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MadVR Envy Calibration with Calman

January 25, 2023

The award-winning madVR Envy uses our patent-pending video processing to deliver the ultimate picture quality in your dedicated home theater. Enjoy the most dramatic yet highly accurate 4K HDR dynamic tone mapping, instant aspect ratio detection, subtitle management for scope screens, and non-linear stretch, unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The Envy also offers unrivaled 4K upscaling, specialized sharpening and detail enhancement, 3D and 1D LUT calibration with unprecedented precision, and much more. The Envy is the first and only dedicated video processor to use machine learning algorithms with real-time video streams, taking your video quality to a whole new level.

Requirements

  • A madVR Envy Extreme or Pro, running firmware 1.6.2.52 or later.
    • Check the Envy firmware from the Envy Firmware Configuration menu. If your installed version is prior to 1.6.2.52, then under “Build Type” in the same menu, choose Beta or Experimental, and then select this version or a later to install it.
  • Calman Version 5.13.2.36 or later.
  • Calman Supported Meter Hardware

Envy Calibration Setup

  • The Envy has built-in test patterns for setting contrast and brightness. To use this, you will first need to assign the “Open Test Patterns Menu” option to one of the Envy remote control’s-colored buttons, as shown below. After assigning, press green on the Envy remote if you wish to make this assignment permanent.
    • To activate the test patterns, close the Envy menus and press the colored button you assigned. Press the left and right arrows to change patterns, and OK to close the patterns. Note that you cannot access the test patterns once Calman is connected to the Envy. Note the option to also assign a colored button to toggle the calibration on/off – very handy for instant A/B testing.
  • When setting the brightness and contrast, it is best to do this directly in the display. After doing so, you can make finer adjustments, if necessary, using the “Black Level” and “White Level” settings in the Envy Display Configuration menu. If doing so, remember to press the green button to save any changes.
    • Important: Do not use the “Brightness” and “Contrast” settings in the Envy Calibration Configuration menu for this, as those apply tweaks to the gamma curve, which is entirely different.
  • We recommend setting Envy to output RGB using its Display Configuration menu, instead of YCbCr. This enables Envy to apply its advanced neural network chroma upscaling and transport the full benefit of the chroma upscaling to the display.
    • For this to work, the display must be set into a 4:4:4 capable mode. There is an Envy Test Pattern (see above) to test whether the display supports 4:4:4.

Calman Configuration requirements

  • Workflow: 3D LUT
    • Calman Menu – Open Workflow Template – Calibration – 3D LUT
  • Colorspace Target:
    • For HDR we recommend DCI-P3. If you use BT.2020, use BT.2020 SDR and not BT.2020 HDR.
  • Luminance Levels: PC (0-255)
    • Note: even if the Envy and display are using Video Levels. Regardless of your video chain and settings in your system, there is no downside to selecting PC Levels in Calman. However, doing so will provide the best accuracy when using Calman with the Envy.

Step 1

  • From the Calman Menu, select Open Workflow Template – Calibration – 3D LUT
  • On the Welcome page click 3D LUT Only
    • This will also contain options to perform a 1D LUT calibration, but will skip manual adjustment steps used when choosing Optimize Display + 3D LUT

  • On the Hardware Connect page:
    • Connect your meter hardware
    • Connect to the MadVR pattern generator
      • From the Source Settings, select Find Source->madVR->Model madTPG Envy Software. Enter the Envy IP address and press Connect. You can find the Envy IP by pressing OK on the Envy remote when no Envy menus are open and pressing the left arrow one time.
    • Connect to MadVR Envy DDC
      • From the Direct Display Control, select Find Display->madVR->madVR Envy Software. Then enter the Envy IP and press Connect.
        • In Display Control panel, which will now say “madVRF2”, select the following options:
          • Set “Active Grayscale Points” to “33 – PC”.
          • Set the “Select 3D LUT” to the LUT slot in the Envy you wish to store the calibration.
            • For SDR calibrations this will typically be “BT709”. For HDR calibrations – if you selected DCI-P3 as the Colorspace Target, choose DCIP3, or BT2020 if you selected BT.2020 as the Colorspace target.
          • In Display Control panel, which will now say “madVRF2”, select the following options:
          • Click the “Full DDC Reset” button. This ensures you are starting with a fresh slate and no active LUT. Note that this action will erase any previous LUT stored with the default name or chosen name
  • Click Next to proceed to calibration targets.

Step 2

  • Confirm your calibration targets:
    • Colorspace Target:
      • For HDR we recommend DCI-P3. If you use BT.2020, use BT.2020 SDR and not BT.2020 HDR.
    • Luminance Levels: PC (0-255)
      • Note: even if the Envy and display are using Video Levels. Regardless of your video chain and settings in your system, there is no downside to selecting PC Levels in Calman. However, doing so will provide the best accuracy when using Calman with the Envy.
    • Select your preferred Gamma Formula and Target Exponent.

Step 3

  • Skip to the 1D LUT workflow page
  • Verify that the 3D LUT is Disabled under the MadVR source settings menu
  • Click the AutoCal Button in the bottom right corner of Calman

  • Set the Active Grayscale Points to 33 – PC
  • Press OK to begin the 1D LUT calibration. Once complete, Calman automatically uploads the 1D LUT to the Envy.
  • Enable the 1D LUT:
    • To verify the quality of the 1D LUT calibration, go to the Source tab, which will say “madVR Generator” and click the Enabled 3D LUT option so that it is checked. Even though it says “Enable 3D LUT”, this is really enabling the 1D LUT here.
  • Click Next to proceed to 3D LUT calibration

Step 4

  • Make sure that the Enabled 3D LUT option is still checked in the madVR Generator panel
  • Press the AutoCal button in the bottom right corner.
    • Check the “Set 3DLut Grayscale to unity” box on the AutoCal Dialog
    • For the Calibration Type, select the size calibration you would like to choose. Shown here is a Fixed Grid, 13 points, for a fairly “quick” calibration. For the most extreme results, we recommend using at least 17 points, or 21 points, if you have the time.
      • We also found that depending on the display, the Lightning LUT option might provide excellent results

  • Press OK to begin the 3D LUT process.
    • Upon completion, Calman will automatically add the 3D LUT to the 1D LUT from Step 3 and send the LUTs to the Envy.
  • Calibration with 1D and 3D LUTs is now complete. You can click Next to verify the calibration by performing post-calibration measurements

Additional Information: