The Spears & Munsil Calibration Filter is used with the SMPTE Color Bars pattern to set the Color and Tint controls (sometimes called “Saturation” and “Hue”) on your display. Different displays need different levels of filtering to do a proper calibration, so the filter allows for 1, 2, or 3X filtering. To see which level you need:
- Put up the SMPTE Color Bars pattern
- Look through the 1X side of the filter. The large red, green, and yellow bars on top should turn black, and should be indistinguishable from the thin black bars underneath them.
- If they are not black, but slightly red or green, or look a little brighter than the black background, then switch to the 2X side.
- If the bars still are not black, fold the filter at the score in the center and look through both sides to form a 3X filter. The 3X filter is very dark, so you will need to be in a dark room with your eyes completely adjusted to the light to use it.
- If the red, green, and yellow bars are still barely visible through the 3X filter, continue with the calibration; you should be able to get close to the correct levels.
Once you know which level of filter is appropriate for your display, use the instructions given for the SMPTE Color Bars pattern to set your Color and Tint (or Saturation and Hue) controls. Remember that you can press “Up” on the remote while looking at the pattern to bring up a help screen.
Color Bars – Correctly Filtered
Color Bars – Not Correctly Filtered
