Black Screen on End Credits Shifts Away from Pure Black

[barker85]

Hi there,

When exporting the end credits of my film (white text on black) to mp4, I have noticed that the black background (an empty layer) shifts between pure black to a slightly lighter black as the white text enters and exits.

I have tried putting a layer of black video beneath the titles but this doesn’t fix anything (in fact, it has the additional unwanted effect of making the text appear as if it’s in bold).

Is this somehow unavoidable? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[ah_photo]

What are you watching the video back on? Some displays have a picture setting where overall brightness might be adjusted to each specific scene. So with white text on black, the brightness might come up a bit (thus affecting the black appearance) when compared to fully black, where the brightness is not adjusted or maybe even lowered.

[barker85]

Thanks. The problem is noticeable on my living room TV (Panasonic plasma), but not noticeable on my editing monitor (Samsung LCD). I had been thinking that the calibration on the plasma was just better after discovering the problem so had been using it for reference. Perhaps then it's just an issue, as it were, with the plasma TV, and the video itself is fine?

[ah_photo]

It's probably primarily the display, but Averdahl does bring up a good point I didn't think about. Still, I think it is at the end of the day a display thing. If your final delivery is intended for people to watch on their TV, then you probably would need to more heavily consider Averdahl's advice because more people may experience that effect.

You additionally could run your export through a video limiter to ensure video falls within broadcast legal levels. This would be critical and often required if sending out to broadcast specifically as well.

[barker85]

Thanks. I did try changing to RGB 200 though, and the results were the same. I also noticed that files of big commercial films did the same thing on the TV. I'm having the MXF QC'd by an iTunes-approved place before it goes to the distributor, so any major issues will be noticed there.

[ah_photo]

Right, like I said then it's probably a display setting. I have that setting on specifically for my cable box input to keep brightness more consistent. However for my gaming/blu-ray/video playback inputs I have it off.

And yeah, you'll certianly be told if your content gets rejected by a distributing service. Usually they offer spec sheets too with format requirements, including audio normalization, video levels, etc.

At the end of the day, managing display consistency for everyone is a near-impossible experience as everyone has their own display preferences. At best, you can try to replicate what you think a viewing envrionment will be and try to edit within that space and have everyone's own adjustments be up to them.

[barker85]

Okay, thanks!

[Averdahl]

White text on a black background can create that effect on TV:s. Make sure to not use pure white, iow R=255, G=255, B=255.

Try to set the white to R=200, G=200, B=200. It will look dull in Premiere Pro but will look pristine on a TV. As a thumb of rule, never use a RGB value over 235. RGB between 200-235 will give you perfect white on a black background.

This article is old but has some very valuable info regarding text and video: Great Titles with the DV Codec

[barker85]

Thanks for the info. Please can you let me know where I can adjust these settings in Premiere?

[luftarvonrama]

You can change the text color in the text color box. Depending on if you are using the old title tool or the essential graphics panel. You can type in the numbers as well.

[barker85]

Thanks

[barker85]

Please can you let me know where I can adjust these settings in Premiere?

[barker85]

I tried exporting with RGB 200 settings but the result is exactly the same. I noticed that other files appear to do exactly the same thing, so perhaps it just the TV. Curiously though, I managed to fix an instance where a "black screen" turns a bit brighter just at the end by adding a layer of black video (as stated I tried this with the credits but it didn't work)

[Ann Bens]

to avoid answers getting 'buried'