Does Adobe Encore force 7.5 IRE? My blacks are grey!

[mojo]

I've been authoring a few DVDs in Adobe Encore. I know I'm capping at 0 IRE and I've been filtering to get nice, deep blacks.

However, when I preview in Encore, and watch the resulting DVD, the black level has clearly been elevated. My guess is that the program is forcing 7.5 IRE.

Does anyone know if this is the case and how to fix it?

[edDV]

It shouldn't be. This would happen during the MPeg2 encoding phase and none of the other Mainconcept based encoders do this.

I don't have Encore.

An NTSC DVD player will typically add 7.5 IRE setup in the analog output stage so you don't want the encoder doing it as well or you get 15 IRE black.

[mojo]

I just double checked the preview window in Encore against the same file playing in Windows Media Player and the Encore window was definately brighter. The blacks are getting washed out and I am guessing that it is pumping everything to 7.5 IRE.

I checked all the menu options and I can't find anything that would help. If anyone has a clue, I'd be grateful!

[lordsmurf]

Encore is an authoring program, it doesn't encode video that I'm aware of.

[mojo]

Correct, it is an authoring program. However, it's still raising the black level. How can it do that without encoding? By setting a flag for 7.5 IRE. This would elevate all deep, rich blacks to a dull grey.

I'm not 100% sure this is what's happening, but it's my best guess.

And please, before anyone else posts a message saying "that should not be happening," trust me, it is.

[guns1inger]

Make sure you don't have any other settings in the blay back software affecting the footage when you view it. WMP and most other players have brightness/contrast controls.

Also, I thought that Encore had a transcoding engine built-in. When you authoring, how long does it take to compile the disk ?

[mojo]

It takes about 15-20 mins, which is a little longer than what it takes to burn a DVD with my 4X burner. I am sure it is not re-encoding anything.

I'm also sure my playback controls have not been altered. I never touch them, it's all at default.

[borax]

I would not trust the preview window in Encore.
Maybe Encore has an own mpeg decoder that doesn't scale the YUV values to RGB values. Within my previewer (https://www.videohelp.com/~gfd/ChapEditGFD_eng.htm) you can select if you want to see the RGB scaled or raw version.

What is the level if you play the final VOB files with Windows Media Player?

[mojo]

As I said in my original post, the preview window matches what I get on the final DVD - elevated black levels.

I have not played any VOBs in media player - I am using the MPEG file created with TMPGENC. I get good black levels in Virtual Dub, TMPGENC and Media Player. Once the file is displayed in Encore, the blacks go grey. If I burn that disc, I get the same thing.

This is the second DVD I've made that had the same problem. I'm fairly sure it's something in Encore that is causing the problem.

[evoshandor]

I've been having the same issue in Encore 1.0.1. I have another post in the Advanced Conversion forum. I have imported Canopus AVI's into encore with the black level displaying correctly in the preview window before encoding. After encoding, the black level is raised to a dark grey. This is confirmed after burning to disc and playing back on a calibrated monitor. This occurs even with Microsoft AVI's as well. Any solutions?