Video Assist Color Cast

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Hundo Hill

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Video Assist Color Cast

PostThu Aug 04, 2016 5:27 pm

Trying to decide which Video Assist to purchase and I've read numerous times that the Video Assist has a green color cast.

Does anyone know if BM has addressed the green color cast with the VA, in either the 5" or 7 inch version?

I saw a recent update but appears it was only for the 7" 4k version, is this correct? And can anyone verify did the 2.1 update at least correct the cast on the 4k version?
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Denny Smith

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostThu Aug 04, 2016 6:49 pm

The green color cast is only very slight. The VA is Not a co,or reference monitor, but rather a recorder/monitor for framing and recording your shots. No, none of the recent updates have addressed the color cast issue.

If you want a small monitor for setting accurate exposure and check color (which is actually done in post on Resolve with BM cameras) yiu need to get a monitor like,the Small HD 201/502 or the new 700 series. If you you need a great little monitor/recorder for getting the shots, and see approximate exposure, felt rhe Video Assist, a nice bargain. If you need a full featured 4K recorder/monitor with great audio support, you should look at rhe Video Devices Pix E series recorders.

The VA 4K only records up to UHD, and then only in the two recommended UHS2 SD cards. For full 4k recording, the PixE will give yiu full 4K recording on a larger MB size recording media, and give yiu exposure tools as well as a monitor you can color calibrated, but yiu are going to spend x2$ the money for one.
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Thani Almuhairi

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostMon Aug 08, 2016 5:59 pm

Is it possible to fix the inaccurate color display via a firmware upgrade?
I would like to hear from blackmagic support on this please.
Regards,
Thani Almuhairi
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Denny Smith

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostMon Aug 08, 2016 6:22 pm

Good luck with this. We have been asking BM this since the VA came out. That said, some display issues on the VA4K were addressed by the last firmware update of it, but green tint is still there from what I understand. The best way to solve this, is to add a "Color Tint" slider which has been requested numerous times also. The Tint slider along with the others would allow you to calibrate the color display, and at least eliminate the green tint.
Denny Smith
SHA Productions

Joey06

Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostTue Aug 09, 2016 2:37 am

Thani Almuhairi wrote:Is it possible to fix the inaccurate color display via a firmware upgrade?
I would like to hear from blackmagic support on this please.


I contacted Blackmagic about this issue and they referred me to their distributor for my country. I was told by the distributor that Blackmagic is 'working on a firmware update that will give more control over the green tint that people have been experiencing with the Video Assist, but there is no ETA for this update'.

I don't have much confidence that this update will be happening any time soon, it seems to me that Blackmagic doesn't really care about the 5 inch VA anymore, now that there is a 7 inch model.

If you are thinking about buying a 5 inch VA, my advice would be not to. I never would have purchased the VA if I'd known about the green tint issue. Currently I am in the process of trying to obtain a refund from the retailer/distributor.
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Thani Almuhairi

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostTue Aug 09, 2016 2:37 pm

I'm planning to make an underwater housing for the recorder & the 5 inch is a good size. It would be the only monitor I have during the underwater shoot & that's why a color calibrated monitor is a must. The 7 inch would be very bulky. The other 5 inch alternative within the same price range, is Atomos Ninja blade but with less screen resolution. I will way my options. Thanks for the replies.
Regards,
Thani Almuhairi

Joey06

Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostWed Aug 10, 2016 2:08 am

From my understanding, the Ninja Blade has a higher quality IPS screen. Even though it's 720p and not 1080p, at 5 inches, you should not notice much difference between the VA and the Ninja Blade. In fact, the NB screen is probably better than the VA screen. If I manage to get a refund for my VA, I will most likely be replacing it with a Ninja Blade.
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Alastair Leith

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostFri Dec 07, 2018 12:02 am

Any updates on the greens tint firmware requests? Also, if the VA is being used underwater as a monitor, what kind of on camera adjustments could you be making underwater with the camera in a housing? Wouldn't you just be looking to colour correct in post and live with the green tint underwater, main thing is make sure you get the reds anyhow.

I'm really interested in the underwater rig you are buying, I'm looking at the Panasonic DC-GH5 for underwater because model specific underwater housings rated to 60m and 100m are available and all the switches have push through ext buttons on the housing.

How do you white balance underwater with your current camera (meaning that the green tint would be problematic)? Is it a BMD camera I'm wondering if people use them at depths more than 10m and what housing they're using. Will post seperate thread on that.
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carlomacchiavello

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostFri Dec 07, 2018 6:42 am

At the end of my review
http://www.macchiavello.com/wp/tag/video-assist-4k/
You can find a small link for a “lut pack” where you find a simple green correction to have clean white preview by va and va4k


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk
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Alastair Leith

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostMon Dec 10, 2018 1:48 am

carlomacchiavello wrote:At the end of my review
http://www.macchiavello.com/wp/tag/video-assist-4k/
You can find a small link for a “lut pack” where you find a simple green correction to have clean white preview by va and va4k


Thanks, Carlo. With Google Translate I was able to make sense of a fair bit of your blog post too :)
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Stephen Fitzgerald

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Re: Video Assist Color Cast

PostMon Dec 10, 2018 8:20 am

The green color cast appeared to be best fixed with a LUT, I used one and it's fine now. Didn't seem firmware updated did anything.

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