Captured video-material appears far too dark

Question

hi there!
I have a great problem (being under time-pressure with a project): video-material, taken with a canon HV30, that looks all right on the camera-screen, appears FAR TOO DARK (not usable), after beeing captured. the problem does not seem to be a premiere-problem (I have CS3), since windows movie maker produces the same fault. it is neither a pc-screen-calibration or -regulation-problem, since the same material played onto the same screen by another pc, that displays everthing else perfectly, is also too dark. the answer must be between the cam-corder and the capturing software? does someone have a clue? (the problem seems to be not only mine if you check via google... and the solution seems not to be at hand...)
I'm working with DV-widescreen(16:9)-PAL-material converting it with 16-bit sound and 48 kHz.
following my relevant systems-data... (everything is updated with the most recent drivers...)
thanks very much indeed in advance!
hilmar
System Information
Time of this report: 11/21/2008, 23:54:29
Machine name: PC02
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.080814-1233)
Language: German (Regional Setting: German)
System Manufacturer: MAXDATA
System Model: *
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4400 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 766MB used, 3172MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
DxDiag Notes
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.
DirectX Debug Levels
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
Display Devices
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GTS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0400&SUBSYS_040110B0&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: (Standardmonitor)
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7824 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 10/7/2008 13:33:00, 6058112 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: Nicht zutreffend
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 10/7/2008 13:33:00, 6133856 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4740-11CF-906D-0A2400C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0400
SubSys ID: 0x040110B0
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: F

Answer 1

thanks,
dear craig,
for your thoughts and tips!
I will do that just for curiosity. but then I would have to know how the waveform-scopes should ideally look like? where can I find model-scopes? (and, what's more, the camera "gave up its spirit", as we say in german: can't be switched on any more - brand new... so I'll have to get it fixed...)
but: it seems to me, that your path-finding leads in the wrong direction... see: the camera records pictures digitally on a tape. from the tape it is able to read the data again out onto a screen - and fine! now: you should be able to reproduce that outside the camera - and not blame it somehow...
others seem to have the same problem with different cameras and different systems-cominations (operating system, graphic cards...). so it can't be just my camera. the problem is not so easy...
the guy here - http://forum.videohelp.com/topic281706.html - seems to aim in the right direction (imho): he touches the point of the colour-spaces used! he says inside the camcorder IRE 0.0 / 16-235 color space is used. right? well: outside the cam on a computer-screen RGB or sRGB is used, right? so some transformation has to happen - or may be, it is not done - with the bad result, we have...
now the chap there speaks about the possibly wrong codecs. a codec however has to do with compression/decompression. but - they say - the capturing via firewire is just the unaltered transmission of data, and .avi (the resulting format) is compression-free! so the problem is not a codec-problem. but how's the software called that changes the color-spaces or should change them???
what astonished me very much is to see that, when I change the screen-settings for color/luminance with my nvidia-graphics-card, then everything on the screen changes exept! the to video-images in the two screens (source, program) in premiere... so premiere seems to use its own screen-controle here!
and why actually can't I choose somewhere which the output-conditions for and after the capturing shall be, e.g. the clip-format (.avi, .mov etc.) and - may be! - the color-space! I can just say "DV 25i PAL max. bit-depth" and, under device(=cam)-controle, brand and type of device (and again PAL). now I can choose "canon" but not "HV30" (not contained in the list) - just "standard" instead. but that raises the question: what colour-space are the various cameras using and sending??
now if I check the supported camera-brands and -types online on the adobe-website (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/dvhdwrdb.html) I can't find canon's HV30 (just the semi-pro-models, for which "conditional support" is promised... but problems seem to lay elsewhere).
on the website, where you can check the compatibility of your cam with premiere, adobe boasts its "Preconfigured solutions
Certified Adobe OpenHD configurations (that) help ensure compatibility between hardware and software components." if you click on the linked text some general boasting and buy exhortations about the "creative suite" come up - no precise information...
should this well known and ill suffered compatibility problem not be handled more clearly and competently?
please help me finding the solution, which is: to interprete the recorded data on the tape, that get transferred via capturing, like the camera does!
thanks a lot indeed!
hilmar
ps: it is interesting to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_space, where it says: "YIQ was formerly used in NTSC (North America, Japan and elsewhere) television broadcasts for historical reasons. This system stores a luminance value with two chrominance values, corresponding approximately to the amounts of blue and red in the color. It is similar to the YUV scheme used in most video capture systems[2] and in PAL (Australia, Europe, except France, which uses SECAM) television, except that the YIQ color space is rotated 33° with respect to the YUV color space. ...
" you see: two different color spaces in TV and CAPTURE SYSTEMS! is premiere not a capture system?? and what do the graphics-devices underway between the camera and premiere??