Image in Preview Window is Washed Out

RAB78 wrote on 4/29/2011, 12:25 PM

I'm trying to edit a wedding video, that i shot, for some family members and i've noticed that the image in the preview window looks very washed out compared to the same file played in WMP 12.
I imported the raw m2t file straight from my Canon HV20 and played it in VMS HD Platinum 10. There is no enhancement. The same file on WMP 12 looks more colourful and the blacks are blacker. The whole picture just looks more defined. All image enhancement in WMP 12 is at zero.

Take a look at the screen grab to see for yourself.....
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o296/rab78/LightPreview.jpg

If you need any more information, let me know.
Cheers!

Comments

Eugenia wrote on 4/29/2011, 2:03 PM

This has been discussed many times before. The gist is this: different encoders, decoders, players, editors, dvd players, TV, whatever you can think of that can play video, use DIFFERENT gamma values. You can _never_ have the same output on all these different apps or devices. All you can do is approximate it to something that looks "good enough" for most (e.g. by using the Color corrector or contrast plugins).

But don't try too hard. Nothing much you can do about it. Video is not like still pictures where there actually Photoshop->printing standards regarding color gamut and gamma values. Video is kind of in the air.

RAB78 wrote on 4/29/2011, 2:56 PM

Thanks a lot Eugenia.
I thought it might be something like that. I guess i'll just have to do my best at getting an acceptable image and just do lots of testing on dvd.

Many thanks and sorry to ask about a well discussed topic.

musicvid10 wrote on 4/29/2011, 4:01 PM

Short answer is Vegas preview is RGB rather than mapped 601/709. That means in order to see (most) sources the way they will look in your PC player or online, you must temporarily add the Studio RGB->Computer RGB Levels filter at the output. The drawback is if you forget to disable that filter before rendering, you will truly have a mess on your hands.

If you are interested in digging deeper into this, Glenn Chan has a number of excellent articles relating specifically to Vegas.
http://www.glennchan.info/articles/articles.html

RAB78 wrote on 4/30/2011, 3:28 PM

Thanks for that musicvid. That looks much better and thanks for the warning about disabling it before rendering. I've had a quick read of that link and it's very interesting. I'll give it a proper read tomorrow. Thanks again!