Washed Out Color?
 

I picked up my HV20 about a week ago and shot some footage up at the lake and around town. The colors seem faded or washed out. I tried all the different modes from cini to tv, and also the vivid and other profiles. I also tried recording in 24p and normal 60i. I'm planning on using this for a few short films I have planned, but its just not giving me that movie 'look' I need. What settings do I need to tweak here? Thanks!

Can you post framegrabs/samples to show us what you mean?

Yeah, post some frame grabs. When I first got my HV20 I was originally thinking the same thing when I was taking footage from around town...and then it came to dawn on me that so much of real life is very flat and drab in color. When I start flipping channels on the tv - looking and comparing how the overall image and colors look between programs, I started to realize that some footage looks awesome in color where others look dull, drab and washed out.

The HV20 can capture amazing colorful images if that's what the source looks like...but I'm also more convinced now than ever that there is color enhancement taking place in post editing for so many shows.

Yes, post enhancement is important - it sets the big boys apart from consumers with their cameras ;) Final Cut Studio/Vegas/Premiere are not so secret weapons when paired with the HV20.

CINE mode is the most flat, but I think the footage looks 'fine' in all modes. Low light is where the colour suffers.

Can you bring up the saturation in post? Is this an option? This is the answer, yes.

If you plan on doing post, I think you'll be surprised and pleased how much you can do.

I use Vegas 7, but haven't experimented with color correction yet. That's what kind of brought this up is I noticed on TV how deeper/bolder the color is. I'll try to get some frame grabs up.

TV monitors look very different than the LCD on the HV20 itself - typically, yes, more contrast and more colour. The LCD will look flatter and more washed out nearly all the time.

Even when the footage is imported into the computer and is viewed with a computer monitor, it still looks nothing like the way it will when it's viewed on a television. This is why it's very important to have a monitor when colour correcting/sharpening/adding effects to video. Hopefully the stills will shed more light on what you're getting at.

Was the light pretty bright outside? Does the picture appear a bit blown out/too bright w/ less color saturation?
The HV10 tends to overexpose stuff especially outside, so I tend to close down the aperture a few stops outside (am purchasing a UV and ND filter to help as well)... this might be case w/ the HV20.
However, the Cine mode is supposed to help a lot w/ that..?

This is on my computer AND TV. Things like skin tones are too pale and greens are faded. Still working on getting a screen grab up... may be tomorrow.

Colour saturation
 

In my opinion, if you need more of colour rather than resolution, then you should go with 3ccd camera. Panasonic SD3 is the one you may wish consider.

However let's have a look at your framegrabs.

Good luck.

If anything, on my HV10 colors sometimes tend to be TOO saturated, esp blue/reds... still looks OK but maybe a bit strong.
However as mentioned in bright light everything washes/blows out a bit.

Try closing the aperture, setting white balance manually (eg "outdoor sun"), and/or using a UV or ND filter.

Use the VIVID mode on your menu. OR.....CUSTOM MODE>COLOR