Calibrate your LCD television

For basic calibration, we recommend that you put the tint setting on your LCD television at the midway point. Another important control is the sharpness level. This function adds artificial edges to objects on the screen. Though the feature can sometimes help with soft cable signals, it almost always mars the already sharp image from a DVD. When watching high-quality movies, we recommend reducing the sharpness to zero unless you detect visible softening along the edges of text. (Use a DVD's menu screen to test this.)

Adjusting your LCD with the quick tips we've just mentioned will yield good results, but you can do even better by investing in a home-theater setup DVD. These store-bought discs offer tons of in-depth advice and calibration exercises for televisions and your entire home-theater setup. If you're game to devote the time these DVDs require, they're excellent tools. We especially like Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up ($21.95), great for beginners looking for a quick way to tune up their systems, and Digital Video Essentials ($24.99), well suited for experienced home-theater fanatics.