[gunnar]

Has anyone noticed that movies get dramatically darker when you export them as email or web movies? I lose about 20% detail in shadow areas. Any ideas? Also, I have the same blip/pop problem other people discuss with the Canon ZR10 which is supposedly compatible.

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[This message has been edited by bizzare (edited 07-11-2000).]

[bizzare]

you cannot post commercial sites on these forums. please stop. i have edited your message to remove it.

[Feathers]

Hey Biz, you might have tried answering the guy's question instead.

The Apple DV codec is slightly different from other codecs in that it treats 0 as black and 255 as white, whereas other codecs treat somewhere between 10 and 13 as black and from about 243 as white (this is scales of grey you understand). Professional and broadcast systems D1 etc use the latter approach which allows for blacker than black and whiter than white(superwhite) without clipping. The net result is that the Apple codec distorts(slightly) the tone and contrast range of things that may be later viewed using a different (say a Sony hardware DVBK codec). Many people think that the Radius (now Digital Origin (puke!))DV codec is better than the Apple one. Worth looking into if you are a perfectionist.

The gamma of PC monitors is different to that of Apple Displays so stuff WILL appear darker on PC displays unless you compensate.

Compression by it's very nature increases contrast, it has to, unless you cleverly pre-compensate using the Quicktime filters, brightness/contrast etc. Welcome to a steep learning curve towards perfection!!!

Check out www.codeccentral.com/ and look for the "How to.." pdf, it does help understand the nature of compression and the side-effects and quandaries.