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What converter/TV monitor for color correction with a MacBook Pro?
Hello. I’m trying how to get fairly accurate video (not broadcast quality) from an external monitor setup with a MacBook Pro. One popular combo is a BlackMagic Intensity card and good consumer HDTV, but this would only work with a MacPro, and the MacPro is not in the budget until next year. Another is a Matrox MXO plus Apple Cinema Display, but this is a little costly for what I’m doing right now. I am working primarily with 1920×1080 at 60i and 1440×1080 at 60i, but will be doing 24P and SD work as well. I will be using FCP native color correction, not the application Color. I need the monitor to show interlace, too.
Questions:
1. There is a simple $8 adaptor that just turns the DVI out in my MBP into HDMI for a TV. A rep at a video equipment store told me that, just by using this adaptor, once you go into a TV (rather than a computer monitor), this automatically converts the signal to YUV. I am suspect of this, as I have heard differently on other posts. Is this true? If yes, is it possible to color correct the TV using this simple setup with the appropriate software to show me a fairly accurate image? If it’s not true YUV but close enough, is there a way to make it work using color calibration software, a sort of RGB to YUV color calibration software? What software would you recommend?
2. If no software only solution would work, what’s the cheapest external hardware I need (I guess the equivalent of an external BlackMagic Intensity card)?
3. Is there any particular spec’s for an (1080) HDTV would you recommend? Anything from about 24” to 32” would work fine, so long as it’s matte (anti-glare). A rep told me I want a ratio of at least 3000:1 up to 15,000:1. What else should I look for?
Many thanks,
Chris -
4 Replies
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[Chris Davis] “Another is a Matrox MXO plus Apple Cinema Display, but this is a little costly for what I’m doing right now”
Well, unfortunately for you that is the CHEAPEST option out there that offers any color accuracy and connects to the MacBook Pro. The other option is the Matrox MXO 2 and HDTV. The HDTV might be cheaper, but the box is more expensive. Then you have the AJA I/O HD. That is the most expensive option out there. ANd those are your ONLY choices with the MBP.
[Chris Davis] “1. There is a simple $8 adaptor that just turns the DVI out in my MBP into HDMI for a TV.”
Well…yes, but they won’t work at all for what you are trying to do. The DVI out raw is a computer signal and the image you will get from it will be a low resolution proxie image. Not good at all for accurate color correction. IF it works. Your computer sends out a computer monitor resolution signal and the HDTV via HDMI wants 1920×1080 EXACTLY. Anything else and it won’t work. But, I have heard of people getting an image up there via an adapter.
But no, that will be the farthest from color accurate you can get.
[Chris Davis] ”
2. If no software only solution would work, what’s the cheapest external hardware I need (I guess the equivalent of an external BlackMagic Intensity card)?”Matrox MXO and Dell 24″ LCD monitor. That will run you about $1500. The MXO 2 alone runs $1600, and the I/O HD is $3000.
Shane
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Shane,
Thanks for the news, even if it isn’t good news. I want to clarify — you’re saying that even if I set up my computer to output 1920×1080 and used a DVI to HDMI adaptor into a LCD HD TV, it would still not be close to color accurate. The rep told me that a TV would automatically convert the signal into YUV. Sounds like you’re saying this is nonsense, which fits with what I’ve heard elsewhere. What is the TV showing color-wise if I were to feed it RGB though a DVI to HDMI adaptor (assuming I matched the pixels)? Is it just showing some skewed version of RGB rather than YUV? -
[Chris Davis] “even if I set up my computer to output 1920×1080 and used a DVI to HDMI adaptor into a LCD HD TV, it would still not be close to color accurate.”
That would depend on the your definition of the term “accurate”
DVI > HDMI > Consumer Display = nothing more than an 8bit computer monitor, you cannot get this setup to be accurate for a SMPTE calibrated signal.
Secondly 1920 x1080 is not a standard graphics monitor format it is a video frame size, not to mention that the refresh rate would not be correct for a TV signal ( computer displays refresh at 2x-4x faster than a TV does and has no way to correctly out interlace it has to be compensated for)
[Chris Davis] “What is the TV showing color-wise if I were to feed it RGB though a DVI to HDMI adaptor (assuming I matched the pixels)? Is it just showing some skewed version of RGB rather than YUV?”
I am sorry I missed something here why do you need RGB?
FCP does not correctly handle RGB files without the hardware support that something like a Kona card can give, how do you expect to handle the content?
What are you outputting to?
And why only on a laptop- that is no place to be handling 1080 RGB files for editing.gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
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Thanks for your reply
I am sorry I missed something here why do you need RGB?
I though FCP worked in YUV, but the laptop converts to RGB in the DVI port. Don’t need nor want RGB. That’s the problemWhat are you outputting to?
Nothing yet. But wanted to go to a HDTV.And why only on a laptop- that is no place to be handling 1080 RGB files for editing.
That’s all I have. It’s worked OK so far, I haven’t done animation yet. I may start downscaling clips to SD before I edit them for more complex projects.
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