External monitor preview too luminous -- NOT a calibration issue at DVinfo.net

Justine Haupt · March 25th, 2007, 07:40 PM

Trying to preview to an external monitor in Vegas through firewire. Ok.

The problem is that the image on the external monitor (a tv) looks far too luminous (exactly as though the "luminous" slider were turned up in HSL adjust.

Now, I know what your all thinking. The TV isn't properly calibrated. Now, let me tell you why that's not it.

When I render my footage and burn it to a DVD, than watch that DVD on the same TV that I'm using for the external preview, it doesn't look anything like the preview. If it was a calibration issue, the increased luminance would be consistent -- The TV would be doing something to the picture to make it so bright, and it would be doing it whether it comes from the camera attached to my firewire, or from the DVD player. The DVD looks fine (similar to my CRT), the firewire-out looks way too luminous, like I said.

I ruled out the camera that I'm using for the analogue conversion (I hooked my XL2 to it as a test and had the same results).

Obviously, color correction has been a huge hassle lately. I adjust, render, burn to DVD, watch, adjust, rinse and repeat.

In the past I'd used the video card's S-video out for color correcting preview, but I've since upgraded to a dual monitor system and I found that switching to TV-out resets all my desktop resolutions. It's no longer worth the incredible hastle, SO, I have to figure out what's wrong with the firewire preview.

Please, someone, help!

Josh Bass · March 25th, 2007, 11:52 PM

Yo. . .

I know you said it's not a calibration problem, but what are you calibrating to?Try this. . .lay some colors bars on the timeline in Vegas, either from the a tape you shot, or Vegas' own, and calibrate it to THOSE. See if it's better.

For instance, I have a Sony NTSC production monitor. I was using a tiny consumer cam that only had RCA outputs for my A/D converter for external preview (I also have Vegas) The "B" input on the monitor has a BnC/RCA adapter on it. I noticed that I always had recalibrate the monitor when going from production (where I used a BnC cable to the "A" input on the monitor to watch the camera's signal) to editing (using the B input) and vice versa (B input was always way brighter). A techy friend pointed out that the "B" input was expecting termination, and that was causing the luminance issues.

So weird things can happen. One calibration may not be useful for different devices. Might have to redo it when monitoring from different sources.

Mike Kujbida · March 26th, 2007, 03:40 AM

Color Bars and How To Use 'em is an excellent tutorial on properly setting up a monitor.

John Miller · March 26th, 2007, 07:20 AM

Most likely you are seeing differences in the IRE setup between the DVD player and your output FireWire device.

You should "calibrate" the TV with color bars coming from the FireWire device since this is the source of your video.

Justine Haupt · May 27th, 2007, 05:25 PM

Figured it out... there's a little switch on the back of my RF modulator. The ohms for composite video-in had to be switched to 75 (it was on 1k). I knew it wasn't calibration.

So, if anyone else has this problem, that was my answer.

March 25th, 2007, 07:40 PM	#1
Justine Haupt Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 208	External monitor preview too luminous -- NOT a calibration issue Trying to preview to an external monitor in Vegas through firewire. Ok. The problem is that the image on the external monitor (a tv) looks far too luminous (exactly as though the "luminous" slider were turned up in HSL adjust. Now, I know what your all thinking. The TV isn't properly calibrated. Now, let me tell you why that's not it. When I render my footage and burn it to a DVD, than watch that DVD on the same TV that I'm using for the external preview, it doesn't look anything like the preview. If it was a calibration issue, the increased luminance would be consistent -- The TV would be doing something to the picture to make it so bright, and it would be doing it whether it comes from the camera attached to my firewire, or from the DVD player. The DVD looks fine (similar to my CRT), the firewire-out looks way too luminous, like I said. I ruled out the camera that I'm using for the analogue conversion (I hooked my XL2 to it as a test and had the same results). Obviously, color correction has been a huge hassle lately. I adjust, render, burn to DVD, watch, adjust, rinse and repeat. In the past I'd used the video card's S-video out for color correcting preview, but I've since upgraded to a dual monitor system and I found that switching to TV-out resets all my desktop resolutions. It's no longer worth the incredible hastle, SO, I have to figure out what's wrong with the firewire preview. Please, someone, help! __________________ ~Justine "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams" -Arthur O'Shaunessey (as quoted by Willy Wonka)

March 25th, 2007, 11:52 PM	#2
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	Yo. . . I know you said it's not a calibration problem, but what are you calibrating to?Try this. . .lay some colors bars on the timeline in Vegas, either from the a tape you shot, or Vegas' own, and calibrate it to THOSE. See if it's better. For instance, I have a Sony NTSC production monitor. I was using a tiny consumer cam that only had RCA outputs for my A/D converter for external preview (I also have Vegas) The "B" input on the monitor has a BnC/RCA adapter on it. I noticed that I always had recalibrate the monitor when going from production (where I used a BnC cable to the "A" input on the monitor to watch the camera's signal) to editing (using the B input) and vice versa (B input was always way brighter). A techy friend pointed out that the "B" input was expecting termination, and that was causing the luminance issues. So weird things can happen. One calibration may not be useful for different devices. Might have to redo it when monitoring from different sources. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

May 27th, 2007, 05:25 PM	#5
Justine Haupt Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 208	Figured it out... there's a little switch on the back of my RF modulator. The ohms for composite video-in had to be switched to 75 (it was on 1k). I knew it wasn't calibration. So, if anyone else has this problem, that was my answer. __________________ ~Justine "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams" -Arthur O'Shaunessey (as quoted by Willy Wonka)

March 26th, 2007, 03:40 AM	#3
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Color Bars and How To Use 'em is an excellent tutorial on properly setting up a monitor.

March 26th, 2007, 07:20 AM	#4
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Most likely you are seeing differences in the IRE setup between the DVD player and your output FireWire device. You should "calibrate" the TV with color bars coming from the FireWire device since this is the source of your video.