Brightness is a close relative of contrast, except it controls the level of blackness the screen image shows in relationship to the amount of blackness sent by the DVD or other HD source.
Fortunately, this is a setting that is easily adjustable by anyone with a reasonable amount of patience and a knowledge of what brightness is and how to distinguish it from - and balance it with - other related image settings.
Factory Default Settings and How to Use Them
Generally, HDTV is sent from the factory with the brightness default levels set relatively high. The reasoning used is that the manufacturer has no idea which set may be pulled from the lot and set up as a display in the shop showroom. Brightness creates the impression of a sharp, clear image in typical stores, bringing out the colours and enhancing the grey-level contrast ratios.
What looks good in a store is not likely to look good in your home, so there are provisions for adjustments. The set-up menu will have a brightness adjustment, usually depicted by an image of the sun for international interpretation. There are also differing scales: some running from 0 to 100, others from -5 to +5, and variations of those themes.
Most users will want to start from a known-good starting point. There should be a Reset to Default menu selection in the Picture portion of the menu. Start there and have a pad and pen handy, as spending any significant amount of time adjusting the image will alter your perception of the quality. As you locate the settings and the paths you need to drill down through the menus to find them, make notes. There are dozens of settings and options and it is far too easy to get lost in the details.
Adjusting the Picture
To adjust the HDTV Brightness rating level, get a DVD that uses letter box images with the black bars above and below the picture. Locate a scene with as even a distribution of light and dark imagery, preferably one with faces.
Adjust the Brightness control level to fade the blackness to match the black portions of the image. This is your starting point. Now check the areas of shadow and especially around the eyes of the image on the screen. You want to be able to discern the details. Increase the brightness until the blacks are not washing out the colour, yet retains good definition. It most likely will be necessary to use a warmer setting than cool for the colour palette. Now you need to juggle the contrast and sharpness. With 10 minutes or so of fussing at the picture, stop and have tea. Come back in ten minutes and see if the picture still appears natural. If not, adjust it a little bit. Then - as the obvious directions on shampoo dictate: Lather, rinse and repeat.
How to Shop for Brightness Controls
All quality HDTVs have brightness controls more than adequate to accommodate every viewer. There is no special quality or specification beyond the contrast ratio that matters much one way or another.
This is a process that may take a week to sort out. If you have multiple devices using your HDTV (as a DVD player and a PC), each may have radically different colour, brightness, and picture qualities. Many upper-end HDTVs have accommodations for this by providing multiple profiles - such as User 1 and User 2 - that can be manually configured for optimal results without impacting the default or normal settings.
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