Color Production Monitor Question
 

This is a really dumb question, but I have to ask it. The fact that I will be doing about 10+ hours of work (color correction), and I'd rather not do it again, is making me paranoid.

I bought a color production monitor. It is the JVC TM-910SU. I assume it comes set to color standards. All of the buttons are in their default setting (the one that sticks when you pass it).

But then each knob has a hole next to it where you can put a screwdriver in and twist another control.

The book says "The standard setting mode can be obtained by setting each control to the center click position..... " DID THIS PART, "... To adjust a setting, insert a small bladed screwdriver into the space aroudn the knob and turn it to the desired postion." DIDN'T DO THIS PART.

That second part being thrown in right after the first really confuses me. If it's set to standards, and those screwdriver holes change the standards, why the heck would you ever want to mess with them. Is it standard right now, without touching them? Do they de-standardize the monitor? Do they do anything differently than the knob?

Oh, I'll throw in another question to make the post less dumb.

How easily will these things get screen burn?

Thanks in Advance,
Bryan Mitchell

If the monitor comes straigth from the factory, it should be calibrated. So no adjustement is needed. There are a few points to be remembered however. First, not all monitors are being calibrated up to the the most accurate levels. For this levels you need a class1 monitor. All monitors have internal/semi internal adjustement points. They are there for correcting (recallibrating) ageing and other shifts which can occur after some time.

In my experience most monitors in the under $1,000 range need calibration to NTSC standard even when received direct from the factory. I think many of them are adjusted to give a more eye pleasing (warmer) image than standard. Check the calibration with color bars and the blue gun.

Could well be Jeff. Of course SMPTE Color bars, blue gun (if bleu only is available), pluge... is allways good for a visual calibration. Correct white point setting (6500K) of course needs a colorimeter. I think it's fairly normal that broadcast monitors look "warmer" than the +9000K consumer TV's. Geometry calibration is again another issue and needs specific testpatterns and slides.