Using a 50" Plasma TV as a green screen? at DVinfo.net

Chris Harris · February 3rd, 2007, 03:35 PM

I've noticed that the topic of lighting a green screen has come up often on here. Is it possible that if you display a green on the plasma television, which has even lighting, and put your subjects in front of it, I could get a really clean key? Besides the fact that you wouldn't have much room to work with, does anybody think it would work? Has anyone tried it?

Boyd Ostroff · February 3rd, 2007, 04:02 PM

Instead of green, why not just show the actual background on the plasma screen? I did this for a little project using a model helicopter and it looked surprisingly good!

Lee Wilson · February 3rd, 2007, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harris

I've noticed that the topic of lighting a green screen has come up often on here. Is it possible that if you display a green on the plasma television, which has even lighting, and put your subjects in front of it, I could get a really clean key? Besides the fact that you wouldn't have much room to work with, does anybody think it would work? Has anyone tried it?

I actually did this with an Apple 23" Cinema display, I made a photoshop file up with R: 0 - G: 255 - B: 0 and zoomed in so it filled the screen.

It worked very well. :)

Bill Davis · February 3rd, 2007, 05:45 PM

You'll be kinda limited to a head and shoulders shot - or if you turn it vertical - an upper torso shot with little arm movement capability...

So size is kinda an issue - particularly if you want some space between your subject and the screen to avoid spill. (A glowing array of light emitters will probably generate more spill than a typical subtractive lit surface - but that's probably not an serious problem.

And, of course you're using a multi-thousand dollar gizmo to do what you can do with a $50 roll of seamless and a few hundred dollars in lights...

But I can't see any reason it shouldn't work.

Let us know how it works out. I'd be interested.

Paul Jefferies · February 3rd, 2007, 07:25 PM

Would a good quality video projector and screen be suitable for this sort of thing?

Richard Andrewski · February 4th, 2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Jefferies

Would a good quality video projector and screen be suitable for this sort of thing?

Yes but rear projection would probably be more suitable than front projection is my guess--less spill that way.

Once upon a time there was a backlit blue screen used for the movie "DragonSlayer". It was huge and they lit it from behind with blue colored fluorescent tubes. The ballasts were operated off of DC voltage to reduce the flicker (electronic ballasts either didn't exist in early 80's or were very uncommon). The resulting keys or mattes they got were really great looking.

Craig Chartier · February 5th, 2007, 10:59 PM

wouldn't you get really bad glare from the glass screen? also this plasma screen may be too bright. you only want about 1 stop over what your subject is at.

Peter Jefferson · February 6th, 2007, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Instead of green, why not just show the actual background on the plasma screen? I did this for a little project using a model helicopter and it looked surprisingly good!

hehehe my thoughts exactly..

Peter Jefferson · February 6th, 2007, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Jefferies

Would a good quality video projector and screen be suitable for this sort of thing?

Yes, i do this quite often with rear projection (i have a Panasonic AE700) and have the talent in front of the screen while the projector is behind it. The good thing is that you can find 2way screens which work a treat and u can always mess with the focus to fake a decent DoF

Lee Wilson · February 6th, 2007, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Chartier

wouldn't you get really bad glare from the glass screen?

My LCD screen is glare free.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Chartier

also this plasma screen may be too bright. you only want about 1 stop over what your subject is at.

You can adjust the brightness on monitors and TVs.

Michael Carter · February 7th, 2007, 10:27 AM

I recently did some stills at a client's video shoot (hi def shoot for an infomercial). Half of the commercial had talent in front of a large plasma screen, since the client's big claim is using broadcast TV to sell houses. They just had a bright green frame on the screen, and back lit the talent warm to supress spill... and the talent was close, maybe 12-24" in front of the screen.

The keys looked good on DVD when they dropped the content onto the screen; I even pulled an easy key (from my Nikon D70 shots) in Photoshop for their brochure. So, in my experience, yes it works, but seems most useful for miniature work or for, say, computer screen readouts in a scene.

Jack Smith · February 11th, 2007, 10:48 PM

I have used a rear projection Mits TV with the "no input" blue screen on an intro.The screen is quite matte and not shiny at all.Just light the subject right.

John Jackman · February 12th, 2007, 10:11 PM

Wow, guys, this is way overkill for very little benefit. It's not that hard to evenly light a BG the size of a 50" tv (even much larger) and really there is not much benefit. Either way you will be limited more by the format if shooting DV, the plasma won't help that at all.

As to projectors, one DP I know has had pretty good results using a small digital projector on a screen (not even rear projected) for doing faked-up car shots, they look quite good -- and much faster/easier than green screen.

February 3rd, 2007, 03:35 PM	#1
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	Using a 50" Plasma TV as a green screen? I've noticed that the topic of lighting a green screen has come up often on here. Is it possible that if you display a green on the plasma television, which has even lighting, and put your subjects in front of it, I could get a really clean key? Besides the fact that you wouldn't have much room to work with, does anybody think it would work? Has anyone tried it?

February 12th, 2007, 10:11 PM	#13
John Jackman Great DV dot com Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Lewisville, NC Posts: 78	Wow, guys, this is way overkill for very little benefit. It's not that hard to evenly light a BG the size of a 50" tv (even much larger) and really there is not much benefit. Either way you will be limited more by the format if shooting DV, the plasma won't help that at all. As to projectors, one DP I know has had pretty good results using a small digital projector on a screen (not even rear projected) for doing faked-up car shots, they look quite good -- and much faster/easier than green screen. __________________ John Jackman www.johnjackman.com

February 3rd, 2007, 04:02 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Instead of green, why not just show the actual background on the plasma screen? I did this for a little project using a model helicopter and it looked surprisingly good!

February 3rd, 2007, 05:45 PM	#4
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	You'll be kinda limited to a head and shoulders shot - or if you turn it vertical - an upper torso shot with little arm movement capability... So size is kinda an issue - particularly if you want some space between your subject and the screen to avoid spill. (A glowing array of light emitters will probably generate more spill than a typical subtractive lit surface - but that's probably not an serious problem. And, of course you're using a multi-thousand dollar gizmo to do what you can do with a $50 roll of seamless and a few hundred dollars in lights... But I can't see any reason it shouldn't work. Let us know how it works out. I'd be interested.

February 3rd, 2007, 07:25 PM	#5
Paul Jefferies Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Croydon, England Posts: 277	Would a good quality video projector and screen be suitable for this sort of thing?

February 5th, 2007, 10:59 PM	#7
Craig Chartier DVi Contributor Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin Texas Posts: 374	wouldn't you get really bad glare from the glass screen? also this plasma screen may be too bright. you only want about 1 stop over what your subject is at.

February 7th, 2007, 10:27 AM	#11
Michael Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 108	I recently did some stills at a client's video shoot (hi def shoot for an infomercial). Half of the commercial had talent in front of a large plasma screen, since the client's big claim is using broadcast TV to sell houses. They just had a bright green frame on the screen, and back lit the talent warm to supress spill... and the talent was close, maybe 12-24" in front of the screen. The keys looked good on DVD when they dropped the content onto the screen; I even pulled an easy key (from my Nikon D70 shots) in Photoshop for their brochure. So, in my experience, yes it works, but seems most useful for miniature work or for, say, computer screen readouts in a scene.

February 11th, 2007, 10:48 PM	#12
Jack Smith Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: ontario Posts: 445	I have used a rear projection Mits TV with the "no input" blue screen on an intro.The screen is quite matte and not shiny at all.Just light the subject right.