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Select 'waveform' in Blackmagic SmartView setup 'display' settings
to view the luminance values in your video signal
Vectorscope Display
The vectorscope display uses a vector view to show the colors in a video signal. Depending on
the standard of color bar test signals used in your facility, select either 100% or 75% from the
'set' drop down menu in Blackmagic SmartView setup.
Some people think you can use a vectorscope to check for illegal levels, however this is not
correct. The Parade RGB display should be used for checking for illegal colors. The reason you
cannot use a vectorscope to check for illegal levels is that both chroma and luminance values
are required. For example, colors near the white or black points in video cannot be as saturated
as the much stronger colors, which can be used in the mid-grays. Because vectorscope display
only shows colors, and not luminance values, it cannot be used solely to check for illegal colors.
Vectorscope display is the best tool for checking color levels from older, analog videotape
where you need to adjust chroma levels. Just play back the color bar segment of the videotape,
and then adjust the chroma and hue settings to set the colors of the video within the square
boxes in the graticule.
Vectorscope display is also perfect for color grading, as you can easily see if your video is
correctly white balanced or if there is a color tint. If your video has a color tint, the vectorscope
display will drift off center, and you might see two center dots. Normally the blanking in the
video signal will create a dot in the center of the vectorscope, and this is because the blanking
in the video is black video without any color. Blanking provides a useful reference point
to help recognize areas of black video without any color information.
If your video has a color tint, you should see the blacks move off color and off center. The
degree of shift represents the amount of color tint in your video and you can see the shift in
both the white and black details of your video. This makes vectorscope display valuable for
removing color tint and regaining correct white balance.
Vectorscope display lets you push colors in your video to the limits, without accidentally adding
unwanted color tints to blacks and whites. While color balance can be monitored on both the
RGB parade display and vectorscope display, color balance issues will often be easier to see in
the vectorscope display.
When color correcting footage of skin tone, particularly faces, you will want to keep your warm
color saturation along a line at approximately 10 o'clock on the vectorscope. This is known as
the "fleshtone line" and is based on the color of blood beneath the skin's surface. The fleshtone
line is therefore applicable to all skin pigmentations and is the best way to ensure the skin tones
of your talent look natural.
Using SmartScope Duo 4K
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