3 Replies Latest reply: Mar 14, 2015 11:59 AM by R Neil Haugen RSS

    Is Premiere CC really color accurate (without and I/O box)

    ivancastell Community Member
    ivancastell Mar 11, 2015 10:39 AM

      Hi,

       

      I know the subject has been asked many times, but it's not really clear if Premiere (starting from CS5) is color accurate or not when using it without and external I/O box.

       

      First, here's my setup: imac, premiere CC, HP Dreamcolor LP2480zx and an original Matrox MXO. I've used this setup to color correct music videos, feature documentaries, etc... to broadcast levels, without any problem. So I know it's cheap but accurate enough for professional broadcast work. The MXO works in FCP and/or Apple Color, isn't compatible with Premiere (it's the old one, not the MXO2): but for the case, it send an accurate video signal to the monitor.

       

      What I've done to check the accuracy of the Premiere Video output:

       

      1) Calibrate the HP Dreamcolor to Rec. 709 (2,2 gamma).

       

      2) Check the calibrated display using the blue mode in the MXO panel. It's accurate, no need to adjust Hue, Chroma or anything else and I see the pluge bar.

       

      3) As the MXO can't be used in Premiere as video output, I disconnect it and I connect the calibrated monitor via the displayport  connection. There's no I/O anymore, but the monitor is calibrated and accurate.

       

      4) In Premiere CC, I load the same color bars. I create a fake (and poor) "blue only" mode, loading the "Channel mixer" effect and removing the red and green channel. You'll get a blue only chart to check if the display is color calibrated accurately. No surprises, there's nothing to adjust.

       

      BUT, the pluge bar isn't visible. I have to rise the brightness/luminance of the monitor from 120cd/m2 to 250cd/m2 in order to see it. So, it seems that the colors are accurate, but the black point is not.

       

      I'm lost here. If Premiere CC is color accurate (at least in my setup) without an I/O box, using a calibrated monitor, what's happening to the blacks? Is there anything I'm missing, or something in the settings I should check out?

        • 1. Re: Is Premiere CC really color accurate (without and I/O box)
          R Neil Haugen Community Member
          R Neil Haugen Mar 11, 2015 12:50 PM (in response to ivancastell)

          I notice you do one thing that isn't tested ... change to the display-port and assume the signals sent to the monitor are exactly the same. They might be ... they might not be. I've heard all sorts of arguments over this.

           

          There's one way to know ... calibrate your monitor while connected to the display port. Without that, I'm wondering how accurate your "test" is. And past that, there are tons of people using PrPro for b-cast delivery with major networks and such on a daily basis. So I think the question of whether it's essentially a professional program for that is rather ... tested. Being as many of the people posting here have rather high-end editing, Fx, and grading suites they're working in ... using PrPro as the center of a 3 monitor setup with external scopes, many-$ b-cast monitor & such. And get reliable professional results first time every time ...

           

          Neil

          • 2. Re: Is Premiere CC really color accurate (without and I/O box)
            ivancastell Community Member
            ivancastell Mar 14, 2015 8:45 AM (in response to R Neil Haugen)

            Sorry, I wasn't clear

             

            I calibrate the monitor connected to the displayport. Then, I change the connection to the MXO (it's a miniDP to DVI connector to the box and from the box DVI to DVI), to check that the monitor is calibrated correctly using the built-in blue-mode (similar to what you'l get on a crt pro monitor). Once it's checked, I connect again the monitor directly to the displayport getting the box out of the setup, because Premiere doesn't support it.

             

            But to be more specific, even if I keep the box connected and use the calibrated monitor this way in Premiere (even if it can't use the MXO video output), I get the same results.

             

            There's no doubt Premiere is professional, I've used it for a lot of pro work. My question is related to the color accurate YUV to RGB conversion without the need of a I/O box, that's supposed to be accurate starting from CS5.5. And in my setup, the black point isn't accurate (I can't see the pluge bar without bringing up brightness/luminance), while colors (red, green and blue) are. And I'm looking for some info to get this right.

            • 3. Re: Is Premiere CC really color accurate (without and I/O box)
              R Neil Haugen Community Member
              R Neil Haugen Mar 14, 2015 11:59 AM (in response to ivancastell)

              Ah ... excellent explanation.

               

              Perhaps Kevin-Monahan, shooternz, or someone else with better experience both in the tech side of the program and also b-cast gear will chime in ... would love to "hear" this discussed.

               

              Neil