Black levels again.......

[newpball]

Check this video:



Firefox (embedded): black levels go to PC
Firefox (from VIMEO site): black levels do not go to PC
Chrome: black levels do go to PC

Save the file and check, I got: BT 709 Limited.

VLC: black levels do not go to PC.
AviDemux: black levels go to PC

What do you folks see?

[jagabo]

The only blacks in that video are the first ~80 frames. And the fade to black at the end. The black level of the rest of the video is too high.

[newpball]

Here is the Youtube upload:

[JVRaines]

Yeah, too high. The YouTube version is particularly awful. Interpretation of levels is still a mess in the digital world. On my Windows 7 PC, both VLC and QuickTime Player display full range. Windows Media Player displays studio range. On the same file. Headroom/footroom were necessary in the early days when analog video was routinely converted, but now that most media are born digital, it's just a headachey hangover.

[newpball]

Interesting, Youtube looks fine for me it is VIMEO direct (not embedded) on Firefox and VLC that shows raised black levels.

[JVRaines]

I'm watching in a Chrome browser and the YouTube video is really washed out.

[newpball]

Could you upload a screen shot?

It's interesting, I just checked the Chrome version again and it looks fine to me.

And guess what, after a system reboot now everything works looks the same and fine (looks like a pending NVIDIA driver update fixed it).

[jagabo]

The MP4 file downloaded from Vimeo:

frame 83 with true black (Y=16):


frame 84 with darkest shades around Y=32:


frame 6420 with darkest shades around Y=18:


The waveform graph in these images was created while the video was YUV. It was then converted to RGB with a rec.709 matrix for display. That is what I see at Vimeo and Youtube, and the MP4 file downloaded from Vimeo and Youtube.

[Skiller]

I think the high black level at frame 84 is intentional.

[jagabo]

Yes, since most of the video has high black levels like that I think it was an artistic choice. Or incompetence. In any case, that's the way the video is. You expect it to play with washed out blacks in most shots.

[newpball]

Yes, since most of the video has high black levels like that I think it was an artistic choice. Or incompetence. In any case, that's the way the video is. You expect it to play with washed out blacks in most shots.

I suppose I am odd, when I watch this video I do not think it is washed out at all.

This is how it looks on my screen expanded to PC levels:


,
Given that I am curious what you folks think of the colors and levels of this video:



I think it is a real great job!

Do you guys think it is washed out as well?

[newpball]

Here is a video I think is pushing it a little too much regarding the black levels, also the colors look a bit harsh:



Opinions?

[newpball]

A good modern banding and artifact video example.



Ultimately this can only corrected the right way with 10 bit video, unfortunately the industry is slow!

How about the color grader's worst nightmare:

[newpball]

A single shot clip:

[newpball]

Nice clip, nice cuts, great usage of DOF and nice AR!