Correcting Color for the Average Television Set?

[Daniel Rheaume]

Hello,

Recently I made a 5 minute mockumentary and burned it to a dvd. The color on the computer monitor looked pretty decent. However, when I played it back on average television sets, the footage was washed out and completely inaccurate.

 

My question is...How do the professionals make sure that their color correction looks good across a wide range of television sets?

 

Do they have special monitors, just like mixing engineers use special speakers to mix audio?

 

Also, my graphics card has a connection for a tv. Should I hook one up while editing my video for better reference?

 

Thank you,

-Daniel Rheaume

[Joshua Provost]

Daniel,

 

Exactly, you should have a TV/reference monitor hooked up to your computer for previewing video. And that TV/monitor should be calibrated to the reference standard in your area (NTSC or PAL).

 

People's TV vary so much, the best you can do is make sure it looks good on a calibrated reference monitor. That will cover most people.

 

Josh

[sneeze proof]

yeah, run a firewire out of your PC/Mac into a deck or camera and then a s-video out of that into a television.

There are tutorials on the internet that show how to calibrate a television monitor. The preference is to use a high quality, calibrated reference monitor as stated above, but if you don't have the means to buy one, then at least view it on your tv and reference it to material that has a similar 'look' to what you're going for.