[Peter A.]

Hi Everyone~! Not sure if this has been completely solved but I wanted to share what I found – This was in the FCP 7 User Manual (Top of page 1465, Chapter 85 “Rendering and Video Processing Settings“)

It reads as follows:

Choosing Real-Time Playback Gamma Correction Options
Whenever you watch your video on a computer display (such as video displayed in the Canvas, the Viewer, or via Digital Cinema Desktop Preview), Final Cut Pro applies gamma correction to the video to more closely approximate the way it would appear on a video monitor.

If your computer’s graphics card supports gamma correction, Final Cut Pro automatically uses the card for accurate gamma correction. If your computer has an older graphics card that does not support gamma correction, you have two gamma correction options in the Playback Control tab of the System Settings window.

• Accurate: High-quality gamma correction. This option is the most accurate but also requires the most processing power.

• Approximate: Lower-quality gamma correction. This option leaves more processing power available for real-time effects but results in less accurate color and brightness rendition.

Tip: If your real-time performance is limited, try changing the gamma correction setting to Approximate (if available).

To choose a gamma correction option in the current sequence
1 Open a sequence in the Timeline.
2 Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings, then click the Playback Control tab.
3 Choose Accurate or Approximate from the Gamma Correction pop-up menu.

I switched the setting to “Approximate” and that solved the problem for me~! Hope this helps!

Here’s a link to the manual from apple: https://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Final_Cut_Pro_7_User_Manual.pdf

Thanks~
-Pete