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Thread: Why you should actually turn down your TV's sharpness setting

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    Pro Tip Why you should actually turn down your TV's sharpness setting

    Geoffrey Morrison - c|net




    It may be hard to believe, but the sharpness control on your TV doesn't actually "increase" the sharpness, detail or anything else associated with a good picture. (If you want better TV, take a look at the best picture mode and try changing these settings.) The sharpness control actually adds something called "edge enhancement," which can diminish the fine resolution in the image you're looking at. That means when your sharpness is set too high, you could lose some of the crisp detail of that fancy 4K TV. Sometimes the best setting is actually zero, while on most TVs the setting is best in the bottom 20% or so.

    Sharpness is one of the many picture settings on your TV, like brightness, contrast, and color. Turning them all up might seem like a great idea. After all, who wants a picture that's dim, colorless and dull, right? In reality, maxing out any of those adjustments can ruin your picture, making it less accurate and limiting the potential of the best TVs. An image that's too bright or garish is easy to understand, but sharpness takes some explaining. Buckle up.

    Sharpness means edge enhancement

    On nearly all TVs, the sharpness control adds something called "edge enhancement." That's exactly what it sounds like. The edges in the image are enhanced, essentially by adding a thin outline or halo to them. This makes them more visible.


    Left: the original image. Right: the edge-enhanced "sharper" version. The "halo effect" is what the sharpness control adds.

    Take a look at the side-by-side images above. The left image is the au naturel version. The right has significant amounts of edge enhancement added. Note the outline around the buildings. While the left image might appear, at first glance, "soft," it actually isn't.

    The picture below is a close-up of the "sharpened" edge-enhanced version. As you'll see, a sort of white halo appears around distinct edges.



    The problem is that the halo shouldn't be there -- and it's replacing what should be. It may not seem like a big deal in this image, but with most content that halo is covering the actual detail. Additionally, it often brings out grainy noise in other parts of the image. See how much cleaner the left image looks compared to the enhanced.

    Edge enhancement definitely gives the image a certain look: It can provide the appearance of more detail. Most TVs have their sharpness controls turned up in the default picture modes, so we're used to this faux-detail look.

    While unenhanced images can look soft by comparison, especially at first, they're actually more detailed because they show fine textures in walls, pores on faces and tiny hairs -- all of which can be hidden by too much edge enhancement.

    What's the best TV sharpness setting then?

    The easiest way to check is to switch your TV to the Movie or Cinema picture preset, and see where the sharpness control is in that mode. Whatever that number is, it's a good place to start.

    Want to fine-tune it? While watching a variety of content, especially 4K if you have a 4K TV, turn the control down from that starting point and see what happens. Does the fine detail disappear? If so, that's too low. Ideally, you'll be able to find the spot that offers the most actual detail and the least additional noise. Don't be surprised if that number is 0.

    Some TVs actively soften the image when you turn the sharpness control to zero (or even below 50 in some cases). This might be done to offer a way to decrease the noise in lower-quality sources, but I'd be shocked if it's ever used for that purpose. Just something to keep in mind. If the image suddenly looks blurry, that's definitely too low. There's a sweet spot with any TV, it's just a matter of finding it.

    A setup disc, like the Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark, has patterns that will make it easier to find the exact sharpness level for your specific TV.

    It's possible, though rare, that you have a TV with permanent edge enhancement. Even turning the sharpness control to zero and going through every setting (and picture preset) in your TV, you still may see edge enhancement or other processing. This was more common with older TV sets, though. These days it's fairly rare.

    What about other visual controls?

    Many TVs and some high-end projectors have processing features separate from the sharpness control. These are usually deeper in the settings menus, or in separate "advanced" sections. Some of these can enhance the apparent detail without adding undue amounts of edge enhancement. Others, of course, do more harm than good.



    Part of this is due to the increase in overall processing power available in mid- and high-end TVs. For instance, Samsung, LG, and Sony have discussed using AI for their upconversion, which is how you get a decent-looking lower-resolution image on a high-resolution television.

    There's no blanket advice here. If your TV has these resolution/detail enhancement features, try out each to see what they do. Sit close, and see if it's adding noise, edge enhancement, or if it's making the image appear sharper. Purists will likely want to keep these features off, especially with high-quality content like from a 4K Blu-ray, but with some content it might help.

    Consider what the source is

    Occasionally, the edge enhancement is in the source. This was common on early DVDs, where edge enhancement was added to make them "pop." If it's in the source, there's nothing you can do about it. It's just something to keep in mind if you're trying out different settings, don't use just one source or program.

    TV manufacturers love edge enhancement, largely because it makes their TVs seem super detailed when viewed in a store.

    There are also some sources, generally low-quality video like standard-def TV channels or even VHS tapes, that can benefit from a TV's detail enhancement circuits. These sources are so soft and low-resolution to begin with, that when blown up to the size of today's large televisions they may look better enhanced.

    Looking sharp? Keep looking

    If you go to your TV right now and turn the sharpness control all the way down the picture is absolutely going to look soft. Much like with high color temperatures, anyone who isn't used to making fine adjustments to their TV controls has gotten used to a certain "look" to their TV's picture. So at first, even the correct sharpness setting might seem soft, especially if your TV has been in the Vivid or Dynamic picture mode.

    Try the new, lower sharpness setting for a few days. If you then don't like the look of the un-enhanced image, that's fine. Turn it back up. But I bet when you do the "original" setting will look weird.

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    I just keep mine on the Cinema setting. I ain't messing with all that shit.


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    Quote Originally Posted by DemonGeminiX View Post
    I just keep mine on the Cinema setting. I ain't messing with all that shit.
    DO IT!!!!

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    Most TVs also have an audio "night" setting that decreases the audio range. Shows too whisper soft then too loud? Commercials louder than shows? Switch to night mode to limit the audio range. You may not like it, but good to know.
    I wanted to be a Monk, but I never got the chants.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RBP View Post
    Most TVs also have an audio "night" setting that decreases the audio range. Shows too whisper soft then too loud? Commercials louder than shows? Switch to night mode to limit the audio range. You may not like it, but good to know.
    I was thinking the audio engineers working for the shows should just compress the audio tracks, but saying shit like that always gets me funny looks.
    Last edited by DemonGeminiX; 02-01-2022 at 12:10 PM.


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    I on 4k baby

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    Quote Originally Posted by DemonGeminiX View Post
    I was thinking the audio engineers working for the shows should just compress the audio tracks, but saying shit like that always gets me funny looks.
    the issue winds up becoming that the compression tactics used in commercials is that of the loudness wars when mastering would smash the shit out of it in a chase for ever higher RMS in a digital world

    they compress the fuck out of it and everything's loud af

    then you return to the show where there's dynamic range again...and it gets quiet



    I hate that shit almost as much as I hate all those songs where people abuse compressors like on a bass drum where the compressor instantly peaks out and they set a long tail on it

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    Quote Originally Posted by FBD View Post
    the issue winds up becoming that the compression tactics used in commercials is that of the loudness wars when mastering would smash the shit out of it in a chase for ever higher RMS in a digital world

    they compress the fuck out of it and everything's loud af

    then you return to the show where there's dynamic range again...and it gets quiet



    I hate that shit almost as much as I hate all those songs where people abuse compressors like on a bass drum where the compressor instantly peaks out and they set a long tail on it
    One conspiracy theory that's true. Modern sound engineering destroys sound quality.

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    Quote Originally Posted by lost in melb. View Post
    One conspiracy theory that's true. Modern sound engineering destroys sound quality.
    That's not really an accurate statement. The industry has finally figured out its technological advances and extreme-RMS-hunting is getting to be a thing of the past, at least for music at the mastering level. You could hunt as such in the Analog world and you were naturally protected.

    This came about because analog stuff had physical limits and thus naturally provided compression just by virtue of its design. In digital you are allowed to run straight into the wall at whatever speed you like and it accurately puts you there with no resistance.

    A lot of work and industry knowledge has had to have been developed in order for people to re-create the compression layers naturally provided by analog sound, there's been a resurgence in the love for headroom....but the hacks who work on commercials are late to the game

    (either that or they are purposefully instructed to do so by evil executives who hate plebes....most likely, a mix of both )

    I miss the yeti, we had such good discussions on things like gain staging...the biggest rule was that you couldnt do too much at any given step
    Last edited by FBD; 02-08-2024 at 02:56 PM.

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    Has anybody ever tried that Spears and Munsil calibration disc?


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