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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Hi,
For years I've had my cinema display set to 2.2 gamma. Recently I was told FCP assumes your monitor is set to 1.8 gamma and corrects accordingly, thus setting the monitor to 2.2 gamma renders the images darker than they really are.
So, what is it, should I set my cinema display at 2.2 gamma or 1.8 for FCP editing?
(also, while I'm here, I recently switched to using D65 as my white point, correct? Should I go back to 9300k?)
Mac Pro Quad 3.0 Ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.5), 14gb Ram 2tb Raid 0 media storage.
Posted on Mar 9, 2009 5:58 PM
8 replies
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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Mar 9, 2009 10:31 PM in response to NathanCG
This question has been answered, leave at 1.8 gamma for fcp editing.
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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Mar 10, 2009 5:46 PM in response to NathanCG
That said, I switch back to 2.2 to view content like everyone else in the world.
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User profile for user: David Vogt1
David Vogt1
User level: Level4 2,614 points
Mar 11, 2009 6:00 AM in response to NathanCG
Nathan,,
That is what you have to do, The FCP Studio - FCP, Color, Motion, Compressor, all convert video so that it displays properly at a gamma of 1.8.
Quicktime, DVD player all display images at the gamma they were created with, usually 2.2.
Note that Quicktime has a setting that will force it to display the same way FCP does, if you want that.
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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Mar 11, 2009 8:57 AM in response to David Vogt1
Thanks for the reply David.
Yes I understand the concept that FCP Studio adjusts the video to approximate what it should look like while working in a 1.8 gamma "environment".
But I'm having the strange effect of the "enable fcp color compatibility" button actually further brightening the video when I open my output in Quicktime. As in, the outputs from the Timeline are already a bit washed out, but then they get boosted further when that box is ticked.
As I wrote above, I used to keep my monitor at 2.2 gamma, and I thought at first this was because I've been Color Correcting my videos for the web too bright this whole time because I'd been monitoring them to dark (in final cut, which would then displaying too dark in a 2.2 gamma set monitor), but this is happening to to videos which were corrected after I switched the monitor to the correct 1.8 gamma setting. So they should be right.
What's happening here, is this quicktime's fault?
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User profile for user: Jim_TurnipVideo
Jim_TurnipVideo
User level: Level3 642 points
Mar 11, 2009 12:43 PM in response to NathanCG
But really, to do color correction you need an external monitor that can be calibrated to color bars, etc. Any color calibration on the working desktop display will only be close, depending. (for NTSC, maybe not even close)
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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Mar 11, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Jim_TurnipVideo
That's very true and I am using an external monitor for any critical color correcting for content that will end up there. What I am mostly talking about is video for web and other outlets and the inconsistency of my colors and brightness, the washed out look, of my quicktime outputs and the confusing behavior of the enable fcp studio color compatibility button.
As I wrote above I used to work with my monitor set to 2.2 gamma with the mindset that the vast majority of people viewing the work on the web would be seeing it that way, but I have of course come to find out that interferes with FCP's display accuracy (approximate accuracy anyway). But then you would think that clicking that FCP compatibility button in Quicktime would make the video display the same as the FCP viewer in a 1.8 gamma display environment, but it doesn't. So what's more accurate to my videos? The FCP viewer window or the Quicktime player (when playing an output of the timeline with "Current" settings)?
And for that matter, if I want to approximate the viewing experience of a windows user, then should I set my monitor to 2.2 gamma and uncheck the FCP color compatibility button?
Thanks all, your help is much appreciated.
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User profile for user: David Vogt1
David Vogt1
User level: Level4 2,614 points
Mar 11, 2009 7:04 PM in response to NathanCG
I'm completely puzzled by your experiences with the switch on QT . I have been testing extensively with all of this to understand some odd behavior with my large screen display.
I have taken the standard gray 10% fields and measured them with a colorimeter on a well calibrated monitor, calibrated to a g of 1.8. Known video with patches displays with a measured gamma of 2.2 when playing back in FCP. Playing the same video on the same monitor from QT, with it's switch set to FCP computability, also measures a g of 2.2.
This same result is obtained on a well calibrated Large screen (ISF calibration no more that a month ago), with both QT, and the same image encoded on a SD DVD. My entire video chain does behave as advertised.
There is something very odd going on. The behavior you are describing is backwards from what I have measured. Is your environment one with active color management in place? ColorSync profiles for the monitor? FCP set to handle all input as g2.2? FCP has a setting for sequences which allows all still pix and video in the RGB format to be interpreted with different gammas. What format is your video?
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User profile for user: NathanCG
NathanCG Author
User level: Level1 8 points
Mar 11, 2009 9:08 PM in response to David Vogt1
Well trust me you're not the only one confused 🙂
The monitor profile is now set on the factory "Cinema HD" profile for my 23" Cinema Display, which is gamma 1.8 and D65 white point.
The format of the video is either 24p DV or 1080i HDV and I am outputting the timeline with current settings for use in compressor, though the resulting videos (in H.264 or MP4 format, show the same behavior, especially H.264, which I have read is known to suffer a similar problem?)
I have not changed that preference you're speaking of, it remains set to "source". I've thought of changing it to 2.2 but was warned off that long ago, perhaps incorrectly.
I'm at a loss. Perhaps I should just ignore it? As the video as output to DVD or back to tape looks correct, I just wish I knew what's going on, and that my video destined for the web followed predictable behavior.
Reading another post on the forums, I tried using the Gamma Correction (gamma 1.1) feature in my compressor outputs of H.264 which seems to work, but it's still not right on, and I shouldn't have to do that no?
Thanks again for all your work, It's very much appreciated.
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Cinema display set to 1.8 or 2.2 gamma for editing
