Top tips for optimizing your new TV

You're blown away by the image quality of the new televisions at your favorite electronics retailer, but when you take one home it somehow doesn't look (or sound) as good as the in-store experience.

Don't fret. It's not you or your new TV.

Your new flat-panel (or perhaps curved) television just needs a bit of tweaking to get the most out of it. And no, you don't need a degree in electrical engineering to pull it off.

The following are a few simple tips and tricks to optimizing the picture and sound of your new investment.

Beginner tips

First, the basics.

While it might seem painfully obvious, make sure your main TV source — like your cable or satellite box — is the best your provider has to offer (or rather, the best you can afford). If it's a couple of years old, make sure it's at least an HD receiver. You'd be surprised how many people haven't updated their rented or purchased TV box. Or they might be only looking at standard definition (SD) channels on their brand new HDTV. You likely have to pay a little extra per month for access to more HD content.

If you prefer to get your content online, such as on Netflix, make sure you have a fast Internet connection for smooth streaming, and if it's offered by your provider go with unlimited data (no caps).

Some people prefer free over-the-air (OTA) service, which you can get from an indoor or outdoor antenna (on a roof or balcony), with many crystal-clear high-def stations to choose from, depending on where you live; some antennas require power to amplify the signal for maximum reception.

Also from the "duh" department, ensure you're using good cables. You don't have to go with top-of-the-line HDMI cables, but try to do better than what shipped in the box with your TV or what you found in the bargain bin at your local dollar store. Typically, you pay a bit of a premium for thicker shielding (to reduce electronic interference from, say, a power cord), better connectors (e.g. gold tips), longer length, faster speeds and brand. Along with uncompressed video, HDMI cables also carry audio.

While not every techie will agree, a quick and easy way to vastly improve picture quality is to turn up the contrast on your television almost to full and reduce the brightness down to below half. This little-known trick makes blacks blacker, colors richer, and gets rid of the washed-out look some HDTVs have.

Calibration counts

Better yet, take the time to calibrate your home theater.

But rather than spending a few-hundred dollars to properly set up your television for you (or up to $25 for a dedicated calibration disc), if you have a LucasFilm, Pixar or some Disney discs in your library, these DVD or Blu-ray movies usually have a calibration tool included. It's called THX Optimizer, and it can be found in the Special Features or Set Up area of the disc. There are hundreds of movies available with this included, such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars flicks.

Simply use your remote to press Enter/Select on the THX Optimizer and follow the wizard to calibrate your home theater's video and audio settings (the latter relates to your audio-video receiver and surround sound speaker setup). The test will take you through contrast, brightness, color, tint, aspect ratio (4:3 and 16:9), speaker assignment, speaker phase and subwoofer crossover.

Another option is the THX Tune-Up app for iOS and Android phones or tablets, which works with devices that support some form of screen mirroring, to wirelessly communicate with the TV it's trying to optimize (or an Apple TV box via AirPlay). These apps help you tweak your television's color, contrast, brightness, sharpness, tint and more.

Sounding off

If you don't have the budget, space or technical know-how to set up a surround sound system for your home theater — which usually consists of a multi-channel audio-video (AV) receiver and at least six speakers spread through the room (including a subwoofer for low-frequency bass) — at least consider one of the newer sound bars to add some boom to your room.

Sitting just below or above your television, sound bars house multiple speakers in a horizontal enclosure, and deliver multichannel sound from your movies, TV shows, sports and games (or in some cases, simulated surround sound).

Ranging in price from $50 to $2,000, many sound bars include a wireless subwoofer to place somewhere else in the room and some let you stream music from your smartphone, tablet or computer via Bluetooth connectivity.

Disabling the 'soap opera' effect

One more thing you might want to change is often referred to as the "soap opera" effect.

While the high-definition picture certainly looks sharp, you might see something a bit odd about the image. You can't quite put your finger on it, but that TV show or blockbuster movie you're watching almost looks like it was shot with a cheap camcorder instead of high-end video camera. You're certain The Walking Dead wasn't filmed on the same set as The Young and the Restless, though it appears to be so.

The "soap opera effect" is really called "motion smoothing" or "motion interpolation," designed to decrease motion blur and make movements seem more smooth and lifelike. Your new TV might see low frame-rate source material and try to fill in the gaps between frames with additional ones the TV generates, to help smooth out fast motion.

If you're not a fan, enter the Settings menu on your television to turn off the feature or least adjust its intensity. It might be listed as "Motion Interpolation" or "Motion Smoothing," or called something else by the television manufacturer. Samsung, for example, calls it "Auto Motion Plus," while Sony refers to it as "MotionFlow" and some LG TVs offer "TruMotion."

Follow Marc on Twitter: @marc_saltzman. E-mail him at techcomments@usatoday.com.