Calibrating HDMI Monitor/Output with Intensity (Pro)

[Luke Maslen]

Hi David,

The Intensity Pro does not have a calibration function for your monitor. The Pro partly reflected the addition of component analog video to the original Intensity card which only had HDMI in and out. The Pro also denotes that it can be used with the component inputs of PVM and BVM series monitors. We displayed the Intensity Pro at NAB 2007 connected via component HD analog to a Sony BVM 26″ monitor and the image was outstanding. It can also be used to capture from the component analog video outputs of professional series video cameras which were of an older generation which lacked HDMI output.

The current DeckLink HD Extreme 2 card (US$995) has all of the connections of your Intensity Pro card plus SDI input and output and RS-422 device control. The SDI connections support SD, HD and 2K video. The card has both professional and consumer breakout cables for connecting to different kinds of equipment. The DeckLink HD Extreme 2 includes 3D LUT’s so you can adjust the video output to your HDMI-based monitor. You can simply switch off the red and green channels with the 3D LUT interface so you see blue only. A workflow might be to output color bars and then use the 3D LUT interface to output blue only. You could then make adjustments using the controls on your HDMI monitor.

If you already have an SDI-based card, you could simply connect a HDLink Pro (US$795) and use either its blue only feature or use the 3D LUT’s to adjust the image on your HDMI display.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[David Hames]

Thanks for your response, Luke. If I may suggest adding “Blue Only” and proc amp-like output controls to the Intensity (and other Blackmagic cards) system preference control panel because that would make your products the best in the market. The LUT solution sounds pretty clunky at best–especially since I would have to adjust the monitor through it’s native controls which is typically menu driven and not at all efficient. I know it would be a no brainer if I had a broadcast HD monitor, but that’s a $5k to $10k investment with very poor ROI in terms of my clients’ requirements. I need accurate color, but at the same time, I’m not color grading for theatrical release. I need a $2k to $3k HD monitoring solution.

Do you know if the Intensity card can play nicely with the Matrox MXO or will I need to scrap my Intensity and go with the MXO2?

Thanks again.

David

____________________________________________

RED Balloon Entertainment
films and other visual enticements™
http://www.balloonballoon.com

[Luke Maslen]

Hi David,

Thank you very much for your suggestions which I will discuss with the engineers. We’ve got proc amps on the analog connections of Intensity Pro and the DeckLink cards as analog video needs these controls unlike digital video connections such as SDI or HDMI. The feedback we’ve previously received is that most people wouldn’t want a blue-only mode or proc amp on all outputs as people generally don’t want to affect (SDI) video itself. They simply want to adjust it on their monitor and that’s why HDLink Pro has these features. However I’ll bring it up again as I can see what you’d like to do and it’s definitely worth discussing.

I haven’t tested an MXO so I can’t say for sure how well it works with Intensity Pro and I’m not quite sure what workflow you have in mind. I can say that Intensity and Intensity Pro use native HDMI and so require a HDMI connection which the MXO does not appear to have. Most video is YUV video and Intensity (Pro) happily works with that. However DVI-based products only work with RGB video and usually only work at one frequency, eg 60 Hz. So if Intensity Pro is outputting 25 or 29.97 Hz video in the YUV color space via HDMI, I’m not sure if the MXO will colorspace convert to RGB and provide pulldown processing to a frequency such as 60 Hz. It would be easier to just output from the Intensity Pro card directly to an HDMI or component analog monitor.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[David Hames]

Thanks again, Luke. The MXO is DVI/SDI/analog out while the MXO2 is HDMI/SDI/analog out and in. In any case, the industry is beginning to realize that if an LCD computer display can be calibrated to produce spot on color in print applications, then with a little help (to accommodate interlace and frame rate issues) you can use a computer monitor for accurate video reproduction. And, the same can be said for HD television/monitors. It’s all digital, and if I can get a “blue only” and have adjustments to create a custom LUT to accommodate the flavor of the monitor, then I’ll have pretty accurate color reproduction.

It’s just like my sony PVM broadcast monitor now–there were much more expensive monitors available in the broadcast space–and you’d find them in telecine suites, but it was more than adequate for my needs.

With the advent of the DV format, companies like yours have shown you don’t need $100k to build an incredibly capable production suite. But now, I’m going to have to drop some serious coin to accurate monitor HD from my Blackmagic cards. Right now, it’s significantly cheaper to drop my BM cards and go with an alternative solution. The irony is, that I’m sure with just a little code work, that wouldn’t be the case.

Thanks again.

David

____________________________________________

RED Balloon Entertainment
films and other visual enticements™
http://www.balloonballoon.com

[Kim Krause]

i have to disagree with you about people not wanting a blue only mode or some type of control panel on the intensity card…it should be considered a necessity and would make a very good product even better….if matrox can implement it why can’t you guys?