HDTV Lounge

A high-definition television, like most beauties, doesn’t just roll out of the box and look great.

It has to work it, baby. A little color touch-up, not too red or green; the right contrast; a little brightness; and then it’s looking sharp. Really sharp.

No television will look its best when left at the factory settings. Manufacturers pump up the brightness, contrast and sharpness so their sets attract attention on the showroom floor. Once the HDTV is in your home, you’re on your own.

So here’s a beauty secret for the HDTV in your life: the new HDTV Calibration Wizard ($30), an easy-to-use test disc produced by Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation and distributed by Monster Cable (www.monstercable.com).

The HDTV Calibration Wizard is different from other test discs that set accurate levels for brightness, contrast, color and sharpness. It’s not as thorough as the Avia Guide to Home Theater (about $30) and Digital Video Essentials (about $25), but it is by far the simplest and quickest way to high-def clarity.

Instead of extensive test patterns, which often baffle the average user, the Wizard displays humans and everyday objects. A white shirt helps set the contrast — if it’s too high, the shirt’s buttons disappear. A black shirt against a darker black jacket tests brightness.

Three women in various stages of makeup — too green, just right and too red — help set the color. A pool cue is the key to accurate sharpness levels. If pool balls look average and well-rounded, then the TV’s aspect ratio — the ratio of width to depth — is correct.

Silver’s foundation trains professional calibrators who tinker with high-end video installations. A calibrator spends four hours with about $10,000 in electronics equipment to coax the best picture out of a big-screen HDTV or projector. That type of calibration costs about $300. Think of the $30 Wizard as a greatest-hits version of a professional calibration. It gets the basics right.

Silver developed the Wizard almost three years ago for the computer screen, but retained the rights to release it on DVD. Finally, he found a distributor in Monster Cable.

The Wizard has a lip-sync test that makes sure your home theater’s dialogue keeps up with your HDTV’s video, but no other audio tests. Both the Avia and Digital Video Essentials discs have complete audio calibration tones and professional-type video test patterns.

But neither approach the HDTV Calibration Wizard’s simplicity and ability to create an accurate picture in less than 15 minutes. You’ll get better detail, more lifelike skin tones and more precise blacks without interpreting intricate test patterns.

Silver, HDTV’s Mr. Wizard, has de-geeked television calibration. Now anyone can do it.