Getting good quality video of a touch screen remote control display

[Tom Blizzard]

I'm shooting a video tutorial for a media technology company. Part of the video will cover the use of two or three audio/video remotes. The screens of less expensive $150 remotes video very well.

The MX 300, made by Universal Remote did fairly well. The gray icons on the blue screen did make it a bit hard to get good video.

The least expensive remote has black letters on a gray screen, it was the least expensive remote but it gave the best video.

The AMX Touch Screen WiFi Whole House remote, (very expensive), gave the poorest video. Of course the light gray icons and small letters on a blue screen probably created the problem.

Naturally I'm using manual focus, and studio lighting, but that still doesn't help. I used my DSLR to get a still picture of the AMX, and even that was a dissapointment.

Anyone have an success with this?? Maybe some suggestions?

[Dean Sensui]

Oops, double post.

[Dean Sensui]

LCD's usually look best at a particular angle. You'd have to experiment to see what angle comes out best with your camera, then maintain that relative throughout the demo (lock down the remote). One of the Geico commercials had a rig like that where an iPhone was supported with an adjustable armature that was hidden by the talent's hand and arm.

Once that's established you can set your lighting to avoid unwanted reflections and desaturating the screen.

The other really complex option (and fun for After Effects people) is to plane-track the remote and replace the digital graphics in post.

[Tom Blizzard]

Thanks Dean. Now I've got something to go with......
I'll be taking more video on Thursday and I'll sure give that a try.