THE HOW-TO GUIDE

Have a picture-perfect setup, make the most of summer (free trials!) and get ready for fall TV with these handy tutorials

- 

GET BACK TO BASICS

Improve Picture Quality

PICTURE MODE

Each TV brand uses different categories, but Standard, Dynamic, Vivid and Movie are common. Choose Movie (or Cinema or similar). The picture will get immediately redder-and while that may seem disconcerting, it's a good thing. Over a day or two, your eyes will adjust to the warmer display, which is better for watching movies, especially at nighttime. If, after a few days, the picture still isn't to your liking, try another option. Standard is nice for daytime; Vivid works for a bright room. Learning the mode that is best for you and what you watch will help you relax and enjoy your TV time more.

BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST

Brightness and contrast work together the former adjusts dark tones; the latter handles whiter ones. When adjusting brightness, put something dark on the screen. For contrast, something set in daylight is best. Note that if you have a Sony TV, brightness is called Black Level.

COLOR

When you adjust the picture mode, color resets too, so you likely don't need to fuss with this. If you feel you do, just make small changes. It's probably all you need.

SHARPNESS

Another setting you may not need to touch, since picture mode usually does it for you. If you're playing with it, your instinct may be to turn the sharpness up-which will make the picture blurrier. Turn it down instead.

MOTION SMOOTHING