THX Optimizer

Advanced Test Pattern Quick Start Guide

The Advanced Test Pattern within THX Optimizer for Pixars feature film Cars finetunes your display's response to shades of light and dark - which is the
foundation of delivering excellent picture quality.
1. Before making adjustments.
Warm up the TV for 10 minutes or so.
Set the room light as you would during the movie.
Sit in your regular seat and use the remote control to make any necessary
adjustments.
Create a Pinhole Worksheet. Refer to the Pinhole for Advanced THX
Optimizer Test for instructions.
Refer to Figure 1 for each test.

Figure 1

2. Look at the Black Optimize part of the test pattern and turn Brightness*
control up until you see all nine bars.
If you can see nine flashing bars, turn the Brightness control down until
the four left-most bars go black and you can barely see the four on the
right as they flash on and off.
If you can see the left-most bars, turn the Brightness control down until
the right-most bars are barely visible as they flash on and off.

With some equipment you will never see the left-most bars. This is OK,
adjust the Brightness control up and down until the right-most bars are
barely visible as they flash on and off.

3. Look at the twelve columns of Ramps and Blocks.

While squinting or looking through the Pinhole Worksheet, adjust the
Contrast+/Gamma** control so that the Blocks do not look like hills or
caves in the surrounding Ramp bars.
The Blocks should match the same shade of gray as the blurred Ramps.
The Blocks in each Ramp should match in intensity for all twelve columns
of Ramps and Blocks, not just a few.
4. Look at the White Optimize pattern.
Make sure that the four left-most boxes on the White Optimize pattern are
still visible.
If these four boxes are no longer distinguishable, you will need to lower
your Contrast control and reset your Brightness control, (refer to step 2
above).
If your TV has them, you can also use adjustments such as Gamma,
Picture or Custom to make the image look as much like Figure 1 as
possible.
5. Repeat the above Brightness and Contrast Control settings until the following:
You can just barely see the four bars on the right of Black Optimize.
You only see the four bars on the left of White Optimize.
o Some player/display combinations will still show some white bars
on the right. If you are seeing nice bright whites and the gamma
blocks are still properly displayed, your adjustments are
acceptable.
Looking through the pinhole or by squinting, the gray Blocks dissolve flat
into the blurred Ramps.
Zone Plate The motion of this pattern should be smooth, with no hitching or
stuttering, no visible horizontal or vertical structure and no color interference.
For detailed instructions and background information, refer to the following
document titled: Advanced Test Pattern Detailed Instructions.

* If your monitor or projector has a "Black Level" control, set "Brightness" to its nominal position and
adjust the "Black Level" control wherever you see references to the Brightness control in these
instructions.
** If your set has a "Gamma" or "Gamma Trim" control section 3. Contrast/Gamma Control in the
Advanced Instructions for the THX Optimizer New Test document.
+

Contrast is also called Picture on some sets.

Pinhole for Advanced Test Pattern for Cars

Punch a small hole about the size of the dot below.

.
The hole should be slightly smaller than the dot (about .8mm).
A good way to punch the hole is to use the lead from a .7mm mechanical
pencil.
The hole should be small enough to see the television screen blurred,
but not big enough to see the screen clearly.

THX Optimizer
Advanced Test Pattern Detailed Instructions
Background:
The THX Optimizer is designed and engineered to give you the ability to match the
equipment settings used during production. This allows you to experience your
feature presentation exactly how the director originally intended the content to be
seen.
Through the use of test patterns the THX Optimizer ensures that your equipment is
set for the highest quality playback. These settings enhance details in the shadows,
as well as areas with high levels of luminance, (the amount of light in the picture.)
Accurate settings will produce a picture with subtle detail in both dark and light
areas.
Advanced Test Pattern:
Additionally, Pixar and THX have included a new test pattern that will help you
modify your monitors Contrast and Brightness settings to increase your viewing
enjoyment of Cars. Regardless of whether you are watching a rear-projection, frontprojection, DLP, LCD, CRT, plasma, or other type of display, taking advantage of this
special test will recreate the viewing experience the makers of the movie intended.
The advanced test pattern will ensure that your display is correctly reproducing the
entire range of the picture, from the darkest to the brightest areas of the image.
How to use THX Optimizer for Cars:
You can either:

Adjust the Contrast and Brightness settings through the use of the traditional
THX Optimizer test patterns, or
Adjust the Contrast and Brightness settings through the use of the new test
pattern using the Advanced button on either the Contrast or Brightness setup menus under the THX Optimizer Video Tests

Please refer to Figure 1 for a picture of the advanced test pattern highlighting the
various areas that will be used during these instructions. Descriptions of the terms
are provided directly below with instructions for their use following.
Descriptions:

Black Optimize The Black Optimize, which is circled in blue in Figure 1,

helps to optimize the display of the blacks in the picture, enabling rich
shadows without the loss of detail. This pattern alternately blinks on and off,
to make the pattern easier to see. The center bar of the pattern is the same
shade of black as the background of the test pattern and after using this test
will be the darkest shade that the monitor will display.

The four bars on the left portion of the Black Optimize, outlined in red in
Figure 1, encompass four shades darker than black. Meanwhile, the four bars
on the right, outlined in green, encompass four shades lighter than black.
Ideally, if your monitor or projector is properly calibrated, the four bars on
the left should not be visible while the four bars on the right should be visible
as the pattern blinks on and off.
Note: Depending on the capabilities of your DVD player and your monitor or
projector, you may not be able to see the four bars on the left portion of the
Black Optimize. Some audio/video components cannot play back video levels
below the standard black that is found in the background of this test pattern.
All is not lost, but the accuracy of your adjustments will be limited. Please
refer to the instructions below to describe what to do in a situation where
below black or super-black levels cannot be displayed.

Figure 1: Description of advanced test pattern used in THX Optimizer for Cars.

White Optimize The White Optimize, which is circled in red in Figure 1,

helps to optimize the display of the brights in the picture, ensuring that your
monitor or projector is not clipping any of the whitest whites while allowing
full use of the legal range of brightness. This pattern alternately blinks on
and off, to make the pattern easier to see. The center bar of the pattern is
the same shade of white as the background white box which contains it, and
after using this test will be the brightest shade that the monitor will display.
The four bars on the right portion of White Optimize, outlined in red in Figure
1, encompass four shades whiter than white. Meanwhile, the four bars on the

left, outlined in green, encompass four shades darker than white. Ideally, if
your monitor or projector is properly calibrated, the four bars on the right
should not be visible while the four bars on the left should be visible as the
pattern blinks on and off.
Think of Black and White Optimize as exactly similar --- you want to see the
inner four bars, while the outer four bars should disappear into their
respective backgrounds.
Note: Depending on the capabilities of your DVD player and your monitor or
projector, especially those using HDMIT or DVI connections, you may not be
able to see the four bars on the right portion of the White Optimize. Some
audio/video components will clip video levels above the reference white which
is found in the background of this test pattern, although this is less common
than the loss of super-black. All is not lost, but the accuracy of your
adjustments will be reduced. Adjust your controls so that the four left bars of
White Optimize [marked in green in figure 1] are still just barely visible as
they blink.

Ramps The Ramps, pointed out at the top of Figure 1, are the twelve
columns that appear from left to right on the screen. Each column is made
up of alternating horizontal lines of black and a particular shade of gray.
Within each Ramp are Blocks of gray (described below).

Block The Blocks are the solid gray squares that appear within each Ramp
from the top to the bottom on the screen. The shade of gray is the same
within each Ramp from top to bottom, but varies in luminance for each Ramp
from left to right.
Together the shades of gray found in the Ramps and Blocks can help
determine the ability of your system to display various luminance levels
simultaneously. The combination of the Ramps and Blocks can be used to
adjust Contrast, Gamma (if your monitor or projector supports this control),
and other possible settings such as Cinema or Sport modes.
In order to use this portion of the test pattern, you must look at the pattern
as if it is an optical illusion, similar to looking at 3-D still pictures (also known
as stereograms). By squinting, removing your glasses if you are nearsighted,
or looking through a pinhole in a piece of paper, you should see the horizontal
lines in each Ramp blur together to form a solid gray shade, producing 12
solid vertical bars, each of which has several Blocks within it. The gray Blocks
will appear to be depressed within the Ramp, raised outwards from the Ramp,
or the same shade as the Ramp. You will use this phenomenon to set up the
Contrast and Gamma adjustments, if supported.

Zone Plate This pattern should be a smoothly moving zone plate pattern.
Consider this pattern one not where there is a right answer, but rather a
pattern to assist in assessing relative image and motion quality. If you have

multiple resolutions, deinterlacing or output interfaces for your display and

DVD player, comparing the results while watching this pattern may be helpful.
Ideally, the motion of the pattern should be smooth, with no hitching or
stuttering. There should be no visible horizontal or vertical structure. There
should be no color interference, only black and white. You should be able to
see detail across the entire pattern.
If you wish, compare the various output and input modes of your DVD player
and monitor or projector, to find the most pleasing combination.

Instructions:
1. Before making adjustments to your television:

Play the test pattern on your DVD by activating the Advanced button on
either the Contrast or Brightness menu in the THX Optimizer Video Tests.

Set the room lighting to the level that will be used for watching the feature.
The room lighting will determine what settings you should use for your
television adjustments.

Sit in your normal viewing location.
2. Brightness Control
To adjust your Brightness control, you will be looking at the Black Optimize test
pattern (refer to Figure 1 for location).

Turn your Brightness control up until you can easily see all nine bars of the
Black Optimize test pattern. If your television looks like Figure 2, continue to
the next step. If your television looks like Figure 3, go to the step labeled
Only Black Bars on Right Are Visible.

All Black Bars Are Visible: If you can see the bars on the left of Black
Optimize, you are in great shape - your display and DVD player both support
super-black or video levels below standard black level.
a. Back off of the Brightness control, turning it down until you cannot see
the four left-most bars at all as they blink on and off.
b. You should see only a solid black background, with no hint of the four
left-most super-black bars.
c. Ideally, you should still be able to make out all four bars on the right
of the Black Optimize test pattern as they blink.

Only Black Bars on Right Are Visible: If you cannot make the left-most bars
visible, no matter how high you turn up Brightness, either your
monitor/projector or your DVD player does not support super-black - most
likely your DVD player. In this case you will want to lower the Brightness
control until the four bars on the right are just visible as they blink.
In either case, you should now have Brightness set correctly, given the setting
of all other controls. As you adjust Contrast and other controls like Gamma,

Picture or specialized Cinema controls, you will always want to finish off by
checking that Black Optimize is still operating correctly.

Figure 2: Note that all bars of Black Optimize are visible

3. Contrast/Gamma Control+
To adjust your Contrast/Gamma control, you will be looking at the twelve Ramps
(refer to Figure 1 for location).

While squinting or looking through a pinhole punched out in a piece of paper,
adjust the Contrast/Gamma control so that the Blocks neither protrude from
nor recede into the Ramp bars.

The Blocks should match the same shade of gray as the blurred Ramps.

The Blocks and the Ramps should match in intensity for all twelve of the
Ramp/Block sets, not just a few of the sets.

You may need to view the Blocks and Ramps from a distance further than
where you normally sit in order to see the optical illusion.
Now look at the White Optimize test pattern (refer to Figure 1 for location).

Double-check the White Optimize test pattern, to make sure that the four inner
bars are still visible.

If they have become washed-out and no longer distinguishable, you will need
to lower your Contrast control and reset your Brightness control. If available,

If your monitor or projector has a "Black Level" control, set "Brightness" to its nominal position and
adjust the "Black Level" control wherever you see references to the Brightness control in these
instructions.

If your monitor/projector has a "Gamma" or "Gamma Trim" control, first adjust Contrast until you begin
to lose the 8 White Check boxes, and then back off slightly. Next, adjust the Gamma control(s)
wherever you see references to the Contrast/Gamma control in these instructions.
+

Contrast is also called Picture on some displays.

To get a properly sized pinhole, print the last page of these instructions on 8.5x11 paper and punch a
tiny hole where indicated. The hole should be slightly smaller than the dot (about .8mm). A good way to
punch the hole is to use the lead from a .7mm mechanical pencil. The hole should be small enough to see
the television screen blurred, but not big enough to see the screen clearly.

you may need to use other adjustments such as Gamma, Picture or custom
"Cinema/Sport" settings to compensate.
4. Repeat the above Brightness and Contrast Control settings until the
following are displaying properly

You can only see the four bars on the right of Black Optimize.

You can only see the four bars on the left of White Optimize.
a. Some player/display combinations, typically in analog mode, will have
enough analog headroom to always display some of the bars on the
right of White Optimize. As long as your display is producing nice
bright whites, and the gamma blocks are properly displaying [see
below], all is well.

Looking through the pinhole or by squinting, the gray Blocks dissolve into the
blurred Ramps.