[Tig] what are we going to do (monitors) - calibration

[Jeff Kreines]

On Mar 29, 2008, at 4:26 PM, Bob Kertesz wrote:
>
>
> Well, I was hoping to be immortalized due to a somewhat more  
> meaningful event,
> but I'll take what I can get.


Be careful what you wish for, Bob!

I think this thread points out some of the difficulties ahead in  
terms of monitoring -- because there are so damn  many new twists in  
display devices and delivery codecs -- not to mention bit depths.

Since, in a few years, a large percentage of video viewers will be  
watching on LCD screens, usually with some ambient light, Bob's  
observations are potentially good news.  Of course, there are the  
folks with home projectors, some even get calibrated properly (though  
they have a raft of different settings that let viewers destroy the  
intent of the grading) -- the trick is to figure out how to calibrate  
monitors in a way that translates well.  Kind of like audio  
monitoring -- remember Auratones as the de-facto crappy 3" speaker  
used to check mixes, and the NS10s as the defacto mediocre home  
stereo speaker?  Some studios, in the 60s, had low power AM  
transmitters and sent the signal to their parking lots and listened  
on car radios (though they probably didn't have each stations  
signature signal processing in the chain).  So the trick is to find  
something that may not necessarily look the best, but translates well  
to a wide majority of viewing situations.

I could imagine someone developing a very clever box that gave  
several different versions (based on perceived viewing paths) on one  
big screen, viewed on a 52" panel -- as sort of a test device.   
Though it might be pretty depressing.  The Box 0'Luts...  meets the  
quad split box.

I recall my first Rank session with John Dowdell, in early '82 at the  
Tape House (he was using an Amigo) -- and how depressing it was to  
look over from the Ikegami (or was it a Shibasoku (sp)) broadcast  
monitor to the Sony Trinitron with composite input -- ugh!

Jeff "would E. Spitzer prefer the box o'....  nah, ain't gonna go  
there" Kreines