Monitor settings for accurate color grading/brightness etc.

Report · Jan 25, 2018

I have a 27 inch Dell 4k monitor that I'm editing on with Premiere Pro. Wondering what are the correct settings to have the brightness/contrast and color grading match what the audience will see on their tvs , generally speaking ? I pumped up the brightness and contrast to 50 (scale 0-100) and changed the Preset from Standard to Movie and third change was I turned off the Dynamic Contrast on my monitor which made the colors a bit darker and dull, less appealing, because I was told my the Dell customer support to turn it off. However, using my own common sense I would assume that the audience's tvs usually have the dynamic contrast on by default so in order to provide an accurate brightness/contrast/color I should then edit it on instead of off , correct?

2. On another note, when I film and export the footage to my computer, on all different media players such as Windows Medial Player etc. the actors' face colors are nice, but with Premiere Pro by default the actors look bleak and quite horrible , so i learned to add Cine 25 etc and usually have to work the face redness down with the Rgb curves etc. Would anybody want to share a fast trick to make the colors look nice as they do by default on free media players ?

3. After rendering the footage and if still some buffering occurs, I assume that would usually indicate that the same would happen after exporting ? and so the video clip slow speed etc would have to be reprocessed different ways etc. ?

Thank you.

Report · Jan 25, 2018

As far as settings go I would look into something like a Datacolor Syper calibration tool. If you have it properly calibrated - which this does, then everything else should fall into place pretty quick. Beyond that monitor your Lumetri scopes if you suspect brightness issues, the scopes never lie.

Report · Jan 25, 2018

Thank you , as i understand its a product that can be bought and something to look into . But regarding the existing settings, do you have the dynamic contrast on or off etc. ? and brightness and contrast halfway at 50 ?

Report · Jan 25, 2018

Currently, PrPro is stock Bt. (Rec) 709, which is sRGB and designed for use at around 100 "nits" (basically, think the cdm/2 number). So for a current setup, almost all monitors go well above 100 cd/m2 ... but make sure you've got one that completely covers the sRGB color space. Quite a few do (though not all by any means).

Using a puck/software system like the Spyder or the i1Pro's, set the monitor first for sRGB, then using the calibration app, select Rec709 for your calibration settings, and follow the instructions.

Does this guarantee broadcast compliance if you send a deliverable to a TV station? No. It should display decently on most any TV or computer screen.

Perfectly? Um, no. Largely because "perfectly" doesn't exist. Every flippin' monitor & TV screen will show it at least a little bit ... if not a lot ... different than the next screen.

Now, the above is all for "SDR" or "standard dynamic range" work. Within the next 2-3 years, we'll be moving a lot of stuff to the HDR ranges ... and with the changes inherent in that.

Neil

Report · Jan 25, 2018

1. I think Jamie LeJeune has it right in the following thread from the Blackmagic forums. He's talking about Resolve, but the idea holds true regardless of NLE. The upshot is, "Grading by viewing the image in the GUI just doesn't work."

http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=68410

2. See 1 above.

3. Huh?

Report · Jan 26, 2018

If one is going for full broadcast standards, your comments and that very good reference post are spot on.

Much work being done is not necessarily needed to get to full b-cast standards, and for that, even most of my colorist friends are rather comfortable with setting up a system that gets pretty close ... with the understanding it ain't full b-cast but for practical use purposes.

As in, my clients can load this and it will look pretty decent if their tv is pretty close to decent ... which is rare anyway. Just as long as it looks "within normal" for how other stuff they watch shows up, it's cool.

The key is knowing what your limitations are, right?

I've got an LG tv at home with an amazing array of color/tone controls. I've been through and set that up pretty nice, though not as if a pro calibration dude/ess came out with their scientific devices. Movies from DVD/BluRay's are great ... deep shadows to blacks, great color but not over-color, smooth highlights to white in "limited" brightness viewing. Standard TV broadcasts look good in general, but wow ... some channels are different. Many sports broadcasts and anything outdoors shot & produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting are over-saturated. BBC shows are beautifully crafted for hue/tone. HGTV ... interesting variety of 'looks' I see.

The stuff I produce I can bring home, put on that tv, and it's pretty tight to the movie/BBC material. I'd show that about anywhere. Though I wouldn't guarantee that it might not trip the QC rejectionometer of a B-cast station for some stray pixel of color or tone. (And yes, I've had a few sections run on B-cast standard setups to test, they've been just fine.)

Neil