Calibrating a TV professionally is a difficult process, carried out in a completely darkened room using special equipment connected to a computer and software. In the course of it, the optical instrument is placed in front of the TV and recognizes on its screen patterns created using a special generator. The next step is to calibrate the image using a computer. The whole process can take several hours. In addition to knowing the hardware and software skills, the calibrator is also required to have graphic knowledge.
EZCal stands for Easy Calibration, i.e. easy calibration
However, now this complex and expensive process has become available to ordinary users thanks to the EZCal application.
“The solution was to simplify each step of the calibration process while duplicating the functionality of complex calibration instruments within a single application,” the developers said.
Obviously, the main role in the new method is assigned to smartphone cameras. However, they “read” graphics in the RGB spectrum, and to tune the TV, you need to rely on how the human eye perceives the colors.
“A key part of our work was to create an algorithm that transforms RGB data into XYZ coordinate data, as described in the International Committee of Illumination (CIE) standards,” explained Samsung engineer Jason Park.
Further, the pattern generation program was built right into the TV, and the computer was replaced by a smartphone connected to the TV via Wi-Fi.
Three easy calibration methods
The biggest advantage of the EZCal app is that the user can easily and quickly calibrate the TV according to their own preferences. When you start it on a smartphone, the background program built into the Tizen OS is turned on on the TV at the same time. The user then makes a choice of three options: Quick Mode, Basic Mode and Professional Mode.
As the name suggests, the first mode is the fastest. After pointing to the TV, the smartphone’s camera reads the pattern and transforms it from the RGB spectrum to the XYZ coordinate graph. The calibration process takes only 15-30 seconds: fast and efficient.
Basic mode offers the user more customization options. If in fast mode the white balance is calibrated by two points, then here this action is performed at 20 points. In addition, the gamma is adjusted, that is, the brightness of the video signal, and the grayscale ruling, which affects the color stability depending on the signal strength. The result is a more optimal result.
The third mode is the most advanced one for fine-tuning the image. It takes 12 to 15 minutes and allows detailed brightness and color calibration. To perform this, it is recommended to completely darken the room and place the smartphone on a tripod to achieve the required accuracy.
