How far do I raise the black levels?

[Hypersonic1]

[Attachment 44593 - Click to enlarge]

If I bring them up all the way, it will make the image washed out. I was told to bring them up, but I really don't know how without making the image look worse.

[poisondeathray]

If I bring them up all the way, it will make the image washed out. I was told to bring them up, but I really don't know how without making the image look worse.

Who told you to bring them up ? Did they say why or tell you want they want exactly ?

For example, if they wanted to boost shadows, but keep "black as black", you can do non linear changes by using curves or various other methods like a combination of levels , gamma, brightness, contrast .

This looks like premiere screenshot - there is a shadows/highlight filter, which can boost shadows, compress highlights - it's similar to photoshop's filter

[smrpix]

Now that we've seen the waveform, the image itself would be helpful.

[Hypersonic1]

Who told you to bring them up ? Did they say why or tell you want they want exactly ?

You all told me to bring them up after capture. If the values are below 0, then that detail will not be displayed; they will all be black.

[poisondeathray]

You all told me to bring them up after capture. If the values are below 0, then that detail will not be displayed; they will all be black.

They probably meant don't clip stuff during capture (data loss, irrecoverable) . You can make fine tuning adjustments afterwards

Like smrpix suggested, this is where you need to correlate the image with the waveform . eg. Sometimes captures have black borders etc... that don't matter. Who cares if you clip those? You want to look at the actual contents of the active image area and correlate with the waveform . You can't look at one or the other by itself. Look at all the information together.

[poisondeathray]

If I were to guess, you actually want to bring the black level down, not up . Most of the what is supposed to be "black" in the active image area is around IRE 4. That should be closer to zero. You probably have black borders which go below zero at the left and right edges . You have some other excursions that go below zero, but you need to correlate that with the actual image to determine if it's useful data or not

[JVRaines]

Most of the what is supposed to be "black" in the active image area is around IRE 4. That should be closer to zero.

Not if this is from North American NTSC.

[poisondeathray]

Most of the what is supposed to be "black" in the active image area is around IRE 4. That should be closer to zero.

Not if this is from North American NTSC.

When you've digitized, technically "IRE" doesn't exist. It should actually read Y' 16-235. In premiere's waveform that corresponds to IRE 0-100. So he needs to adjust IRE closer to zero , assuming what I'm guessing is correct about the image . If I were to guess, that image looks slightly washed out because the black level of the active image area is elevated around IRE 4-5

[jagabo]

Most of the what is supposed to be "black" in the active image area is around IRE 4. That should be closer to zero.

Not if this is from North American NTSC.

NTSC setup is an analog issue. The conversion to digital should eliminate it. Digital IRE should be 0 to 100 (Y=16...235).

I agree with poisondeathray, the black level probably needs to come down. The excursions below IRE 4 in the image are likely oversharpening halos (artifacts which aren't really part of the picture). Of course, one has to see the video to say for sure.

[Cornucopia]

Who told you to bring them up ? Did they say why or tell you want they want exactly ?

You all told me to bring them up after capture. If the values are below 0, then that detail will not be displayed; they will all be black.

Look up the terms "high key" and "low key" sometime. They refer to scenes that were specifically composed such that they DO NOT encompass the full 601/709/RGB dynamic range, but rather hover around a limited contrast palette (on the bright end for the former, and the dark end for the latter). Commonly done & meant to evoke a certain mood.

Thus, you cannot KNOW what black or white levels should be set at unless you either know what the producers/directors intended, you have some section in the program that DOES have full contrast dynamic range, or you happen to have been given a full range reference clip that specifically accompanies the program.
Otherwise, it's just guesswork. The only thing that can improve on your guesswork is experience.

Scott

[jagabo]

If you look at the OP's other posts you'll see he's working with his (family?) camcorder video.

[LMotlow]

Eyesight and subjective judgement are also part of the process. If you're using an uncalibrated monitor, you're making it mighty tough on yourself.