Why are colors more vivid on TV than my LCD display?

[famousdavis]

My only experience with digital videography was a few months ago, when I borrowed a friend's Sony to try out using a digital camcorder.

I didn't much like the Sony (awkward button placement, and the on-screen controls weren't, for me, intuitive). But I did get a chance to transfer video from the MiniDV to my harddrive, and played the video on my computer.

What a lousy experience! The motor noise wasn't too bad, but the digital video lacked vivid colors -- it was very disappointing. Conversely, when I hooked up the camcorder to the TV set directly, the colors were bright and very vivid.

I don't remember what file format I recorded to -- I'm thinking it was something like MPEG-2??

How much of a difference does the software make when transferring video (in this case, in MiniDV format) from your camcorder to your harddrive? My LCD monitor is capable of rendering gorgeous colors (still photos, for example) -- I'd like to know how to get that same great color rendition from a homemade digital video.

Thoughts?

[Jason Dunn]

Computer monitors and TV sets have very different "colour spaces" - which is why you'll often see serious amateur video editors previewing their video projects on a small TV set connected to the computer. If you're going for a pure computer playback, you can always colour-correct it on the computer.

Some cameras may be more prone to this than others - in my experience, Sony video cameras record "cool" colours, a little flat and blueish. Canon cameras are the opposite - all their imaging sensors are a little "hot", with reds being more pronounced (some people like this, some don't). So, in that light, Canon cameras may be more of what you're looking for - more vibrancy.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Now that sounds a little strange. Sony is known for giving too vibrant colours in their products (TV, monitors, digital cameras). Maybe the video camera is designed to work best on their TVs. =P

[Jason Dunn]

Now that sounds a little strange. Sony is known for giving too vibrant colours in their products (TV, monitors, digital cameras). Maybe the video camera is designed to work best on their TVs. =P

Hmm. For my book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735618739/jasondunn-20), I tested nine video cameras under the same lighting and subject conditions, and all three of the Sony cameras had distinctly neutral to flat tones, with slightly blueish hues, while the Canon cameras had more vibrant tones, tending towards the reds. The Panasonic cameras were fairly neutral.

I thought I read the same thing about Sony cameras, but I can't remember where...oh well. :-)