Video Washed Out When Viewed

cmcdonald wrote on 2/4/2009, 7:40 AM

It seems like a video I create that looks fine on my computer monitor often ends up looking washed out or too bright when played back on a TV. Is there anything that I am doing wrong or a good way to test what the final product will look like before rendering a final DVD?

Chris

Comments

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 2/4/2009, 7:48 AM

Are you using the right template? (Pal or else, depending on your location).

cmcdonald wrote on 2/4/2009, 8:17 AM

As far as I know I am doing everything right. I am rendering to DV NTSC and them using DVDA to burn a standard DVD.

cmcdonald wrote on 2/4/2009, 8:19 AM

I realize I am not providing much info for anyone to come up wth a solution. I just thought that maybe there was a common mistake that someone might know about.

richard-amirault wrote on 2/4/2009, 1:25 PM

Well, the first thing I would ask is your computer monitor calibrated?

There are devices that will make sure that the color and density of your monitor is properly set.

Secondly, the TV may not be properly adjusted. Have you tried it on other TV's?

cmcdonald wrote on 2/5/2009, 8:16 AM

As far as I know the computer monitor is calibrated but I will definitely see if I can check this. I have seen this on multiple TVs and multiple DVDs.

Basically what I am seeing is a good, well balanced photo or video that is brought into VMS 7 Plat and rendered to DVD using DVDA but when played back on a TV (or video projector) seems too bright or washed out. This is especially true if there is a lot of white in the photo. It was very apparent in a recent wedding slideshow I did.

cmcdonald wrote on 2/6/2009, 8:00 AM

As a work-around, if I have a video that this is particularly bad on, could I apply a filter of some sort to the entire video track to "soften" the light level or something? Any recommendations on what filter and settings to use?

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 2/6/2009, 8:16 AM

I'm still mystified by your problem. There shouldn't be that much of a difference between pc screen quality and tv quality. Hm... maybe the problem is not with your dvd, but with the dvd player. Have you checked the cables connecting the player and the tv? Have you checked if your tv set is set up in the right way for your cable. These modern flatscreen tvs have so many settings, you really should read the manuals of both dvd player and tv.

cmcdonald wrote on 2/6/2009, 12:14 PM

That's the thing that is wierd. I am simply taking a basic digital photo, putting it on the timeline, rendering using the standard templates (I'm not smart enough to tweak things), and playing it back on a standard DVD player and TV. A normal, purchased DVD plays and looks normal, but many of my burned DVDs seem like a "projection with too hot of a lamp" or something. If I get time, maybe I will see if I can pick a particularly bad clip and play with it trying different adjustments.

By the same token, I also recently had a video that I did that I thought looked washed out on my TV but when it was projected in a conference room, some people thought it seemed a little dark.

Maybe the electronics are all fine and I'm the one who is out of calibration. Does that mean it's time to start drinking until the colors are right again?