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Text “Ghosting” in 525 Letterbox Downconvert
So I’ve got a 1080i, 29.97 sequence that I need to downconvert to an SD, letterboxed version for D-Beta mastering. However, on output, I am noticing some ghosting or outlines around the edges of the text in the graphic bug. In HD, it’s as clean as it was intended, so I am wondering if a) this is to be expected of the Kona 3 card, b) if I have the control panel settings wrong, or c) if this is just something inherent in the downconversion process that is more noticeable in the graphics (the SRW-5800 deck’s letterboxed output is actually softer than the Kona’s).
Here’s my set-up:
FCP 6.0.4/ 1080i 2997 8-bit easy set-up/ ETT from a 1080i 2997 8-bit sequence
to…
Kona 3/ 1080i 2997 Frame Buffer/ SDI 1 Primary (1080i 2997)/ SDI 2 Secondary (525i 2997 feeding the D-Beta deck)
Reference to Kona is 1080i 2997 (although I tried 525 as well)David Brier | Post-Op Media
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5 Replies
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There was a thread about this same problem a couple months ago. I’ll see if I can find it.
They’re probably high contrast/primary color graphics? Just a slight 1 pixelish kinda ringing edge? Then yep – we’ve confirmed you’re seeing artifacts from the Kona downconvert.
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Yes, that’s what I was afraid of. I think it’s a contrast thing, and the downconversion process is not able to sample the color differences as precisely. There is also a small (maybe 1 or 2 pixel) stroke around the edges of the text that might be amplifying this (not my graphics). But like I said, it’s still much crisper than the SRW-5800 deck’s letterbox output, which I would describe as “a bit soft”. I usually prefer to re-title for SD anyway, so that I can re-position, and even increase the size of text where needed.
Thanks!
David Brier | Post-Op Media
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Somewhere in the HDCAM deck are some options for downconversion. I think they have a “soft” “regular” and “crisp” sort of option…. never used it though. Might be worth a gander?
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Hey thanks for the tip! We just took delivery of the deck, and there’s definitely a steep learning curve. I’ll let everyone know if I make any breakthroughs with the ghosting issues.
David Brier | Post-Op Media
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