Monitoring through composite cables

goodtimej wrote on 12/8/2008, 9:58 PM
Let me start by saying the only reason i ask this is because I do not have an extra $500 for an NTSC monitor at this time. Economy, holidays, so on and so forth.

I am getting ready to do levels and color correction for a sizeable project I have been working on for a while. Problem is, when I started, i was under the impression that a good computer monitor would get me through all this. This I certainly do have. But, as folks have pointed out to me on this board and through my own frustrating trial and error, i have discovered that trying to dial something in on a computer monitor is basically futile. Burning DVDs and running back and forth to my TV to watch them is unnerving and it seems like one adjustment is causing me a headache in another place. I just need to be able to do it all at once after the editing process is complete!

So I see here that someone is using pass-thru from their HDR-FX1 (the same camera I use) utilizing S-video to a TV. Awesome, but I have a question. I would like to use passthrough on a TV that I have. Only thing is my main TV is a projector and I have nowhere to project in my office. My next choice is a TV, a JVC 36 incher that is huge in girth and has component video inputs, but it is not HD. It has pretty good quality. This would be a huge pain to even find a place to put in my office, though. My final choice is a little Zenith 25" TV that I have in a spare bedroom. Very portable, and I could fit it easily on my desk, but only has coax and composite inputs. Would composite inputs be sufficient for the work I am about to undertake?

I have purchased the VASST color correction DVD tonight and will be receiving it soon. I see there it has a section that is titled "Calibrating a Consumer Monitor". Will this get me to the point I need to get this TV or is composite just too crappy of a cable? Thanks so much.

Comments

GlennChan wrote on 12/8/2008, 10:34 PM
A composite connection is fine. And in some ways, it can be useful to look over your video over a composite connection so you can spot if there are any cross-color artifacts like 'rainbows' on certain fabrics and crawling on edges. Some TVs can throw away resolution to greatly reduce those artifacts (if you can, I would turn that off; usually called something like a comb filter).

The DVD should go over the differences between a consumer and broadcast monitor. Consumer TVs tend to have inaccurate colors and are also difficult to calibrate. :( However, it is worth looking at your footage on an external monitor since that will let you spot things that you won't see on a computer monitor (e.g. the pixels are displayed as non-square, you'll see interlacing properly, overscan, etc.).
farss wrote on 12/8/2008, 10:38 PM
Composite would be fine, in fact in some respects I'd recommend it over anything. It is the worst way to send a video signal so you're seeing your video as bad as it gets. This can be quite important when designing graphics.
To state the obvious calibrate your TV as best you can. It'll not be as good as an expensive monitor but it's better than nothing. I've got a pretty horrid 9" monitor on the output of my VCR on one of my edit systems. I keep having a glance at it just to check nothing has gone amiss with field order etc. I rescued 3 of these from ending up on the tip. Very handy.

Bob.
Grazie wrote on 12/8/2008, 11:29 PM
I keep having a glance at it just to check nothing has gone amiss with field order etc.

Bob is spot-on with very good advice.

I have a JVC monitor, which has a front button selection allowing immediate clicking between:

Input Channel A Composite

Input Channel B S-Video

There is a lot of difference, and knowing just WHAT and HOW a client "views" my work is kinda important?

Grazie
goodtimej wrote on 12/9/2008, 8:35 AM
Wow, exactly the opposite of what I thought I was gonna hear. Interesting....