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Why are black levels a lot lighter when using regular composite for DVD?

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  WaveBoy 
#1 ·
Like the titles says....

when using 'component' the blacks become darker(aside from richer color, a brighter picture and sharper image which is supposed to be the norm/adantages), but going back to regular composite(this is temporary until i get a new receiver with component inputs), the blacks appear a light shade of grey....That's untill a knock down the brightness to about 25-30%...WTF? Should i leave the brightness in the middle or reduce it? with component i leave brightness on at 50 and they look inky black. I've always thought it was unatural and that you'd be crushing blacks or just darkenng the image if you went lower than the mid point...This applies to both DVD & VHS when using composite BTW. Black bars/image look washed and grey.
 
#2 ·
Easy one. Composite is a mix of the colour signal called a colourburst, along with the sync. This kind of signal has to be broken down into its essential RGB+sync in order to be displayed again, but the method used does not preserve the colour space as accurately as one that can replicate RGB+sync properly, in the way that YPbPr can. Hence it is a bit normal that your gamma or even your colour is a bit off from this when using signals such as that. S-video combines luma (brightness/contrast) and chroma (RGB colour) which is a bit of a wider conversion than cramming it all into a single signal the way composite does, so it looks nicer on both colour and brightness. Nothing is really wrong with your composite, you've just noticed how it operates differently from pure colour broadcasts.
 
#3 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by LiquidSnake  /t/1521415/why-are-black-levels-a-lot-lighter-when-using-regular-composite-for-dvd#post_24451238


Easy one. Composite is a mix of the colour signal called a colourburst, along with the sync. This kind of signal has to be broken down into its essential RGB+sync in order to be displayed again, but the method used does not preserve the colour space as accurately as one that can replicate RGB+sync properly, in the way that YPbPr can. Hence it is a bit normal that your gamma or even your colour is a bit off from this when using signals such as that. S-video combines luma (brightness/contrast) and chroma (RGB colour) which is a bit of a wider conversion than cramming it all into a single signal the way composite does, so it looks nicer on both colour and brightness. Nothing is really wrong with your composite, you've just noticed how it operates differently from pure colour broadcasts.

Thanks for the meaty response! So i'm guessing i should just leave brightness at the mid point instead of knocking it down to 25% due to this just being the ways of composite? I haven't used composite in a while(must of been 2003), the quality in blacks is quite drastic vs component. But i could of sworn on my older JVC CRT that composite had no effects on the black level, could be wrong...
 
#4 ·
Well, just drop it where it looks best, for any input. This is the very reason that so many TVs old or new have a memory for different settings with different inputs. You can even calibrate them differently with Avia or whatever if you want. Of course, it blows if your TV doesn't have a memory feature and you have to do a recal every time you switch inputs, but that's life with and old/cheap TV.
 
#5 ·
Will do in regards to just lowering the brightness to my liking. and i wouldn't say my CRT's cheap, it's top of the line as far as tube tv's go.
But like all tube tv's, they go for pennies on craigs list. I'd rather go for an older late 80's or early 90's Sony SDTV to match my retro gaming purposes, but this will do for now. I think i'm just going to get a used Sony Receiver(same model i have for my main set up which i bought back in 2009) and use both component for the Wii & DVD. thanks anyways!
 
#6 ·
I suspect you may have issues with everything else going too dark as you back off. Hey also try backing off the color intensity; I know my Panny CRT is way overdone on composite and s-video but fine on component, but it's due to a too strong red issue on this TV.
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Floydage  /t/1521415/why-are-black-levels-a-lot-lighter-when-using-regular-composite-for-dvd#post_24455835


I suspect you may have issues with everything else going too dark as you back off. Hey also try backing off the color intensity; I know my Panny CRT is way overdone on composite and s-video but fine on component, but it's due to a too strong red issue on this TV.

I've noticed this as well. Component's colors look more realistic and subdued, aside from being richer. But on composite the color looks a bit overdone. I'll try knocking it down a little, along with brightness until i find a match that has me satisfied. :p
 
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