DV's viewfinder as monitor?

[Daniel Tan]

Hey,

 

I shot a very low budget 16mm film and has transfered the footages to DV. I heard that the viewfinder in a DV camera can closely resemble a calibrated monitor. I am now in my post production phase doing color correction in final cut pro, and I do not have the means to get a pro monitor for reference to my work. So the question would be, can the viewfinder in a DV camera works as a good reference for color, brightness etc. I am using the 24P DV camera.

 

Any advises is good.

 

Thank you

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

No. If it's an LCD viewfinder, which it probably is, it's very low resolution, and has high saturation with crushed blacks. A black and white CRT would clearly be no good, and I've never heard of a DV camcorder with a built in colour CRT - even if such a device wouldn't have extremely low resolution at that physical scale.

 

Where did you hear this?

 

Phil

[Daniel Tan]

Hey Phil,

 

I heard it from a friend of mine regarding about the DV viewfinder being close to broadcast quality in terms of color, brightness, contrast. but now that you clarified everything up, I got a reason to dismiss him.

 

Anyway, looks like I have to find ways to get my hands on a broadcast monitor in order to do my work...

 

Thanks.

[John Pytlak RIP]

Even with a professional color monitor, setup and viewing conditions are very critical. Kodak has a Display Manager System:

 

http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/...throughsP.shtml