Shadow Detail: Black Gamma vs. Post at DVinfo.net

Mike Stevens · May 13th, 2008, 09:25 PM

Assuming you have already set your master black to take the full lower dynamic range, is getting more detail in the shadows with the black gamma the same thing as doing it in post or does it give info otherwise lost?

Noah Yuan-Vogel · May 13th, 2008, 10:00 PM

my guess would be that doing it in camera is a lot better, since picture profiles adjust the image before it is downconverted to 8bits per channel. im guessing the camera has at least 12-bit adc, which contains 4 times more information and potential latitude, which you want to preserve, especially in the shadows which get the most compressed. this is the reason digital cinema often uses log space, it preserves shadow detail better, and that is where most of your hidden dynamic range could be especially in a camera that is as low noise as the ex1.

in general, though, any image manipulation is better done in camera (if possible) when acquiring images at a significantly lower bit depth than is native to the internal camera circuitry. better to adjust the image while it still has the most information.

May 13th, 2008, 09:25 PM	#1
Mike Stevens Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 75	Shadow Detail: Black Gamma vs. Post Assuming you have already set your master black to take the full lower dynamic range, is getting more detail in the shadows with the black gamma the same thing as doing it in post or does it give info otherwise lost?

May 13th, 2008, 10:00 PM	#2
Noah Yuan-Vogel Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 613	my guess would be that doing it in camera is a lot better, since picture profiles adjust the image before it is downconverted to 8bits per channel. im guessing the camera has at least 12-bit adc, which contains 4 times more information and potential latitude, which you want to preserve, especially in the shadows which get the most compressed. this is the reason digital cinema often uses log space, it preserves shadow detail better, and that is where most of your hidden dynamic range could be especially in a camera that is as low noise as the ex1. in general, though, any image manipulation is better done in camera (if possible) when acquiring images at a significantly lower bit depth than is native to the internal camera circuitry. better to adjust the image while it still has the most information.