Start out

[msn26753]

So.. If I'm just getting started on a brand new unit and don't know much about the units, can someone direct me to what settings and what not to mess with and what they do..
Do u put brightness or gain all the way up or down, why?
Do u put contrast up or down , why?
Do you put scroll speeding slow or ultrascroll,why?
TVG is better off or on high and for what?

Before anybody starts asking well it all depends on where your fishing and what unit you have.. I'm just trying to get a general direction of what stuff is and how they work. It's been the biggest problem for me in sorting them out. You got one thread that's way to detailed where it's confusing, then another thread that just says turn brightness up.. So I think some shorter answer or brief description will help others as well as myself. The Garmin instruction book is OT detailed enough at all.. And I know y'all know more of y'all are talking about, but as newbie, it would help.. I'm from Louisiana so, talk slow...lol

[Schins]

Do u put brightness or gain all the way up or down, why?
Do u put contrast up or down , why?
Do you put scroll speeding slow or ultrascroll,why?
TVG is better off or on high and for what?

start out with the default settings and play with each one when you have the time to see how it looks ON YOUR WATERS.

but definitely put scroll speed on auto for now

[msn26753]

I guess I'm trying to figure out, what is the differences in contrast brightness, what does TVG do to them.. When you go to 800 then Someone said raise the brightness or gain.. Just trying to get a better idea what each setting is doing so u know what to mess with..
In other words.. My unit I raised brightness but then had to raise Boise filter.. Would it be better to leave brightness along since you just raising both..

[puhlw]

One of my favorite things about my Garmin is they just work really no need to fiddle with to many settings. I leave most everything on default or auto.

[LWINCHESTER2]

Do u put brightness or gain all the way up or down, why?
Do u put contrast up or down , why?
Do you put scroll speeding slow or ultrascroll,why?
TVG is better off or on high and for what?

Too much at one time. There's 2d, Down imaging and side imaging. The ideal settings for each vary considerably based on what you are trying to see. the depth and the terrain. I'll discuss 2d. On side and dowm imaging most people use that to look at structure. I don't so I'll let someone else make suggestions on them.

The default settings work well. I usually turn the sensitivity up until the screen gets to dirty and then back it off unit it cleans up. I usually have the scrolling to to fast or ultra. Even so you'll notice that regardless of how you set it the deeper the water gets the slower it gets.

TVG is grouped with the noise control in the menu. Ordinarily I have it on medium. Start with Interference to Off and then move up if you need it.

Just experiment while you are on the water. It'll be fun.

[MTW]

2d i pretty much left on auto, it looked so good i didnt mess with it.

on side vu on both 455 and 800 i left the contrast at 50 percent and adjusted the brightness a little when scanning for cover and structure. to make fish returns visible i had to crank the contrast up to about 85. i found that i like the 455 setting better for fish returns, why i dont know, just seemed to see them better. scroll speed i tried all of the settings and went back to auto.
around 3 mph seemed to be the best boat speed.

for down vu i pretty much left on auto and ran split screen with 2d to verify fish returns. the same as with side scan, for fish returns popped out more on 455.

for what its worth mine is a 7sv and may be different on other units.

like the guy above said spend a lot of time with it. i scanned a whole week and left the poles at the house, just to get the knack of it and mark a bunch of brush piles and stumps.