Change This One Setting to Improve Your TV’s Picture

Every television has a bunch of settings to adjust the image quality. While changing your TV’s picture mode can do a lot to make it look its best, there is one feature that deserves special attention. It’s called “Sharpness” and while it sounds simple, it doesn’t do what you think. Believe it or not, turning this setting down can really improve the picture on your TV.

I completely understand wanting to get as much detail from your 4K TVbut the fact is that sharpness control does not actually increase the sharpness of the TV. With most televisions, masks fine details. This means that when your sharpness is too high, you may lose some of the sharp detail possible on this new TV. In some cases the best sharpness setting is actually zero, whereas on most TVs the best setting is in the bottom 20% or so.

It’s understandable if you’re confused. After all, an image that is too bright Or screaming is easy to understand, but the clarity requires some explanation. Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything below.

If you want to dig deeper into which settings are best for your specific TV, learn about the best picture mode and effects of change these additional settings.

Sharpness means edge enhancement

On almost all TVs, the sharpness control adds something called “edge enhancement.” That’s exactly what it sounds like. The edges of the image are enhanced, essentially by adding a thin outline or halo. This makes them more visible.

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Take a look at the side-by-side images above. The image on the left is natural version. The right has significant edge enhancements. Note the outline around the buildings. Although the image on the left may appear “soft” at first glance, it is not in reality.

The image below is a close-up of the “sharpened” version with enhanced edges. As you will see, a sort of white halo appears on distinct edges.

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The problem is that the halo shouldn’t be there – and it replaces what should be. It may not look bad in this image, but in most cases this halo covers actual detail. Additionally, it often brings out grainy noise in other parts of the image. See how much cleaner the image on the left looks compared to the enhanced image.

Edge enhancement definitely gives the image a certain look: it can provide the appearance in more detail. Most TVs have their sharpness controls enabled in the default picture modes, so we’re used to this faux-detail look. Dynamic, Lively or Sport modes often have many edge enhancements, but they are not the only modes to do so.

Although unenhanced images may look soft in comparison, especially at first, they are actually more detailed as they show fine textures on walls, pores on faces, and tiny hairs, all of which can be obscured by too much edge enhancement.

What is the best sharpness setting for my TV?

The easiest way to check is to switch your TV to the Movie or Cinema picture preset and see where the sharpness control is in that mode. Whatever that number is, it’s a good starting point.

Do you want to refine it? While watching a variety of content, especially 4K if you have a 4K TV, lower the control from this starting point and see what happens. Do small details disappear? If so, it’s too low. Ideally, you’ll be able to find the spot that provides the most real detail and the least amount of extra noise. Don’t be surprised if this number is 0.

Some TVs actively soften the image when you set the sharpness control to zero (or even below 50 in some cases). This could be done to provide a way to reduce noise in lower quality sources, but I would be shocked if it was ever used for that purpose. Just something to keep in mind. If the image suddenly appears vagueIt’s definitely too low. There’s a perfect place for any TV, you just have to find it.

An installation Blu-ray disc, such as Benchmark Spears & Munsil UHD HDRfeatures templates that will make it easier to find the exact sharpness level for your specific TV.

It’s possible, although rare, that you have a TV with permanent edge enhancement. Even by turning the sharpness control to zero and cycling through all the settings (and picture presets) on your TV, you may still see some edge enhancement or other processing. However, this was more common with older TVs. Nowadays, this is quite rare.

What about other visual checks?

Many televisions and some high-end projectors have processing capabilities separate from sharpness control. These are usually deeper in settings menus or separate “advanced” sections. Some of them can improve apparent details without adding excessive edge enhancements. Others, of course, do more harm than good.

This is due in part to the increase in overall processing power available on mid- and high-end TVs. For example, Samsung, LG, and Sony have discussed using AI for their upscaling, which allows for a decent-looking low-resolution picture on a high-resolution TV.

There is no general advice here. If your TV has these resolution/detail enhancement features, try each one to see what they do. Sit close and see if it adds noise, enhances the edges, or makes the image sharper. Purists will probably want to turn these features off, especially with high-quality content like that of a 4K Blu-ray, but with some content it might help.

If you have a Blu-ray player, you can get a special disc to help you set up the picture correctly. One of the most comprehensive is the Spears & Munsil UHD benchmark, a drive that CNET uses in our TV lab. Note that it requires a 4K Blu-ray player.

Why you sometimes can’t turn down the sharpness

Sometimes the edge enhancement is in the source. This was common on early DVDs, where edge enhancement was added to make them “pop”. If it’s in the source, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just something to keep in mind if you’re trying different settings, don’t use just one source or program.

There are also some sources, usually low quality video like standard definition TV channels or even VHS tapes, that can benefit from a TV’s detail enhancement circuitry. These sources are so soft and low-resolution that, when blown up to the size of today’s large televisions, they can appear more enhanced.

TV manufacturers love edge enhancement, largely because it makes their TVs look very detailed when viewed in a store. Some inexpensive TVs may have irreversible edge enhancement. So even if the sharpness control is weak, the edges are improved. In this case, unfortunately, there is not much you can do.

Does the sharpness seem weird to you? Give it a few days

If you now go to your TV and turn the sharpness control all the way down, the picture will look absolutely soft. A bit like with high color temperaturesAnyone who is not used to making fine adjustments to their TV’s controls has become accustomed to a certain “look” of their TV’s picture. So, at first, even the correct sharpness setting may seem weak, especially if your TV is in Vivid or Dynamic picture mode.

Try the new lower sharpness setting for a few days. If you don’t like the look of the unenhanced image, that’s no problem. Wind it up. But I bet when you do, the “original” setting will look weird and the “lower” sharpening mode will look much better.

Editor’s note: This story was first published in 2015 but was, uh, made sharper with updated information, links and more.