Lights! Camera! Action!
In the world of video production, those three iconic words evoke a sense of awe and wonder: of magic being made. But video production professionals know it’s the relationship between the first two words where true magic happens. The interplay between lighting and cameras is the difference between vibrant, professional images and dull, amateurish production.
As LED lighting becomes more prevalent in TV and broadcast production, new challenges to achieving color accuracy have emerged. Careful calibration between LED lights and broadcast cameras is required to ensure that images are high-quality and color-accurate. Panasonic deploys multiple layers of advanced technology in its cameras to ease this calibration challenge and ensure color accuracy regardless of the production environment.
In the past decade, LED lighting has become the second most common form of lighting in U.S. commercial buildings. Specific to video production, LED lighting achieved an estimated market value of $570 million in 2023.
This popularity has been fueled by a number of reasons:
LED lighting provides many advantages but poses one major challenge: color fidelity.
Achieving color fidelity with LED lights in broadcasting can be difficult because LEDs work on an RGB scale as opposed to the broad spectrum used by incandescent bulbs. This results in peaks and valleys across the color spectrum and a lower color rendering index (CRI) rating.
To the naked eye, a lower CRI isn’t noticeable, but if your camera is not properly calibrated, it can lead to incorrect skin tones or colors overly affected by foreground and background objects. One of the most common issues in video production is magenta bias.
To combat magenta bias, Panasonic studio cameras such as the AK-UC4000 and AK-UC4000B are equipped with blue filter adjustability on their ND filter wheels. These blue filters work by blocking out much of the red and some green light. When the camera is white-balanced under this condition, it adjusts the blue and red gain levels. The apparent result is that more green light comes through, eliminating the magenta bias.
While blue filters are one way to achieve color accuracy, the AK-UCX100 broadcast camera provides an even easier solution by deploying an LED-optimized imager. This works by ensuring the peaks of red, green, and blue light are at the center of their respective frequencies, eliminating magenta bias and ensuring color fidelity.
In addition to LED optimization, it is important to consider color fidelity in variable lighting situations. To do this, the AK-UCX100 has a hybrid log gamma (HLG) range to achieve fine gradation of light and dark. BT.2020 compatibility also provides a near-complete reproduction of natural colors, resulting in vibrant, color-accurate images under any lighting conditions.
Additionally, by simultaneously utilizing SDR (BT.709) output, these cameras are optimized for any distribution need, from HDR to standard broadcast.
Another issue that can be exacerbated by LED lighting is color moiré. Moiré is a visual distortion effect in which solid objects (especially fine patterns) appear to be moving when they are not. This often creates a wave or rainbow effect in the image that can be off-putting for viewers.
To manage the Moiré effect, Panasonic cameras are equipped with motorized ND filter wheels and can be modified with optical low-pass filters. These filters slightly blur the image to reduce or eliminate moiré while maintaining a high level of sharpness in the image itself. The AK-UC4000 and AK-UC3300 studio cameras also have camera control units with more powerful field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) that further reduce electronic moiré.
Dynamic productions may require multiple input devices, especially in TV broadcast settings. The AK-UCX100 is designed to integrate easily with Panasonic PTZ 4K Cameras. Once paired, these devices can be easily managed through a remote operation panel (ROP), allowing for multi-angle video production and superior color matching.
In addition, the AW-UE160 PTZ Camera is equipped with an LED optimized imager, the same technology that eliminates the need for a blue filter. Pairing these cameras with the AK-UCX100 broadcast camera leads to maximally accurate color reproduction across devices.
Mastering LED lighting is key to achieving the best possible product in high-level video production. Panasonic’s lineup of cameras is designed to help video professionals capture the highest-quality images under any lighting conditions. Whether using LED studio lights, natural on-location light, or any combination in between, Panasonic cameras produce high-quality, color-accurate images.