Calibrating HDTV to fix issues...

[ssbomberman]

I know a few of you on these boards are very knowledgeable in the area of video calibration. The problem I am having is: my 27 inch Zenith HDTV has ghosting problems that are most noticeable when using the the HDTV and VGA (labeled RGB) inputs.

Basically I see a really bright clean image, that has a ghost or silhouette effect to it. Most noticeable on games that have still images, like menu bars, or for instance the bathing suits in Dead or Alive XBV, I first noticed it here, in the shops, and then I started to notice it all over games and then on my DVDs as well...I've tried multiple devices and inputs, so I do think it is a TV problem rather than a cables/connection problem.

Now it is noticeable to me, but isn't that bad overall, but something I want to fix. I need to nail down what this is? A sync problem? Convergence? I don't know all the terms so please enlighten me.

My questions are -- first off I have an extended warranty with Circuit City, so my first step is to call them to try and fix it on site, but I am afraid that they may send a repair man and not a calibrator and that things may get more messed up once he/she starts fiddling inside...

Do the video essential/AVIA DVD calibration discs address this issue?

I don't think I can afford professional calibration right now, plus the set only cost 600 bucks.

So any thoughts would be appreciated.

ssb

[Bonestorm]

I don't really know much about these things, but I'll just offer what I have anyway. I'm hoping these guys like Matt and Seen starting posting in the new forum.

Ghosting can sometimes be caused by a misaligned gun. To get a white color on screen, all of the guns fire at max. A misaligned gun is more noticable, for example, with white text because a misaligned gun will shoot slightly off and produce a ghost type look. I don't know if the "ghost" you are getting has a color to it or not, and whether it is more noticeable on white objects than colored stuff. Like I said above, I don't know much, but maybe this is a start. Sometimes people seem more inclined to post in a forum to point out somone's mistake rather than offer their own opinion from the get go- so maybe this will encourage someone with more knowledge to post.

Video esstentials/avia are more for adjusting your color, brightness, and sharpness rather than fixing/diagnosing problems. I guess it's possible that your settings are way out of wack causing the ghosting, but it's not likely. I personally don't want to spend that much on a pro to calibrate my tv, so video essentials was definately worth the money. Keep in mind that it's not going to do as good a job as a pro, but it's only a fraction of the cost. If you got a digital set, be sure to get the new version of video essentials for digital tvs.

[ssbomberman]

Yeah I do think I isolated the problem and it may infact be a cables issue! I tweaked the colors and dropped the contrast as someone suggested and had to tweak other settings to get black to be black without as much contrast and overall I really improved the TV. I'm going to go VGA through a really nice switcher I got that can take 2 VGAs in and output it to one source (since I already have GC hooked up through VGA -- there should be very little loss with this switcher cause it is a high end one). There is still a little ghosting, but it is virtually non-existent if I use the right cables.

I currently have the Xbox brand HD cables and I think that is causing the problems...I'm working on getting a DVD player with VGA as well...they make them overseas + have all-region functions as well...