Glenn Chan
Forum Replies Created
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Use a version of PAL bars that do have those 3 bars. Your NLE should be able to generate them.
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I’d probably go for a SD CRT then. For SD, a CRT will show you things like interlace flicker, which a LCD won’t. And it delivers very good images and they have good price/performance. It looks like you can get a 20″ Ikegami for a little over 2 grand.
If you can hold off buying a HD monitor, I’d probably do that. They are getting a lot better and a lot cheaper.
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Hmm I guess it wouldn’t be an exception really. There was a time where (in Final Touch) if you wanted to preview HD-SDI out, you couldn’t get real-time playback due to AGP limitations. Though I don’t think it’s an issue now??
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For a long while, the Sony BVM CRTs were generally considered the gold standard for monitoring (especially since LCDs weren’t that good in comparison). You may have difficulty buying one now. The BVMs don’t quite deliver full 1920×1080 resolution (though performance goes up with size) and the tube should be replaced if it’s been used too much. If the scene is very bright, the tube will flare and this raises the black level and therefore de-saturates colors slightly.
For LCDs, Sony’s BVM-Ls are designed to replace the BVMs. They are sharper. Color looks the same unless you are standing very close (Sony has 2 CRTs and their LCD lined up in a color matching demo at NAB… I think many people thought the monitors look the same; IMO they do unless you are standing close to the monitor). On dark scenes, the CRT doesn’t flare and has noticeably better black level.
eCinemasys is also offering its DPX monitors. It’s in the same price range (ballpark $25k) and it’s probably a better monitor (better black level).
2- In a lower price bracket, you might look at Ikegami HD CRTs (not sure if you can still get them though).
3- In practice, a huge factor is how good the suite looks to the client.
In terms of passing QC, you won’t get dinged on color accuracy issues. A- it’s hard to notice (we generally don’t notice them). and B- it’s subjective, and QC reports don’t go there. You will get dinged if your levels are off, so you should have a legalizer and ideally scopes (hardware WFM + vectorscope; software scopes tend to be poorly implemented + buggy).
4- Some (most) editing facilities have poor monitoring practices (grading in the dark, using tungsten lighting, non-neutral surround, monitors not calibrated often, light not flagged off the monitor) so it goes to show you that no one really notices subtle monitoring inaccuracies. Because we generally don’t.
5- For computer monitors, it doesn’t matter too much what you get. You can/should look at your broadcast monitor for accuracy. (Though Apple Color may be an exception.)
You do want the white points on your computer monitors to match room/surround lighting and your broadcast monitor.
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“23.976” and “23.98” video is actually 24 * 1000 / 1001 frames per second. 23.98 is generally understood to refer to that, since there is no 23.98000 fps format. 29.97 video is 30 * 1000 / 1001 frames per second.
For 23.98 you also have to use non-drop frame timecode, which doesn’t keep in step with real time.
2- I believe they don’t broadcast HD at 30.00fps since you’d run into all sorts of sync issues. To simulcast HD and SD at the same time, it’s easier if both were at the same frame rate.
It’s pesky and annoying, but it’s a problem you can overcome.
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It shouldn’t be a problem since what you see on the computer monitor is rarely accurate (e.g. video card overlays, not seeing both fields, inaccurate color, no overscan, etc.), whereas the BVM will show you what your image looks like.
2- The Dell monitors can be a good idea when they have a sale on them. Check out hot deals sites for your country.
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It sounds like that would work.
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HD-SDI to HD-SDI dubbing generally incurs generation loss since the VTRs apply compression to the signal as it goes to tape. For HD formats, much greater compression is applied compared to SD… e.g. HDCAM is heavily compressed, while digibeta is lightly compressed (and some people assume it’s just uncompressed).
Depending on your application, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Some broadcasters will ask for HDCAM masters even if the post house has a HDCAM SR deck (SR is a superior format with much less compression).
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Calibrate them to color bars first.
These instructions will work for you:
videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm2- For the CRTs, throw a black and white image onto it. The best image would be some real world footage or still, except you take the saturation out. The black and white image should be black and white, without color casts.
Depending on your monitor, the mid and high-end Sony PVMs and BVMs will let you adjust the “bias” controls to get the black level for each channel correct.
For LCDs, they should ideally be pre-calibrated at the factory and not drift. So they don’t really need calibration. I wasn’t impressed with Sony’s older Luma series displays… their colors are visibly off and the raised black level will never be calibrated away (that is inherent to the display). LCDs are better now.
3- The highest-end CRTs have calibration probes that will automatically calibrate the monitor… I haven’t played with them much myself or know how well they work.
The big picture is not to worry about it too much… many high-end editing facilities have poor monitoring practices (e.g. tungsten or no lighting for surround illumination) and QC reports, as anal as they are, will almost never ding you for color inaccuracy issues. The only color issues they will ding you on are ones that show up on scopes (and you won’t see these issues on a monitor, perfectly calibrated or not). You just don’t notice small color inaccuracies (the real world is inherently color inaccurate, and there isn’t much point in noticing that).
4- If you have the training/know-how, you can get the convergence on the monitor a lot nicer. Convergence = how straight lines are. In BVM series monitors you do this via menu adjustments and by taping magnets onto the tube.
The other solution is to use a computer LCD monitor for your graphics to see that your lines are straight.
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You can record a 16:9 image to betaSP (or any other 4:3 format) as either letterbox, edge crop, or anamorphic. Anamorphic is where you squish the image to fill/fit the 4:3 frame. Some systems+TVs can unsquish the image… e.g. DVD players connected to a 16:9 TV, upconversion to HD, etc. Though I don’t see any reason to record anamorphic onto betaSP.
Edge crop is where you chop the sides off. You can shoot with edge crop markers/framing to ensure that nothing important is in the edges.