Grading in Davinci, VGA port makes things look too pretty?

[PannySVHS]

 

Hallo,

 

I´m not a grading expert but enjoy doing it, because it´s great to control the look of the images from shooting to post.

Got some nice results but mixed bags too. The problem is that my monitor does´nt seem show the 8bit obscurities well enough to be recognizable for me,

banding, pixelisation, stuff like that. My monitor has only a VGA connector and seems to hide the grading errors and digital artefacts very well.

Is that a "feature" of the analogue connection due to blending the nastiness of grading errors into a beautiful and smooth image?

 

Asking so, because on TVs with HDMI, I could see the failed parts of the image, whereas on my monitor it looked fine.

This is with grades of the more extreme kind. Other less problematic footage looks like a well representation of the image and nice

on a variety of output devices such as beamer, DVI or HDMI connected displays and TVs.

 

Thanks for your advices.

 

cheers, Martin

[majoraxis]

If you have video graphics card that can store a LUT or are on a modern Mac you can use Xrite ColorMonkey to calibrate your monitor, which in my case made a great monitor much more accurate.  That said nothing wrong with checking it on a TV style LED monitor to see if the calibarated monitor translates. Part of the calibration is to compensate for ambient light which can signifcantly change the perception of the image.  I like checking it on my Mac Book Pro as well, as a second reference.  I am editing and color correcting on PC and doing the audio on Mac in Pro Tools or Reaper.

[PannySVHS]

Hey!

Thank you for your reply. This would be the next great step for my kind of grading mankind, calibration and stuff:)

What I am worrying and worried about right now is my VGA port. Could it be that it blends harsh steps from hue to hue together, so

artefacts, banding and such are not recognizable, whereas digital ports give a much more realistic impression of the harsh

digital artefacts? It´s like oldschool videogames look good on old interlaced crt tv, colors well blent into one another, whereas on computerscreens it really shows their

limited number of 32 onscreen colors.

 

[Geoff CB]

If your monitor only has VGA, get a new monitor if you are doing color work. Or trust only the scopes.

[PannySVHS]

Hey Geoff,

so is VGA vs HDMI/DVI kind of comparable with:

64 video game colors appearing like 1024(fi) on an old CRT interlaced television VS looking like the exact number of 64 on a progressive computer monitor?

Means, VGA blends harsh steps between hues into another, appearing like smooth transitions? Whereas digital ports work well to make

artefacts and broken transitions visible on dislplays?

cheers

 

[enny]

Here is the thing can you grade on consumer monitor sure you can will it be accurate sure it will not. There is no cheap pro way to color grade. But to get really close here is my setup. Davinci + decklink mini to dell u2410 via HDMI with i1pro probe then i use free DisplayCAL to calibrate resolve viewer in resolve while using my monitor internal factory settings and it gets me dam close to accuracy. DisplayCAL i create 3d lut that is stored in to resolve viewer via software is this the right way not really but it gets me there.

This is my setup but any good monitor like dell u2410 and up like eizo nec calibrated will give you nice starter accuracy

[TheRenaissanceMan]

If you enjoy color grading, get a better monitor. Preferably something with DisplayPort.

[Nikkor]

A monitor with only vga must be some ancient thing, you can get monitors for next to nothing these days, so why keep the oldie.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I relate, because I used to use a crappy TFT monitor with no HDMI and recently picked up a 1440p BenQ. It's like night and day. Grading is so much easier and more fun now that I can see what I'm doing.

[Phil A]

The Resolve manual even says that the viewer in the color page of the software isn't accurate for judging grading, that combined with the VGA monitor is probably guesswork in the end.
If you have the space, how about a cheap 32" / 37" LCD TV connected via DeckLink? The DeckLink MiniMonitor gives you a 10bit FullHD out via HDMI and SDI for only 145 $ (plus it's the only way to get full screen playback on a second screen in Resolve). I'm using a Dell U2711 but as soon as desk space permits I'll add a FullHD TV via DeckLink.

[PannySVHS]

Hey guys! Thanks replying!

Thing is, was interested in the phenomenon itself, as my monitor has been used by hobbyists for CC. I figured, VGA blends colors into one and another.

This is to similar effect like CRT interlaced TVs do. Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games look great on TVs but on computer displays with

their limited colors and resolution well represented. The TVs scanlines helped to smooth the 16bit consoles gfx. Oh, the 16bit didnt stand for color:)

Thank you for the advices. Gonna get another display most definately. Great tips, thanks!

8 hours ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

I relate, because I used to use a crappy TFT monitor with no HDMI and recently picked up a 1440p BenQ. It's like night and day. Grading is so much easier and more fun now that I can see what I'm doing.

Yeah, man, gonna get another monitor most definately!:) cheers

11 hours ago, Nikkor said:

A monitor with only vga must be some ancient thing, you can get monitors for next to nothing these days, so why keep the oldie.

[Nikkor]

I know what you mean, the snes looks gorgeous on my 27" Sony trinitron when connected over RGB, much better than with an emulator on 1080p. Haha, 27", I remember when I got this thing as a kid I was freaking out, sooo big.

With VGA you can see the lines seem to dance a little bit and fuse with each other.

[PannySVHS]

1 hour ago, Nikkor said:

I know what you mean, the snes looks gorgeous on my 27" Sony trinitron when connected over RGB, much better than with an emulator on 1080p. Haha, 27", I remember when I got this thing as a kid I was freaking out, sooo big.

With VGA you can see the lines seem to dance a little bit and fuse with each other.

Thumbs up! Great love for the old school gaming. I think the color contrast of the pixelart always looks fantastic, moody, involving, whereas the photorealism

of PS3 and 4 generation games often looks ordinary. Have you played Commodore Amiga games? Some great games on it, best to be played on VGA monitors or TVs!:)

Though I must say, I really enjoy to see the original GFX and artwork and colours without the analogue Tv pimping:)