) from AVS. Until now I used AVCHD or BDMV, but will try now the computer MP4.

I will report back with new set of measurement on various settings + screens. I just wanted to write something in the mean time. But if I may one question: The first step in your calibration workflow is setting peak luminance. Do you set it with Contrast control only?

EDIT: Oh and by the way I also have the Room Light Sensro set to Off.

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Okay yesterday at night I finished setting the TV up from the ground. I didn't find how to reset the settings to factory defaults, so I just reconfigured everything manually. As basic settings I used bumtious' from the link in my second post. Then I tweaked it a little (RGB High and Low), I didn't touch secondary colors yet, so they are a bit off in my measurements -- I was too tired yesterday and just proveeded to watch whole movie while testing the image :). Also the RGB Low isn't very good yet.

http://www.abload.de/thumb/1-luminanceolhp.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=1-luminanceolhp.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/2-gamma9uyl.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=2-gamma9uyl.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/3-rgb_levelsmx6u.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=3-rgb_levelsmx6u.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/4-color_temp9zw0.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=4-color_temp9zw0.png) http://www.abload.de/thumb/5-cie5ka3.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=5-cie5ka3.png)

I set the HDMI Input to Video and Color to Color-4 (RGB 0-255), also the HTPC outputs full RGB range and RGB colors (manually set). I measured the brightness of Windows white (RGB 255,255,255) and got 95 cd/m2.

[hariskar]

What is your contrast?
I think RGB low needs some correction (Red 95%, Green 101%, Blue 102%).
Maybe it would be a good idea to put all colors (I mean cms, not highs and lows) at 0. It is difficult to achieve good gamma otherwise... If you put colors at 0 possibly it is easier to correct the 3 LOW colors.

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The contrast is set to 32 right now, but even when I set to to 40 for testing purposes, the overall measured brightness doesn't go very high -- mainly around 100 cd/m2. That is why I was interested, how to achieve much higher brightness. I thought these TV can do for example 500 cd/m2, but I can't seem to achieve that. I know nobody sane uses values these high, but I am just curious. The color accuracy is wrong I know that, but I just haven't take time yet to configure it properly. I will surely try your advice here.

[hariskar]

You don't have Energy save to ON, have you?

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The Energy save is set to Off. When I switch between Off/Mode1/Mode2 I do not notice any difference in brightness.