help

[jmjohnso45]

I need a little help. I have a digital8 video recorder and after I capture some of the video to my laptop the video is much darker. Can someone offer some advice please.

thanks.....

[Mike Thorpe]

You're gonna have to give us way, way more information here.

What type of camcorder?
What sort of cable do you use to capture it?
If it's analogue, what brand of capture device are you using?
What software are you using to capture your video?
Any chance of a screenshot?
Where did you hide my insulin?

[jmjohnso45]

What type of camcorder?
Sony Digital 8(dcr-trv280)

What sort of cable do you use to capture it?
usb and firewire(ieee)

What software are you using to capture your video?
Easy Creator 8, MS Movie maker, Pinnacle, etc. The video,
after capturing doesn't look like the camera's video. I thought maybe
I should get an external graphics card for my laptop.

[Mike Thorpe]

OK, ignore USB. Don't bother with that. If you're using firewire, then the data is copied digitally from the camera, so you won't be able to improve on that. Once captured, on your pinnacle software there should be an option to increase the brightness and contrast. Not being familiar with Pinnacle, i can't tell you exactly where it is, but the manual or help file should be able to point you in the right direction.

[jmjohnso45]

thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

[Crusty]

The answer may be far simpler than a camera or a software problem, your PC monitor or video card may need adjusting. If your monitor is a tube type(CRT), not LCD, then I recommend doing this -

Take a look at this graphic -


When viewed at a distance of a meter or two each color should look like a solid rectangle, not like this -

or

If it does, I recommend first setting your monitor brightness and contrast to the middle of their adjustment rangem and if you have an adjustment for color temp, set it to about 6500K

Then open the windows control panel, select the 'Display' icon, then select the 'Settings' tab, then click on the 'Advanced' button. This should open a new window to your video card settings. Look for a tab that has a 'Gamma' adjustment. Most video cards have this. If you can move the window so you can still see the first image in this post, try adjusting the gamma until the colors rectangles appear as close to being a solid shade as possible.

Once that is done, you can close the window and then check your video clip to see if it's still too dark. Adjust your monitor brightness if it still seems too dark.

[Mark W]

Top advice there. Befor I set up my 'monitoring' monitor I was frustrated by the results I saw on other PCs and tvs.