TECHWEEK
A few decades ago, during the dominance of the CRT TV market, there were such concepts as “European” and “Asian” colors among consumers.
Say, the Japanese manufacturers did not know how to correctly adjust the color reproduction of their TVs, so all the faces on the screen had an unhealthy pink or yellow tint.
In fact, what then, what now, manufacturers simply strive to make the picture on the screen as catchy and impressive as possible, hitting the eyes, so to speak. When viewed in a store, it is these TVs that attract attention. Manufacturers of low-cost acoustic systems do the same, tuning their creations with an emphasis on the mid-high frequency range, which immediately “throws into the ears” at the first listening.
However, in both cases, the buyer very quickly gets bored with such an audiovisual attraction, and after a while he realizes that something needs to be done about this aggression on his senses. And if in relation to the speakers we are very limited in terms of correcting their distorted frequency response, then modern video display tools provide ample opportunities to bring the picture to life.
It would seem that if you like the image of your projector on scenes saturated with colors from your favorite feature or view films, then why wish for more? The complexity of the situation lies in the fact that if the color rendering is incorrectly adjusted, a beautiful picture in one scene can easily change to an ugly one in the next, and bright and saturated colors that please you at first will quickly begin to annoy when you encounter what you know in real life. objects will start to look completely unnatural on the screen.
Yes, on the screen we like to watch rich colors, the bottomless blue of the sky, fiery sunsets and emerald greens. However, it is worth looking out the window – wherever you are – and you will see that in reality the sea is somehow grayish, and the greenery is withered, and the sunsets, frankly, do not shine. Naturally, filmmakers and video content creators are aware of this peculiarity of ours, and they try to initially make landscapes more beautiful than they really are. To do this, special colorists are invited to properly tune the color picture in order to convey to the viewer a particular mood or even a semantic message, for example, when several storylines run simultaneously in a film, one in the past, the other in the present. And each of them has its own color palette.
However, if your projector is set up to artificially beautify any image displayed on the screen, then the display of initially oversaturated or distorted scenes will result in a complete bust. Plus plus in this case will give a fat minus in terms of picture quality. And, say, a film like Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, in which a rich color palette is actively used to build a narrative, will turn into a set of color spots.
With the active use of color as a means of expression in the film industry, the reliability of the color reproduction of the projector comes to the fore. The logic here is very simple – let’s imagine that the projector is a kind of magnifying glass (and it is, in fact), allowing us to see the director’s intent and experience the same impression that the audience experienced after the editing and post-processing of the image was completed. And if this magnifying glass significantly distorts the color palette conceived by the director, then the impression will be distorted.
After all, if we cannot evaluate the reliability of the color of some artificial material, such as paint on the walls or the color of the actress’s dress (we haven’t seen them in reality), then we remember and know the shade of a person’s skin, the color of the sky or some familiar fruit. Seeing the unnatural orange face of the lyrical heroine, we say “I don’t believe it!” and thus all the romanticism of the subtle dramatic scene will be lost. Therefore, the accuracy of color reproduction by the projector is not in vain considered one of the most important parameters in assessing its quality.
Do all projectors need to be calibrated?
By and large, yes, the only question is who will do it and with what success. It is best, of course, to entrust this matter to professionals, even better if the manufacturer takes care of it. For example, in BenQ cinema projectors of the middle and older segment, such as the BenQ W5700 , an individual factory color calibration procedure has been introduced, with the application of the appropriate certificate, which guarantees color accuracy.
Moreover, the professional calibration of each projector performed at the factory is complemented by sewn-in picture profiles from ISF. This is an extremely flexible device that can “right out of the box” please us with the most correct picture. But even such models periodically need correction, for example, after replacing the light source or after a long period of active operation.
How to properly adjust the colors in the projector?
In principle, today all projectors sold on the market give the user access to a wide range of settings, and the basic ones do not require the use of special software and hardware. With the help of multi-level menus, you can achieve a completely acceptable result if you focus on the naturalness of color reproduction, which you can evaluate on your own on well-known frames depicting objects and people familiar to you. Most displays give the user the ability to adjust both color temperature and gamut.
Nevertheless, especially if you want to achieve the most correct result, it is still better to use the instrumental setting. We will talk about the procedure and intricacies of calibrating the projector at home, as well as the equipment necessary for this (inexpensive!) In our next material. As an example, we will use the BenQ W1800 mid-range 4K projector , part of the CineHome series , that is, designed for use specifically as part of a home theater.
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