Low light deception on HVX LCD?

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Icarus2005

Well-known member
I just shot a scene on my new HVX200, in which the room appears lit only by a TV

It looked great on the LCD screen. However, when imported into the computer its really dark and unusable. Why?
Everything else shot with good light appeas exactly like it does on the LCD when transfered into the MAC.

Before you get into asking me how it was lit - I had a 1200 HMI as ambiant fill and a 1k double CTB gelled on a flicker box as key.

I was shooting wide open.

I wanted more light (2k on the flicker box) but only had 2 circuits in the entire old crappy house and was using another 1k in a rear room that talent walked out of.
 
You have a HVX but dont know the difference of watching video on a TV screen vs. PC screen.:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
I think Icarus2005 is talking about the onboard LCD screen versus whatever computer screen he/she is using with the Mac. Is that right?

I haven't got an HVX yet, but I feel safe suggesting that you don't trust the LCD on the camera for a whole lot. Try to use an external monitor.
 
NEVER trust an on camera lcd - it is not properly calibrated and therefore will have a non-linear response - either the brights or the darks might be right but not both.

You need to have a monitor you can trust
 
smelni said:
NEVER trust an on camera lcd - it is not properly calibrated and therefore will have a non-linear response - either the brights or the darks might be right but not both.

You need to have a monitor you can trust
Click to expand...

Yep.

The built in LCD isnt good for anything other then framing and reference.

NEVER trust it for exposure or color reproduction.
 
Well, I was using the marshall HD monitor, although I was using it via s-video and not composite because I didn't have a long enough composite cable. Since the camera downconverts output via that line I don't why there would be a problem.

maybe this is in Barry's book which I haven't received yet despite having bought the cam several weeks ago
 
I have found the viewfinder to be a bit more accurate.. but you are right about the LCD... hard to go off that...
 
I had exactly the same problem with my first night exterior. I found that the best thing to do was to go directly to my laptop and view the scene on the desktop. When that looked good, all was right with the world. You can also go through FCP and use the scopes in color correction.
 
Adjust your lcd screen to match the darkness of your footage, or an external monitor.

You are adjusting your exposure to match the LCD.

If your footage on the monitor, or viewfinder/eye-piece is dark, then your LCD is set too bright...turn the brightness down to match your external monitor or Viewfinder.

You should be able to get density to match.
 
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You might try using the MARKER ON mode in the camera. Press the ZEBRA button until it reads "Marker On"

This allows you to use the camera's built in spot meter to get a percentage value of the different parts of your scene. I've found this to be very accurate and over time it will sort of train you as to how your LCD displays values so you can make better judgements. I don't feel confident in anything but a calibrated production monitor and scopes but but using the marker's percentage values can help alot if you don't have a monitor.
 
See how the fotage looks on the Viewfinder in the default settings. If its bright there, than your footage is ok- its a problem with your pc monitor. The Viewfinder is actually quite accurate.
 
There's a side of me that loves all the problems we have with screens. It just shows that, for all the technology we have, we still can't control everything. There are so many variables with monitoring that I challenge anyone to come up with any scheme foolproof and 100% reliable in all viewing and output conditions. (No, that's what studios pay big money to colour engineering consultants for.)

As for the HVX, on my camera, the flip-out LCD and the EVF are a pretty good match - that itself is quite an achievement.

Using the LCD is fraught with at least two problems: irrespective of how you line it up, the apparent mid-tone gamma on the screen, as well as the perceived black and white points depend to a large extent on the ambient light level, its correlated colour temperature as well as any light falling on the screen itself. For this reason alone, if not others, using the EVF is safer because the eyecup forces you to view the screen in fairly steady conditions whether it's dark or bright ambient outside.

Then there's the problem of viewing angle: the LCD on the HVX is none too hot on that - looks to me that a mere 20º or so off whack makes an appreciable difference to the viewed image. Can we be sure in the stress of a shoot that we view the screen exactly square on for every scene, for every camera position? I wouldn't bet on it.

Finally, there is the question of what output format the footage will be viewed at - in addition to the varieties of NTSC or PAL screens, we now find HDTV screens making a different set of demands. And we haven't started on DVD: I've seen DVD content whose colours burn holes in my screen - chroma that is way out of legal, but who cares? the content was shot for viewing on desktop monitors, and to the average consumer it'll look fabulously rich.

In the end, I don't think there is a substitute for checking the image on the scopes - at least the waveform monitor and vectorscope - so hurry up DVRack, RedLightning, RedRock or whoever: let's have a software solution for the Mac.

Cheers
Tom
 
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