Vegas preview to HDTV

[Ian Stark]

I have two graphics cards - one drives two 23" monitors. At the moment, the other is driving a third monitor on which I drop things like scopes, time at cursor (enlarged), project media bins etc. The second graphics card has an HDMI output and I am toying with the idea of using it as my preview monitor, connected to a moderately priced HDTV. I'm trying to recover some real estate at my workstation and the JVC production monitor is a prime target.

Questions:

1. Would I have to output the video stream to the Windows Secondary Display. If so, will the preview be as I see it on my standard PC monitors now or would it be as I see it on the JVC? If the former then I don't want to proceed.

2. Is it as simple as 'plug it in'?

Sorry for these barely-Vegas questions. If this should be in a different forum perhaps Edward or Chris could redirect it? Thanks.

[Gerald Webb]

Sorry if you raced back here expecting a great answer Ian... cause I dont know, lol.
But I would like to know, as I have been toying with a similar thing, 2 monitors via video card with a HDMI out of my Blackmagic card to a HD TV for CC.
Would the output be the same as the secondary monitor through Vegas- Use colour managment- SRGB 16-235? Then there is no point, apart from screen real estate.
or
Would it be a more "real" indication of what we see when actually played on a DVD player through a HDTV?

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I've tried it with my Blackmagic card and all you get is another copy of the onscreen display, ie. You can select the level of preview (best, auto etc)

[Gerald Webb]

Robin, is this with the HDMI out of the Blackmagic card and then in options in Vegas selecting the card and applying colour management?
Are you saying you just get a copy of the preview monitor?

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I'd need to take another look at the options Gerald.
All I did was connect up an LCD TV to the HDMI cable out of the BM card and get a picture.
I noticed that if I changed the preview settings for the preview pane, it showed the same changes on the TV.
I really don't know what other options there might be to change these monitoring settings.

[Ian Stark]

>>>Would it be a more "real" indication of what we see when actually played on a DVD player through a HDTV? <<<

That's exactly what I am looking to determine - you worded it better. If it's the same as I would see on my regular pc monitor then I wouldn't bother.

And Gerald, . . . . yes. I rushed to a pc when I read your email on my iphone!

[David Jimerson]

If you're going for standard DVD, I'd color-correct it based on what you see on a standard-definition PAL monitor. That's the standard that a DVD player will respond best to whatever you're actually watching it on.

If you try to calibrate for an HDTV instead of a standard PAL TV, you may end up with nasty surprises, because nothing involved with standard DVD -- the compression scheme, the DVD player, etc. -- has any idea you intend to watch it on an HDTV. Just do the best you can on a properly-calibrated PAL monitor and it will give you the best results on an HDTV, too.

[Graham Bernard]

Originally Posted by David Jimerson

Just do the best you can on a properly-calibrated PAL monitor and it will give you the best results on an HDTV, too.

That's what I kinda discerned/figured too. Looks great to me.

Grazie

[Ian Stark]

Is that advice true for previewing over firewire as well, i.e you should not use an HD monitor for colour correcting if your target is SD DVD?

[David Jimerson]

The method of output to the screen doesn't matter.

[Ian Stark]

Then I will continue to output over firewire to my JVC PAL monitor, even if it takes up more room than any other single piece of kit I own!

Thanks for the advice.