are laserdisc COLOR levels any different?
My first inclination is to say no, though the brighter black level of the LD's and these DVDs leaves color saturation lower than we're used to on official DVDs. I increased the color level slightly for the old TR47's, I'd reccomend you do it conservatively because all you are really doing is adding red to the picture.
I read a home theater guide that said you should turn sharpness all the way down
My first inclination is to say no, though the brighter black level of the LD's and these DVDs leaves color saturation lower than we're used to on official DVDs. I increased the color level slightly for the old TR47's, I'd reccomend you do it conservatively because all you are really doing is adding red to the picture.
I read a home theater guide that said you should turn sharpness all the way down
I'd say that advice is not always correct. While you should always do what you can to turn off edge enhancement circuits or "VM" as it's sometimes called, turning the sharpness control all the way down on most CRT TV sets will yield too soft of a picture- you will actually lose resolution. Most sets I've worked with have a neutral sharpness position, and it's commonly smack in the middle of the scale. Pop in an official DVD that has the THX test package (Star Wars prequels) to bring up a test pattern for sharpness, and you'll be able to tell pretty quickly if lowering sharpness to zero harms the resolution of your set.
The color noise in the blacks on Cowclops is often the result of a special effects matte, and it's most apparent when the star destroyer first appears onscreen during ANH. I'd say your brightness level could be lowered a bit more. Hope this helps.