# HDNet test pattern how to?



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

This might not be the right forum for this but here goes anyway...

I recorded the HDNet test pattern yesterday. What are you looking for on the first screen with the numbers at the bottom? What should I be adjusting?

I assume they want you to adjust the brightness and contrast until you can clearly see all of the numbers from 0-10.

Is that correct?

I calibrated my TV using the Monster Cable ISF calibration DVD. That is great for the DVD input on the TV, but those same adjustment are a tad bit off when used on the TV's HR10-250's input. (HDMI) My TV has separate adjustments for all inputs.

Thanks in advance.


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## JohnDG (Oct 28, 2004)

tazzmission said:


> This might not be the right forum for this but here goes anyway...
> 
> I recorded the HDNet test pattern yesterday. What are you looking for on the first screen with the numbers at the bottom? What should I be adjusting?
> 
> ...


http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetpatterns.html and http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetoverscan.html

Although... the site is down at the moment.

jdg


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## darthrsg (Jul 25, 2005)

tazzmission said:


> This might not be the right forum for this but here goes anyway...
> 
> I recorded the HDNet test pattern yesterday. What are you looking for on the first screen with the numbers at the bottom? What should I be adjusting?
> 
> ...


you are not far off, but they really aren't the best for a contrast/brightness adjustment. The resolution pattern(or maybe its overscan) has a block(s) of squares in a grid if I remember, those would be a better fit. The blackest square being adjusted up until it washes out and then down again until it is black. 
IMHO.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Any other recomendations on calibrating the TV input other than the HDNet test patterns?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

tazzmission said:


> Any other recomendations on calibrating the TV input other than the HDNet test patterns?


You want to calibrate the input with the device you are going to have on the input if possible. If is a digital input then you can use another digital device to create test signals.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

tazzmission said:


> Any other recomendations on calibrating the TV input other than the HDNet test patterns?


I'm definitely a novice but did pretty well with DVE. Just the little bit i did made a huge difference

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/avhardware/DigitalVideoEssentialsDVDr.php


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

newsposter said:


> I'm definitely a novice but did pretty well with DVE. Just the little bit i did made a huge difference
> 
> http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/avhardware/DigitalVideoEssentialsDVDr.php


Did you transfer the settings from your DVD input to your regular tv input? I've found out that my settings for DVD's are pretty different than the settings for watching television on my tv (Sony 50A10).


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

remember i said i was a novice?  See I dont know how to do that. Unless you mean setting the same brightness and contrast etc on the input for my dvd as for my tivo. How can you use a dvd to set something other than the dvd input?


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

I used my Oppo DVD player to calibrate my Sony KDF-55XS955 TV. The DVD player is hooked up to the TV with a DVI to HDMI cable and analog audio cables. I set the TV input that is also HDMI to the same "calibrated" settings as my DVD player settings are set to. The DVD input looks a lot better than before I calibrated the TV. However the TV input (HR10-250) does not look as good as I think it could. I have tweaked it a bit more, but it is still not a good as I would like it to look. Maybe it is an issue with the TiVo upconverting to 720p or 1080i and my TV converting again to its native res of 1366x768. I might just have to live with it like it is. I did find that a setting on my TV called gamma correction made a very noticeable difference in PQ in the TV input.


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## moonman (Jul 21, 2004)

JohnDG said:


> http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetpatterns.html and http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetoverscan.html
> 
> Although... the site is down at the moment.
> 
> jdg


The site is back up now, and is very helpfull on using the test pattern


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## pdawg17 (Mar 1, 2003)

The problem I have with the HDNet test pattern is when using the numbers to get the brightness and contrast correct, I end up with a very high contrast setting that makes everything look washed out...



> you are not far off, but they really aren't the best for a contrast/brightness adjustment. The resolution pattern(or maybe its overscan) has a block(s) of squares in a grid if I remember, those would be a better fit. The blackest square being adjusted up until it washes out and then down again until it is black.


I'm wanting to try this but I'm not quite understanding how to know when I've found the correct setting...


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

ok sounds like that's what i did then, i took whatever settings looked good thru my dvd player and transferred them to the input my tivo is on....otherwise how could you use a dvd to set different inputs?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I would recommend using Avia or Digital Video Essentials rather than this pattern for properly setting brightness and contrast.


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## pdawg17 (Mar 1, 2003)

stevel said:


> I would recommend using Avia or Digital Video Essentials rather than this pattern for properly setting brightness and contrast.


That's assuming that your dvd player has the same input type as your tv AND your dvd player outputs the same brightness/contrast level as your HDTivo...for someone like myself, my dvd player is connected by component and HDTivo by HDMI...and even when I used the component input for the HDTivo, the settings I had gotten from using DVE (which made DVDs look great) was way too bright for my set...


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

pdawg17 said:


> That's assuming that your dvd player has the same input type as your tv AND your dvd player outputs the same brightness/contrast level as your HDTivo...for someone like myself, my dvd player is connected by component and HDTivo by HDMI...and even when I used the component input for the HDTivo, the settings I had gotten from using DVE (which made DVDs look great) was way too bright for my set...


Yep, Avia/DVE are NORMALLY only good for calibrating the DVD input, as most people have different inputs for their regular TV viewing and DVD. If your inputs are the same, then your calibrating can be transferred from DVD setting to regular TV viewing setting.


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## darthrsg (Jul 25, 2005)

rifleman69 said:


> Yep, Avia/DVE are NORMALLY only good for calibrating the DVD input, as most people have different inputs for their regular TV viewing and DVD. If your inputs are the same, then your calibrating can be transferred from DVD setting to regular TV viewing setting.


True but once you get a feel for what you are doing you can do it with HDNet patterns.


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

darthrsg said:


> True but once you get a feel for what you are doing you can do it with HDNet patterns.


But the point is...your calibrations for one input will most likely not be the same for another input (even if they're both component/HDMI). And even if it's the same calibration, it must be done twice, one for each input.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

rifleman69 said:


> But the point is...your calibrations for one input will most likely not be the same for another input (even if they're both component/HDMI). And even if it's the same calibration, it must be done twice, one for each input.


That is my point exactly.


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## dogdoctor (Feb 20, 2006)

I have to agree with the sentiments of calibrating the TV for each input with the corresponding device. I have an upscaling DVD player over the component input and I know the setting does't match the HR10 over the component. Heck, I even used the settings from the OTA setting for the HDTV input thinking same OTA via the HR10 and it still is a little dark. Overall, each input needs to be individually calibrated for the respective device connected to that input.

Now - how does one download the test pattens? According to HDnet, the next airing will be 3/28 at 3:30 am PST. I checked the guide and see no listing at that time for according to HDnet "HDnet Test Patterns". Any suggestions? Sorry if I am missing something simple about recording the test patterns. Thanks in advance.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

dogdoctor said:


> I have to agree with the sentiments of calibrating the TV for each input with the corresponding device. I have an upscaling DVD player over the component input and I know the setting does't match the HR10 over the component. Heck, I even used the settings from the OTA setting for the HDTV input thinking same OTA via the HR10 and it still is a little dark. Overall, each input needs to be individually calibrated for the respective device connected to that input.
> 
> Now - how does one download the test pattens? According to HDnet, the next airing will be 3/28 at 3:30 am PST. I checked the guide and see no listing at that time for according to HDnet "HDnet Test Patterns". Any suggestions? Sorry if I am missing something simple about recording the test patterns. Thanks in advance.


The test patterns are aired every tuesday at 6AM EST I think. Just record the first 15 minutes of that show. They don't show in the guide.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

I'm a tad confused. People are saying that each input need different calibration for different inputs. I understand that. Then people are saying they need different calib even for the same type of input HDMI etc. I dont understand that but that's not my real problem.

I dont understand how you can use the DVE disk to calibrate your HDtivo over HDMI (based on what i've read here) unless you actually would have the DVE disk 'in your tivo' so to speak. I guess that's why people look for the HDnet pattern? To get some of what's on the DVE disk 'in their tivos.'

Having played a bit with DVE, I assume you need more than a test pattern to properly calibrate your tv. so i just dont see how you can 'do better' than even just using the DVE disk through S video and tranferring the same settings to your HDtivo input. It seems like the test pattern off tivo is inadequate.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The test pattern did show in my guide - I set up a recording for it and saved it on the TiVo.

newsposter, you are not calibrating the HDTiVo - you are calibrating the display. Yes, the source device may affect the calibration setting, though in my setup, everything funnels through a single HDMI input, including my DVD player.


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## dogdoctor (Feb 20, 2006)

newsposter said:


> I'm a tad confused. People are saying that each input need different calibration for different inputs. I understand that. Then people are saying they need different calib even for the same type of input HDMI etc. I dont understand that but that's not my real problem.


The confusion lies that in the rationale that once you set a callibrate a tv input, all devices conntected to the same, or similar input should use the same settings. That is simply not true due to the fact that HDtivo, DVD Players, Game Systems, etc...do not always output the same resolution, sharpness, brightness, contrast, color saturation levels, etc. Thus just because the DVD player is callibrated with DVE, doesn't mean that the settings will be appropriate for the HDtivo over the same TV input.

Case in point - DVD Player - DVB318 Zenith Upscaling. I wanted unlimited upscaling to all my dvds. The current firmware when shipped limited that to discs not upscale protected (much like region coding). I downgraded my firmware - open all coding on DVDs for upscaling and when used the HDMI/DVI connection and with info researched from the web and with using DVE found an extreme white wash problems and certain bright dvds unenjoyable. Switching to component had moderate grey scale compression (black area) but it is the lesser of 2 evils and looks awsome. Thus even in this device with a software flaw - same device different outputs - different callibrations. You can't tell me that that the HR10 doesn't have software flaws. 

In the end I transferred my settings for the 1080i component DVD output to the HDtivo (second component input) and it needs modification.



newsposter said:


> Having played a bit with DVE, I assume you need more than a test pattern to properly calibrate your tv. so i just dont see how you can 'do better' than even just using the DVE disk through S video and tranferring the same settings to your HDtivo input. It seems like the test pattern off tivo is inadequate.


I have to agree DVE can only take you so far and then you need a professional. But I know DVE made a difference for me and have had no problems since. If HDnet can act as a DVE for tivo - that is awsome. Any little help is better than none if you know how to use test pattens and adjust your tv.

Don't take offense but I'm pretty sure most "callibrating happy" people would say that S-Video callibration is fine, but applying S-Video to component or HDMI is just not adequate enough. The resolution, sharpness, and color settings will/should be adjusted as S-Video is technically an inferior input for the HDtivo. I would say start with the DVE settings and then use HDnet to tweak it properly. That is what I intend to do.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

yes I knew you were calibrating the tv but didn't understand how people were calibrating different inputs when their dvd players may not have the same connections. For instance, my dvd is 3 yrs old and I had no idea that they even had new ones with hdmi  So I did get how you could callibrate the hdmi on my particular setup unless you ran the DVE 'thru tivo' which of course is impossible. 

Then people were saying unless you used the same type of connection, it's not worth callibrating. So I guess what this comes down to is i wont get a good setup unless I get a dvd player that can output hdmi into input 1, the HDtivo input on my tv. 

Also I had originally thought once i got it all setup on my dvd input to my tv, i needed to just write down the tv settings and copy them over to the other inputs for my 2 tivos. Apparently that isn't the case though. 

I wonder if it would be better,using my current equipment, to just put the DVD player via S video on all my inputs and callibrate that way? In theory I'd think it would be the same thing as just setting up the dvd input and writing down all the settings though..correct?


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

dogdoctor said:


> then use HDnet to tweak it properly. That is what I intend to do.


is the hdnet pattern in the clear ? I dont have the HD package


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

newsposter said:


> is the hdnet pattern in the clear ? I dont have the HD package


You need the HD package to be able to watch HDNet. Also I don't think anyone told you to not calibrate...I'd print out this thread and read it from top to bottom for a clearer picture on what others are trying to offer as suggestions.


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## teasip (Aug 24, 2002)

Simple way to do this is to go to AVS, see if someone has had their television ISF calibrated, and if so mimick their settings on the input that you are getting your DirecTV from. I did that with my Sony XBR LCD and the picture is much better than when I tried to use the HDNet pattern or used duplicate settings from the AVIA disc.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

excellent idea tea....it sounds logical to me


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Except that sets vary - especially projection TVs. I know that my first Sony SXRD was much different out of the box than the second (the second was much closer to accurate and needed less adjustment during calibration.) For LCD and plasma, that may work better.


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## pdawg17 (Mar 1, 2003)

teasip said:


> Simple way to do this is to go to AVS, see if someone has had their television ISF calibrated, and if so mimick their settings on the input that you are getting your DirecTV from. I did that with my Sony XBR LCD and the picture is much better than when I tried to use the HDNet pattern or used duplicate settings from the AVIA disc.


Are you talking about going in the service menu and mimicking those settings too? You would have to to make your idea work...unfortunately I have a Vizio P50 and no one has figured out how to get in yet...


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## aus (Jul 30, 2005)

Searching on AVS is PAINFULL. The threads are 50+ pages and I don't have the time to go through them all.

As for calibration discs, Avia nad DVE are OLD school. www.hqv.com is what the magazines are using now. Not bad at $30 shipped.


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## teasip (Aug 24, 2002)

Nah, just the basic menu settings. For my LCD I don't recall the poster listing any of the other settings accessed through the service menu. Again, all I modified were the settings for my satellite input. I kept my DVD settings as per AVIA.


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## willardcpa (Feb 23, 2001)

aus said:


> Searching on AVS is PAINFULL. The threads are 50+ pages and I don't have the time to go through them all......


You must be doing it wrong, you can tell your search to just give you the posts that are relevant, not the whole thread.


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## A J Ricaud (Jun 25, 2002)

aus said:


> As for calibration discs, Avia nad DVE are OLD school. www.hqv.com is what the magazines are using now. Not bad at $30 shipped.


From its description, the HQV disk is used for evaluation, not calibration:

"Introducing the HQV Benchmark DVD, a most powerful evaluation tool. Its designed to put your TV, monitor, DVD player, or video scaler through a grueling video obstacle course, one that will reveal much about the quality of video signal processing in these components.

While its true that the transition from analog to digital television is well underway, a great deal of video that we watch is still delivered and played back in analog composite (NTSC), S-video (Y/C), and component (YPbPr) video formats. The picture scanning system is interlaced in all three.

The video clips and test patterns on this DVD have been specifically designed to evaluate a variety of interlaced video signal processing tasks including decoding, de-interlacing, motion correction, noise reduction, film cadence detection, and detail enhancement. The ultimate quality of the images you watch is limited by any and all of these steps. (Its a rare signal processor that can handle all of these tasks well!)

Ten test patterns are provided for a thorough workout, including color bars, two jaggies patterns, a waving flag, a static, detailed image; a saturated color image to check for noise reduction, a roller coaster sequence for motion adaptive noise reduction, a test for film detail, a series of tests for film and animation cadences, and a title crawl that mixes film and video elements.

For each test, youll find a brief description of what picture artifacts to look for and how to score the resulting images. Now, turn on your DVD player, get out your pencil, put on your judges hat, and start scoring!"


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