How do you do…?

[Vinnie]

We are struggling from the same issues. We have just adjusted the colors on the Plasma screens so that they look somewhat better on camera but nothing like MSNBC pulls off. Our cameras are a bit older also

…so someone please share the knowledge.

[Joseph W. bourke]

I’ve got two guesses on it, and let me preface it by saying that we’re using plasmas more and more here, and they don’t look great either.

1. For accurate color (which is not always obtainable with the crummy, old cameras we have here) do some testing in After Effects, using various color corrections and overlays to get the color temperature of your graphics correct. You can then save your AE setup and use it on all your plasma graphics. Also kick up the saturation in your plasma graphics, and see if that helps, bearing in mind NTSC legal issues.

2. Studio lighting is a big issue. Light leakage and reflections will kill the saturation of your plasma image pretty quickly. Some carefully placed scrims and light blocking materials will help your image out. You want a plasma monitor to be as much in the dark as you can get it, or at least in a darker spot on the set.

Remember that MSNBC has probably got fifty thousand dollar cameras, and enough specialized lighting fixtures to light a city. It all boils down to resources and, with fewer resources, experimentation. Try putting some light blocking materials around the front area of one of your plasmas, maybe on C stands, and do a test shot. This should tell you whether it’s a light blocking issue, or maybe a camera issue, or both. Good luck.

Joe Bourke
Art Director / WMUR-TV

[Mark Suszko]

I wonder if they don’t have a polarizer on the front of the lens…
other than that, I’d put it off to overcranking the chroma and luma as well. Possibly, the protective glass layer on the surface was removed? That would make the screen very delicate and easy to damage.

[Del Holford]

While we are currently using a 42″ plasma on set for a couple of our programs we had the best luck when we used a green screen over the plasma screen (and earlier used a Juice Drop image for the “plasma screen”) and actually chroma-keyed the images, which then had the correct colorimetry and sharpness. It is very possible that is what the networks are doing. Call up one of their TDs and ask.

On our current plasma we do cut the light sharply with flags and use the HDVeous color corrector to get the images correct. Our studio cameras are LDK-6000s so they see everything.

[Vinnie]

I dont know if they are chroma keying in images because I have seen some extensive camera moves used.

After learning more about it on the cow we have really taken a look at the amount light hitting the plasma and tried to cut that back a bit. It works good for blacks and helps with color temperature but we are still losing alot of highlight values…I think it is our cameras.

vinnie

[Del Holford]

It is also possible they are using virtual sets like the one ORAD makes. All cameras track with the set and graphics are integrated. Networks can afford the technology while most others cannot.

Del
fire*, smoke*, photoshopCS2
Charlotte Public Television

[Mike Cohen]

we have been using plasmas and crt monitors on a few shoots recently.
One the first one, the shutter speed on the camera had to be set to match the screen, to prevent flicker.

On another one we had to adjust the color temp of the monitor so the graphics looked good, but then if we were running video we had to set it back.

I have not thought to adjust the graphics themselves, but that is a good idea. It would be interesting to know from someone at a network what they do, aside from having a lot of money!