How to get a consistent looking DVD?

BennyBob

New member
Hey guys.. I tried searching to see if this question has been asked before.. so don't kill me if it has..

Recently shot a feature film on the HVX and edited it in Vegas.. everything looks great on my computer..
Burned a DVD... looks great on a couple of the TVs I tested it on in my house.

I've recently been bringing the DVD around to show it to friends, family, etc.. and I've noticed that the colors look (for lack of a better term) super "contrasty" on certain TVs. Others look great.. the same as it looks on my computer...some not so great.

I'm curious if there are some standard settings or something I am overlooking to get this thing to play consistently on all TVs... or is this impossible?
I'm just guessing that its probably something to do with each individual TV and not my DVD.. but I wanted to be sure so I figured I'd ask you folks on here.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated.
 
You're at the mercy of how others have their TVs set. Your job is to do the best you can on a properly-calibrated monitor (not computer screen) and let the chips fall where they do on people's sets. It's not your job to try to compensate for everyone's calibration. If you're planning to go to standard DVD, you should be previewing out to an SD monitor or at least a TV you can calibrate decently.
 
You can always do what I often end up doing, going all OCD and readjusting their TV etc so it's 'just right'....

I tell them to leave it for a week and if they don't like it, I'll put it back. I've never had anyone ask me to uncalibrate a TV or monitor yet. :)
 
There are a couple of reasons there is such a variety of looks on others TVs. One, they try to adjust it and don't know what they are doing. Two, the default settings on the TV may be way off. Three, the TV is incapable of being properly adjusted. Four, some owner's just don't care. After, selling thousands of SD DVDs over the years, I agree that is imperative to view your DVD master on a properly adjusted TV then you will be close to hitting the sweet spot on most TVs. I have advised a few customers on how to properly adjust their TV and got a big thank you. Here is a basic procedure
http://www.videouniversity.com/articles/color-bars-and-how-to-use-em
 
The Color Bar tutorial on Video University is an excellent one for those of us that have a 'real' monitor.
If all you is a regular TV set, try this tutorial.

Mike
 
I've seen issues like this.

When you rendered your DVDs did you use the levels filter and the Studio RGB Levels? Check out this discussion Discussion of levels.

Alternatively, on our DVD player/TV I can turn on "black level" adjust and that fixes some contrast issues.
 
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