Image brightness on lcd vs monitor at DVinfo.net

Jon Nicholls · September 11th, 2005, 01:18 PM

Hello
I have just bought a trv950. It seems the picture on the lcd and vf are brighter than the picture when it is uploaded to premier pro. I have lowered the brightness on the camera to match the computer but it still seems that there is more detail on the camera compared to the computer. Am I just imagining this or is it a common problem. This is my first camcorder so I am not sure ?
thanks
Jon

Boyd Ostroff · September 11th, 2005, 01:56 PM

The LCD screen, while nice, is really very low resolution - about 370x220 pixels which is less than 1/4 of full DV resolution. If you're seeing more detail on the TRV-950 screen then there's something very wrong with your editing setup! ;-)

Those little LCD screens have a tendency to appear very sharp when viewed out of context since the dot pitch is small. But if you look closely you'll find there really isn't a lot of detail, and in fact it can be very difficult to get critical focus using the screen or viewfinder.

But you should not be basing judgements on the way Premiere, or any other NLE, displays an image on your computer monitor. These are almost always "preview quality" and not full resolution. And monitors for both Macs and PC's are calibrated to a different gamma than NTSC video monitors, so your video will pretty much always look too dark.

You need to hook up an NTSC monitor to your NLE to make these judgements. I'm not familiar with PC applications, but I think this can easily be done using a firewire cable to your camera and an s-video cable from the camera to the monitor. If you can't afford a real monitor then use a TV set - that will still be better than using the computer monitor.

You can then use color bars to get a rough calibration to both the NTSC monitor/TV and your camera as well. See the following article for how to do this:

http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm

If nothing else, be sure to read the section in that article about the PLUGE bars and calibrating the brightness of your monitor. Your software should allow you to send NTSC color bars via firewire to your TRV-950 while connected to the computer. Adust the LCD screen and viewfinder so the 11.5 IRE bar just barely shows. This will allow you to make better brightness judgements. Also, be sure to do this procedure under the same ambient lighting conditions you'll use for shooting. You might record the color bars on a tape and bring them with you, or you could capture them as a still image on memory stick.

But the important thing is to learn how to use the manual exposure controls, and turn on the zebra patterns. They will be a much better gauge for setting exposure. Do a search here on "zebra" for more info.

Jon Nicholls · September 11th, 2005, 02:03 PM

Hi
Thanks for your information. I am in UK so have a PAL set up , does this make any difference? I will look at the article you recommended in the morning,
thanks
Jon

Boyd Ostroff · September 11th, 2005, 02:19 PM

I don't think PAL vs NTSC makes a difference with regard to adjustinig brightness, but I could be wrong. Of course with PAL you have even more pixels in the image, so the TRV-950's LCD screen is going to be even poorer at resolving those.

September 11th, 2005, 01:18 PM	#1
Jon Nicholls Tourist Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2	Image brightness on lcd vs monitor Hello I have just bought a trv950. It seems the picture on the lcd and vf are brighter than the picture when it is uploaded to premier pro. I have lowered the brightness on the camera to match the computer but it still seems that there is more detail on the camera compared to the computer. Am I just imagining this or is it a common problem. This is my first camcorder so I am not sure ? thanks Jon

September 11th, 2005, 01:56 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	The LCD screen, while nice, is really very low resolution - about 370x220 pixels which is less than 1/4 of full DV resolution. If you're seeing more detail on the TRV-950 screen then there's something very wrong with your editing setup! ;-) Those little LCD screens have a tendency to appear very sharp when viewed out of context since the dot pitch is small. But if you look closely you'll find there really isn't a lot of detail, and in fact it can be very difficult to get critical focus using the screen or viewfinder. But you should not be basing judgements on the way Premiere, or any other NLE, displays an image on your computer monitor. These are almost always "preview quality" and not full resolution. And monitors for both Macs and PC's are calibrated to a different gamma than NTSC video monitors, so your video will pretty much always look too dark. You need to hook up an NTSC monitor to your NLE to make these judgements. I'm not familiar with PC applications, but I think this can easily be done using a firewire cable to your camera and an s-video cable from the camera to the monitor. If you can't afford a real monitor then use a TV set - that will still be better than using the computer monitor. You can then use color bars to get a rough calibration to both the NTSC monitor/TV and your camera as well. See the following article for how to do this: http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm If nothing else, be sure to read the section in that article about the PLUGE bars and calibrating the brightness of your monitor. Your software should allow you to send NTSC color bars via firewire to your TRV-950 while connected to the computer. Adust the LCD screen and viewfinder so the 11.5 IRE bar just barely shows. This will allow you to make better brightness judgements. Also, be sure to do this procedure under the same ambient lighting conditions you'll use for shooting. You might record the color bars on a tape and bring them with you, or you could capture them as a still image on memory stick. But the important thing is to learn how to use the manual exposure controls, and turn on the zebra patterns. They will be a much better gauge for setting exposure. Do a search here on "zebra" for more info.

September 11th, 2005, 02:03 PM	#3
Jon Nicholls Tourist Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2	Hi Thanks for your information. I am in UK so have a PAL set up , does this make any difference? I will look at the article you recommended in the morning, thanks Jon

September 11th, 2005, 02:19 PM	#4
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I don't think PAL vs NTSC makes a difference with regard to adjustinig brightness, but I could be wrong. Of course with PAL you have even more pixels in the image, so the TRV-950's LCD screen is going to be even poorer at resolving those.