PS3 Settings Guide (HDMI)

I'm often asked what are my suggested settings for 'optimum playback' of both video games and video on PlayStation 3 via HDMI*? It's hardly surprising given the depth and breadth of the PS3's capabilities and Sony's, frankly confusing and nebulous, nomenclature! This is only compounded by variances in the capabilities of televisions produced by consumer electronics companies such as Panasonic and Sony and viewing conditions.

For the purposes of this guide, I'm connecting a PS3 (60GB model which supports PS2 and SACD playback) via HDMI to a Sony STR-DA2400 ES 7.1 Channel AV Receiver with HDMI output to a Panasonic VIERA LCD TX-37LZD800, which natively supports 1080p/24p Film. Therefore your experience may differ.

Game Settings
PS / PS2 Upscaler - Normal
PS / PS2 Smoothing - On

Video Settings
BD / DVD Upscaler - Normal
BD / DVD Video Output Format - Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr
BD 1080p 24 Hz Output - Automatic
BD / DVD Audio Output Format - Linear PCM

Display Settings
Video Output Settings - Follow the onscreen prompts
Cross Color Reduction Filter - Off
RGB Full Range - On
Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr Super-White - On

Sound Settings
Audio Output Settings - Follow the onscreen prompts

It is worth remembering that you will need to adjust the settings of your television to achieve the best results! For example 24p Film is 'off' by default on the Panasonic VIERA LCD TX-37LZD800, which caused 'juddering' during playback of Blu-ray discs until I switched it on!

For the sake of completeness, these are the suggested settings I use for my Panasonic VIERA LCD TX-37LZD800 in a dimly-lit room:

Brightness 39/63
Contrast 40/63
Colour 29/63
Picture profile Normal
Sharpness 3/6

Other settings
Colour balance: Cool
Colour management: Off
P-NR: Off

This guide barely scratches the surface! Blu-ray is an emerging technology subject to ongoing research and development as evinced by regular firmware updates available for both PS3 and standalone players. Therefore, consider it as only a 'quick start' guide at best!

HDMI is a significant step closer to the panacea of interconnected, self-configuring, plug and play devices! However, it rightly requires much-needed human intervention to extract the very best performance from HDMI-enabled devices! I don't think that's a bad thing at all...

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*I exclusively use QED Qunex HDMI to HDMI Cables throughout!