how to calibrate using smpte colour bars

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How can I calibrate my TV and computer monitor using smpte-bars and tone? I need to record a scene with my minidvcamcorder, import and edit on my pc, and output it to tape. I don't know how to calibrate my pc monitor and TV monitor using colour bars.

-- Monica Taddei (monicataddei@yahoo.com), February 19, 2002

Answers

Ah... sad to say, you can't. Not exactly anyway. Color bars are for calibrating signal. This means when you have a signal that's calibrated, it can look a thousand different ways on different monitors but still be almost exactly the same. But really all you can do to calibrate your monitors is to do it by eye.

I work for a television station. All of the monitors look different. Our production manager told me this: When a client would come in and look at his footage, he would ask, "Which monitor is correct?" and he would say, "Which do you like best?"

To sum up, color bars are for getting the correct and brightest color while still being legal.

-- Yn Pragne (pragne@earthlink.net), February 02, 2003.


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