Re: No Firewire Out:Monitoring Options?

[Joseph Murray] "the only monitoring being a 23" CD and wondering if there are any tricks to approximate NTSC color."

Getting an LCD to work as a reference monitor for NTSC isn't easy. Hence the high cost for the "reference" grade LCDs.

For starters, do you have an LCD with an even light source behind it (not uneven bulbs)? Can you ensure that light source is at 6500 Kelvin (or more accurately, 6504)? Can you get a real black out of it, in other words, if you put up SMPTE bars, can you dial your screen down to the point where only the right most PLUGE (black bars at the bottom) is barely visible?

If the answer to any of these questions is no (trust me, it is) then you'll never match an NTSC reference grade monitor. Can you color corrrect on your LCD? Sure. Will you have any idea what it is going to look like anywhere else? No!

I have good reference grade monitors, I still don't trust them completely. I only trust my scopes since monitors can drift and our eyes drift all day. The scopes never lie.

Good luck on your low cost approach. Nothing wrong with that. But don't be surprised if it gets rejected by your intended market, you can always go back and pay someone with the gear and the experience to do it right at that point.

Lest you think I'm being a snob, I'm a proponent of doing things as cheaply as possible... WHILE maintaining quality.

You have worked on this project for a while it seems, pity to cheap out out on one of the most important stages. Are you doing your own sound mix also?

Terence Curren
www.alphadogs.tv
www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca