That's right, the black level you see from your miniDV, Digital 8 and most DVCAM gear is wrong and your video actually appears darker than it really is.

So if they're wrong, we need to change the black level, right? Nope, what you need to change is the way you view the video. You do need to change the black level if you dub your DV tape to VHS and other NTSC analog formats, but you never want to change the DV tape black level during capture to a digital editing system (i.e. your computer). Likewise you never change the black level to 7.5 IRE while working with the video in your editing software.

How does this tie in with that DVD black level that looks different than the DV source tape's black level? Well, while much of the DV 25 equipment sold in North America outputs 0 IRE analog, the DVD players sold in North America "add setup," meaning they do output the legal 7.5 IRE black levels (some players do have an option to output 0 IRE 0 - they often call it something like "enhanced black").