Calibrating two display devices

kdi001 wrote on 5/15/2005, 7:55 AM
I have the advc300 converter from Canopus hooked up to my Sony 14-inch reference monitor, but the monitor doesn't have a blue gun switch; Questions:

1) Is it possible to calibrate the reference monitor using one of the home theater dvds like Avia or Video Essentials?

2) If not, will the blue plastic filter that comes with these dvds do the trick?

3) I realize PC monitors are different animals, but is it possible to use these reference calibration dvds (like Avia) to tweak a PC monitor. Using Video Essentials, I got the PC monitor pretty close to calibrated, but I had to reduce the brightness level way down for the pluge test pattern.

Finally, would you adjust the controls on the ADVC300 black box or on the Sony reference monitor itself to make needed adjustments or doesn't it matter?

Thanks for replies,
Dale

Comments

GlennChan wrote on 5/15/2005, 7:53 PM
1- Some DVD players don't output superblacks? (anything lower than 7.5IRE) If you find out you have one, then I suppose you may not be able to use one of those DVDs unless you borrow a DVD player that does superblacks.

Issue 2: Check that your ADVC300 handles 7.5IRE correctly. In your case I'm pretty sure it does as long as you didn't switch it away from adding propr 7.5IRE pedestal.

A lot of consumer and prosumer gear doesn't handle 7.5IRE correctly. In that case you need to pay attention to it. 16 16 16 in RGB/digital values is supposed to be translated to 7.5IRE (analog), although lots of equipment puts it at 0IRE. For non-Japanese NTSC, blacks should be at 7.5IRE and whites at 100IRE.

2- The Blue plastic filter is supposed to substitute for blue gun.
Some monitors can be tweaked to show only blue... although I guess your monitor won't do it.

3- I wouldn't necessarily tweak your PC monitor. You may want to see superblack and superwhite values which are in your original video (in other words, you may not want to do the PLUGE calibrations for your COMPUTER monitor). Superblack is my term for things <16 16 16 RGB/digital values, which shouldn't show up on your reference monitor. It may be good if you see those values. At the same time, it is nice if the colors on your computer monitor are similar to your reference monitor.

I would try to match white balance across all your monitors though. If all but one has RGB controls (for setting color temp.), it is do-able. And of all the calibrations, it may make the biggest difference (next to PLUGE on your reference monitor).