“How can I calibrate my HDTV to make my movies look great?”

I’m frequently asked about my favorite tools for calibrating HDTV screens. There are a bunch of solid choices, but many of them are expensive. Brandon Wirtz, an expert on video quality, recently put together a set of still images perfect for calibrating everything from 1080p screens down to your standard CRT. Best of all, Brandon is making them available free for personal use.

To calibrate your HDTV, just pull up the YouTube video embedded here on your favorite connected device. It walks through a series of patterns that help improve your DVD movie watching experience, PlayStation and Xbox gaming experience, and any other home media center viewing experience. I think one of the best things about this particular set of slides is they are optimized for normal people, so you don’t need to be a HDTV geek in order to improve your home theater viewing experience.

Properly adjust your HDTV brightness, contrast, and sharpness settings. Make sure scaling is configured correctly and tweak the spatial geometry of your high definition screen for optimal home entertainment.