Color Correction Process and Waveform Monitor applications

Presented by: Ralf Herrmann

Agenda
Waveform and Gamut Displays Why color correction Color and Gamut Errors Color Correction Process
Primary Color Correction Secondary Color Correction new Gamut Displays
Many of the images and information provided is excerpted from Steve Hullfishs book: The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction, Focal Press, ISBN 978-0-240-80990-8. This presentation aims to highlight the functionality of waveform monitors in this process. It is not a comprehensive description of the color correction process. We recommend Steves book as a compendium on this topic going through all the basics, showing tips and tricks and finally involving great colorists to talk about their work. The book contains a wealth of good graphics and comes with a tutorial DVD. It covers several commonly used editing tools.

Color Gamut

Waveform and Gamut Displays

Waveform Display
Amplitude level over time Amplitudes of YPbPr, YRGB, RGB, SDI->Composite
White

Grey

Black

Color Gamut

Vector Display
X-Y plot of the color difference components with Pb (B-Y) plotted on the horizontal axis and Pr (R-Y) plotted on the vertical axis.

Red

Magenta

Hue
Blue Green Cy Cyan

50% Lightness Vector plane

5 Color Gamut

Diamond Display
X-Y plots of G & B in the upper diamond and G & R in the lower diamond

Color Gamut

Arrowhead Display
Luma-Chroma plot Gamut compliant check in the composite color space

Upper Luma+Chroma

Luma Limits Lower Luma+Chroma

Color Gamut

Why color correction Color and Gamut Errors

Color and Gamut Errors

Color Not Correct
Company logo/brand incorrect color in commercial or graphic. Format conversion caused clip of color in change from one color space to another

Color Balance
Overall image appears washed out Image appears too dark Cameras incorrectly balanced produced different look from scene to scene

Composite Gamut Error

Over saturated transmitter causes broadcast distortion

Color Gamut

Impact of Distortions on Different Color Spaces

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

Converted to Legal Color Difference

Distorted Color Difference

Legal

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

Converted back to RGB

Legal RGB

Illegal

A signal can be legal in one color space but not valid when converted to another
10 Color Gamut

Gamut Monitoring RGB Waveform Parade

Maximum Gamut

Minimum Gamut

11

Color Gamut

Gamut Monitoring Diamond Display

Gamut Limits

Configuration Menu Selectable Gamut Thresholds

12

Color Gamut

Video Session
Provides summary of video signal during session Simple indication of gamut errors Lower case letters indicate values go below threshold Upper case letters indicate value exceeds threshold

13

Color Gamut

Error Log
Provides log of errors
Related to timecode Internal time of day
3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012 3/8/2012

Simplifies QA process Log can be printed

via network interface

14

Color Gamut

Color Correction Process

Manual Correction versus Auto Correction

Originally created image

Legalized, autocorrected image

16

Color Gamut

Typical Color Correction Process

Secondary Color Correction

Primary Color Correction

Tonal Range

Tonal Color Corr.

Color Control

Purpose of secondary

Color Vector & Color of a spot

Monitoring of Tonal Range

Histograms Levels Luma

Hue offset wheels, Hue RGB parade, Saturation, Filters

Subtle changes: Skin tone, sky, water or grass. Making it look real

Vector: Don Dont worry about camera movement. HSL: guess, slider, isolate or eyedropper

Image balancing using: Eyes Waveform Vector Diamond

17 Color Gamut

Spot/area: Also called Vignette (Color) or Power Windows (da Vinci)

Tonal Range
Keep final viewing conditions in mind Blacks/Shadows Midtones Highlights Checking incoming material:
Not only checking white and black, but also verify midtones, best with a grey tone
YRGB Composite

Zoom/Gain

Technically, check blacks first YRGB plus standard composite Look at color Most people use vector Make sure you can zoom waveform and vector where it matters

18

Color Gamut

Tonal Correction Tools

Different vendors use different terms (here we show Apples Color) Blacks/Shadows
Hue, Saturation, Black point

Midtones
Hue, Saturation, Gamma distribution

Highlights
Hue, Saturation, White point

No of pixels or area

Level low

Level high

19

Color Gamut

Vectorscope with colors

Color Vector Isolation

Assumptions: Color hue is angle of the vector Saturation is length of vector Missing: Luma/Lightness information Luma Qualified Vector Display But: colored vectorscope area is not equal to color wheel
Red Vector Angle

Green Vector But: Luma qualification is missing

20

Color Gamut

Luma Qualified Vector Display

700mv User Defined Upper Limit

User Defined Lower Limit 0mv

Allows User to define luma slice of vector display Selectable upper and lower limits Allows user to select low, medium and high ranges to isolate certain luma regions.
21 Color Gamut

Luma Qualified Vector Limits

3FF 12 243 242

0CF 0CE

000

22

Color Gamut

Color Control: Tools

Waveform
Filters
From composite days: Flat Filter for Luma and Chroma, Low pass for Luma only.

Vector
Great indication of color when underlying color wheels are known, limited information about Luma

Diamond
RGB-colorspace in two areas Grey chart must be a straight vertical line Use Split Diamond for detailed black analysis

Arrowhead
Working in RGB and seeing the impact on PAL or NTSC
23 Color Gamut

Color saturation
Once look is completed, adaption for viewing conditions might be necessary Dark vs light environment Reduce or increase overall saturation Attention: saturation changes might affect hue

24

Color Gamut

Spearhead for Content Quality Control (RGB Gamut Limits)

Fold diamond horizontally and vertically to form spearhead Spearhead indicates how much the signal is OVER saturated or OVER value (or BOTH) so that we can see what has to change to correct the signal back into gamut This way a better trade-off of reducing saturation or value (or both) without affecting the hue can be accomplished with the least compromise in artistic quality.
Color Gamut

25

Color saturation
Sa tu
10 5%

rat

i on

(H SV )

-0

.5%

Spearhead Display
Gray scale tracking Blacks adjustment / RGB RGB gain adjustment Color saturation measurement

26

Color Gamut

Conclusion
Do the basics well
Monitoring equipment
Monitor Waveform Monitor / Scope

Learn how to use your tools

Blacks Multiple views Legal/illegal colors Balancing aids Zoom/Gain

Know the viewing conditions of the final display

Colorspace conversions may impact the look Control for other colorspaces and saturation Waveform Monitors are here to help, not to limit your creativity but to make sure your customer is happy with the result.

27

Color Gamut

More Information

www.tektronix.com/video
2 8