Black Box AC095A, AC096A manual What to Expect from Converted Computer Images

CHAPTER 5: What to Expect from Converted Computer Images

5.What to Expect from Converted Computer Images

We have included this section to give you some insight into what you can and should expect computer images to look like once they are converted to standard video. People are sometimes surprised that computer images converted to video do not look as sharp and vivid as they do on the computer monitor. Although this might be somewhat disappointing, it should come as no surprise.

Color TV and video monitors, and the conventional video standards they use (NTSC and PAL), have been with us since the 1940s and 50s. When high-resolution computer-graphics standards such as VGA and Mac II were introduced less than a decade ago, new display technologies had been developed to achieve higher detail and sharper colors. But, although many design improvements have been made to TV monitors and VCRs, they are still limited to basic technologies that are 40 years old.

Scan converters like the ProVideo Converter and Video Converter II were created to bridge the gap between the dissimilar standards of computer video and conventional video equipment. They work, but the trade-off in the process is that you are taking computer images whose sharpness and detail are clearly visible on today’s monitors and displaying them on TVs, or recording them on VCRs, that can’t do them justice. But all is not lost. There are a few things you can do to get the best image possible on your TV/monitor or recorded on videotape. The tips that follow will all contribute to improved quality of your display and VCR recording.

•In the world of video, black, white, and all the shades of gray are not processed the same way as “real colors.” TVs and VCRs process these shades with a minimum of distortion. When it’s possible, consider using grayscale images, because they’ll be much sharper than the equivalent colored images.

•The “Christmas Effect” occurs with computer images created by artists who really like the green and red color combination. Nothing looks worse on a TV. Try to avoid saturated colors.

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