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Videophiles , Film Mode is the correct colors?

MacBH928

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
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So I am looking to calibrate the TV and almost everyone says that "FILM MODE" is the accurate colors as it based on the D65 standard. My problem is that it looks too yellow, even white subtitles has yellowish tint to them. I also do not recall films in theater look this yellow. Meanwhile I saw other people claim that a middle ground is the "warm 20" option. Then there is Cinema mode which I am not sure what it is, and Game Mode (on my LG tv) which also gave more natural colors but different from other modes.

So which one is correct?



side question: Why is everyone fanatic about display brightness? I have a tv from 2013 which I think is LED and the whites on that could blind you unless you are watching it outdoors. In any case, if you get a bright screen I do not assume you set your brightness to 100% ?
 
There is no one best answer to this question. Its almost never as simple as choosing a video mode.

A very generic answer is choose the “standard” or “custom” mode, which usually grants you access to all fine video settings. Do a web search for your TV make & model and the word calibration. There will likely be multiple lists of custom settings others consider ideal for your TV. Match one and see what your own eyes think. If towards ideal to your eyes, tweak a bit to your own taste.

If it’s way off to your eyes, try another “ideal” (settings) and then tweak that one to taste.

If you are mostly watching through AppleTV, there is that option to use your phone to do calibration too.

Lastly, if you want perfection, call in a calibration pro, spend the few hundred, then enjoy “perfection” for life of TV. Professionals who do this for their living tend to be expert at getting it towards perfection.
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
There is no one best answer to this question. Its almost never as simple as choosing a video mode.

A very generic answer is choose the “standard” or “custom” mode, which usually grants you access to all fine video settings. Do a web search for your TV make & model and the word calibration. There will likely be multiple lists of custom settings others consider ideal for your TV. Match one and see what your own eyes think. If towards ideal to your eyes, tweak a bit to your own taste.

If it’s way off to your eyes, try another “ideal” (settings) and then tweak that one to taste.

If you are mostly watching through AppleTV, there is that option to use your phone to do calibration too.

Lastly, if you want perfection, call in a calibration pro, spend the few hundred, then enjoy “perfection” for life of TV. Professionals who do this for their living tend to be expert at getting it towards perfection.
Click to expand...

hmmm...this is very confusing to the consumer as tv reviewers are claiming the film maker mode is indeed the correct color representation meanwhile most users detest that mode. Personally I want to see what the director intended me to see.
 
As your own eyes have already confirmed "too yellow" is probably not what the director intended.

I've been involved with this kind of stuff for decades. Best I know, there is NO TV at ANY price that will be fully calibrated by a single menu selection such as selecting "Film" (mode). There are many variables in achieving something towards "perfection" calibration including lighting within each home. No pre-programmed mode is going to magically know each environment and thus can't possibly get it right.

Advice previously offered can get you pretty close in a DIY calibration mode. Else, hire a pro to come in and get it near perfect in your particular environment in about an hour or two of careful work.
 
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MacBH928 said:
So I am looking to calibrate the TV and almost everyone says that "FILM MODE" is the accurate colors as it based on the D65 standard. My problem is that it looks too yellow, even white subtitles has yellowish tint to them.
Click to expand...

As mentioned above there is no industry standard. Different manufactures implement it differently depending on the color characteristics of the panel being used.

MacBH928 said:
I have a tv from 2013
Click to expand...

An 11 year old TV may show some color shifts which might mean the original "film mode" is no longer accurate.

HobeSoundDarryl said:
hire a pro to come in and get it near perfect in your particular environment in about an hour or two of careful work.
Click to expand...

The only way to get the best accuracy. Given the expense, ~$450 I think in my area, it might be more cost effective to purchase a new TV.
 
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MacBH928 said:
Why is everyone fanatic about display brightness?
Click to expand...
Since you have an OLED, you know there's a difference between OLED brightness and picture brightness.
MacBH928 said:
Personally I want to see what the director intended me to see.
Click to expand...
Try looking at "Cross" on Amazon Prime in Film Mode. After seeing it for a few seconds to a minute, it will make you wonder about that setting :eek:
 
BrianBaughn said:
So a black and white film looks yellow?
Click to expand...

it should have a yellowish tint. In the example below I am not sure which one the director meant for me to watch hence why I opened this thread
Screen Shot 2024-12-06 at 7.30.21 AM.png
 
Years and years ago I used to calibrate everyone's CRT color TV…with the 3 RGB knobs on the back of the unit…and the only way to know for sure was with a black and white show.

Filmmakers through the years have done all sorts of weird things with color and tinting.

I say start in film mode, put a true black and white movie on (like "Elephant Man") and make your (what should be) minor color adjustments from there.
 
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As a self identified AV pain in the ace, I went through that purist phase “but as the director intended!” I had a calibrated plasma etc, the whole deal.

I will say that color is an absolute. It’s not a discernment like audio. Color has absolute measurements and hues and is an exact science. Also what looks too yellow, once you get used to it, will look normal. The white you are used to now is infused with blue light to make it pop and dazzle you. Spend a few days in cinema mode or warm 1/2 setting then switch back to standard. It’ll make your eyes bleed.

That all said, I’ve settled on: whatever looks awesome to me. I don’t care about the directors vision, and neither should you.

I care about two things now:

1) black level (more display-specific)
2) clipping/crush

As long as those two are somewhat taken care of, I don’t give a rats you know what.

It’s your tv, it’s capable of terrific display quality. Enjoy it!
 
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LionTeeth said:
As a self identified AV pain in the ace, I went through that purist phase “but as the director intended!” I had a calibrated plasma etc, the whole deal.

I will say that color is an absolute. It’s not a discernment like audio. Color has absolute measurements and hues and is an exact science. Also what looks too yellow, once you get used to it, will look normal. The white you are used to now is infused with blue light to make it pop and dazzle you. Spend a few days in cinema mode or warm 1/2 setting then switch back to standard. It’ll make your eyes bleed.

That all said, I’ve settled on: whatever looks awesome to me. I don’t care about the directors vision, and neither should you.

I care about two things now:

1) black level (more display-specific)
2) clipping/crush

As long as those two are somewhat taken care of, I don’t give a rats you know what.

It’s your tv, it’s capable of terrific display quality. Enjoy it!
Click to expand...

you sold the panny/pio??

you did say you still cared about blacks and clipping! how could you?? :)
 
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erihp said:
you sold the panny/pio??

you did say you still cared about blacks and clipping! how could you?? :)
Click to expand...
Lolll

Nah the kids took care of it. Lego piece to the middle, splintered the screen. Purely an accident, broke my heart into pieces.

We still have a plasma in our bedroom though, despite being 720 (768), it looks incredible. Such a shame they discontinued them.
 
LionTeeth said:
Lolll

Nah the kids took care of it. Lego piece to the middle, splintered the screen. Purely an accident, broke my heart into pieces.

We still have a plasma in our bedroom though, despite being 720 (768), it looks incredible. Such a shame they discontinued them.
Click to expand...

no burn ins?

isn' oled better quality wise?
 
MacBH928 said:
no burn ins?

isn' oled better quality wise?
Click to expand...
Oh boy loll
On AV forums this would spark pages of heated debate.

Plasma handles motion better, but aside from that yeah I think OLED has it beat.

And no actually I’ve never had any burn in. We’ve had our bedroom plasma since 2010, and still clean and perfect image. I do take care of it though. I leave the Apple TV screensavers on after we’ve watched something to make sure there’s no ghosting images. I don’t watch sports on it etc.
 
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LionTeeth said:
As a self identified AV pain in the ace, I went through that purist phase “but as the director intended!” I had a calibrated plasma etc, the whole deal.

I will say that color is an absolute. It’s not a discernment like audio. Color has absolute measurements and hues and is an exact science. Also what looks too yellow, once you get used to it, will look normal. The white you are used to now is infused with blue light to make it pop and dazzle you. Spend a few days in cinema mode or warm 1/2 setting then switch back to standard. It’ll make your eyes bleed.

That all said, I’ve settled on: whatever looks awesome to me. I don’t care about the directors vision, and neither should you.

I care about two things now:

1) black level (more display-specific)
2) clipping/crush

As long as those two are somewhat taken care of, I don’t give a rats you know what.

It’s your tv, it’s capable of terrific display quality. Enjoy it!
Click to expand...
I very much appreciate your words here. I came from a plasma tv reference as well. - Pioneer Kuro then Panasonic VT50. An adjusted plasma tv was always my go-to on best movie-watching experience at home. As today people talk about brightness I too, gravitate towards items such as black level and avoiding crush and clipping. Today, I use an LG G3 and I am quick to remember the balancing game -
  • How the original film presentation may have looked
  • How the medium I am playing was produced (is it good or crap)
  • What does my TV have to offer in calibration and correction
  • and most important - what looks good to my eyes.
 
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I noticed that if your input is a "pc" a lot of the calibration features are not enabled (at least on LG). Why is that? like there is no smooth motion control. This is problematic since I plan to use a pc as my main media player
 
MacBH928 said:
I noticed that if your input is a "pc" a lot of the calibration features are not enabled (at least on LG). Why is that? like there is no smooth motion control. This is problematic since I plan to use a pc as my main media player
Click to expand...
Much of the image "profile" will be done on the PC side. Recall that the greatest diversity of file formats and within, can be found on computer media. Also, the hardware side of the PC are not all the same. ATI and Nvidia as example may have very different output as well as within each. With all of the latter being said, compared to typical sources, PC's have no "standard" for output as related to input to a TV.
 
phrehdd said:
Much of the image "profile" will be done on the PC side. Recall that the greatest diversity of file formats and within, can be found on computer media. Also, the hardware side of the PC are not all the same. ATI and Nvidia as example may have very different output as well as within each. With all of the latter being said, compared to typical sources, PC's have no "standard" for output as related to input to a TV.
Click to expand...

what if I wanted my pc input to look like the calibration of my other tv inputs? I am not sure how to even enable/disable smooth motion on PC/Mac .
 
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