Question re Secondary Display

slack wrote on 4/24/2010, 7:17 AM

I currently use Sony Vegas 9 as a hobbyist for editing AVCHD video. I would like to hook up a secondary monitor, but I have a number of questions for which I am seeking some advice/answers.

I have noticed that video play back (even for rendered material) does not always look great on my computer monitor. I understand this to be related to the fact that I am playing interlaced material on a display designed for progressive input and that these artifacts should be reduced when played back form a burned DVD on an HDTV. As a result of this understanding I have a number of questions.

1. Would I better off to use an LCD HDTV as my secondary monitor vs a computer LCD monitor. I believe that LCD HDTV sets use a firmware method of converting interlaced input to optimize the display. Is this firmware methodology equivalent to the Sony Vegas "deinterlace filter" switch in the preview preferences? Are there other software alternatives to optimize interlaced play back on a computer monitor?

2. If I used a LCD HDTV set as my secondary display and connected it via a HDMI cable, is the output from my ATI video card interlaced or progressive when playing interlaced material in Sony Vegas.

3. I understand that color correction should not be done on an LCD secondary display, however nearly all current TV's are LCD? Will this philosophy continue into the furure?

Many thanks for any help.

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/24/2010, 9:01 AM

If you're using your secondary display for preview only then I'd say go with the TV. It would be more accurate (monitors aren't 16:9 most of the time, they're 16:10 which gives you... BLACK BARS. :D )

The TV out on your ATI has separate settings (each display has pretty much it's own settings). So you can tell it to send whatever to the TV & the TV will take care of it.

slack wrote on 5/8/2010, 6:11 AM

Can anyone comment on the Sony Vegas "deinterlace filter"?

Sebaz wrote on 5/8/2010, 7:47 AM

1. You would be better off using a real HDTV as a secondary monitor if you're a hobbyist although it may not be the best option for professional use, among other reasons, because...

2... the output from Vegas will not be interlaced. Vegas doesn't even connect to the video rendering engines available in Windows, such as overlay, VMR or EVR. It sends the video raw to the second monitor, and it doesn't look bad, but forget about previewing interlaced content. It will show either the two fields at the same time, or if you use the deinterlace option in the preview device preferences, it will show one field. Whatever deinterlacing and picture settings you have in the Avivo Video section of your Catalyst Control Center will not make a difference with video previewing in Vegas, because it doesn't use any of the accelerated video rendering engines (which it should). If you want to change the gamma, brightness or contrast of the video Vegas displays in the second monitor you have to go to the color tab of the Desktop Properties section in the Catalyst CP.

BTW, if you need to buy the long HDMI cable to connect the computer to your TV set, go to monoprice.com. You may know it already, but it's the A/V geek community best secret, those guys have excellent cables of any length and gauge, and they cost a small fraction of what you pay for the same cables at Best Buy and most stores. I have lots of cables bought from them and not a single one of them broke or failed.

slack wrote on 5/8/2010, 9:13 AM

Thanks for the useful info!

slack wrote on 5/9/2010, 8:33 AM

I am deviating a little, but I am really trying to understand how Vegas controls work.

It is my understanding that the "apply deinterlace filter" in the Preview Options uses the deinterlace method chosen in the Project Properties. There are however a couple of things I do not understand.

1. Some users suggest setting the "Field Order" in Project Properties for interalced source media (that will be previewed on an LCD monitor) to "none". I have typically matched the field order of my source media in the project properties. How would setting the field order to none for interlaced media work??

2. When I selectively prerender a section of my interlaced media on my timeline, choosing the template "DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video strem"", I assume this renders to an interlaced format. Now when that plays back from the timeline and is viewed in the preview window, is the deinterlaced filer applied to the playback?

Any clarification would be of great help.