Camera Adjustments always begin with the black and white (B&W) picture by framing the grey-scale chip-chart to minimize any color in the picture. All adjustments use the chart in the scene lighting for your shoot. A properly adjusted black and white picture means all colors are evenly balanced. White balance will get you close. To accurately setup a video camera youll need a waveform signal monitor and a vectorscope (for color) along with a good video monitor. Often these two signal monitors are built into better video monitors.

In a multi-camera shoot with cameras shooting at different angles, lenses and distances, youll also need to match and copy all the settings from camera to camera, so the pictures match.

You only get one chance to get it right when shooting live. Live events can be tweaked to make the video recording as accurate as possible. While adjustments can be made on the fly during a live event, its not the time to get creative. Manipulating camera adjustments for effect is best left to post-production for later distribution.

Here are just a few of the most basic types of image adjustments: Gamma, Dynamic Range, Black Stretch and Sharpness.

Gamma curve was standardized for High Definition over 30 years ago and is the approximate inverse of a much older CRT display curve. The CRT picture tube had a unique non-linear display curve. Although the CRT is long gone, the Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) TV display still uses this very old CRT gamma curve.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a long-overdue improvement to the Standard Gamma Curve. Professional broadcast cameras have been able output multiple HDR profiles for some time. Todays flat-panel TVs and monitors have significantly improved picture contrast and brightness. The higher the contrast in an image, the sharper it appears. Virtually all consumer 4K TVs can deliver one or more HDR profiles. There are only two internationally standardized camera HDR profiles. Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) for live TV and Dolbys PQ (HDR10) that was developed for movies.

Black Stretch raises the lower end of the gamma curve. Thats because SDR video has a limited dynamic range compared to film. In a high contrast scene where adjustments are made to limit overexposed highlights, shadow detail may be crushed into black. Black Stretch has the effect of making these shadow details more visible.

Sharpness is controlled by Detail and Aperture Correction. These adjust the cameras apparent sharpness. Detail enhances the picture by exaggerating the lower frequency transitions. Aperture Correction is a high frequency boost to the fine details and textures in the image. A reverse sharpness is used for Skin Tone Detail that improves the youthful look of faces using a special circuit that applies a sharpness reduction to the skin tone color.