Why is the Viewing Environment Important?

Written by the ISF Forum Library Community
Wednesday, 30 May 2007

[ Q ] Why does the viewing environment matter? And what can be done to address that outside of a dedicated theater room?

[ A ] Room conditions can have a profound effect upon display performance, perceived image quality and viewer comfort. An inanimate object, such as a TV, doesn't care what viewing conditions are, but people do. Imaging industry experts have long acknowledged the importance of human factors in comprehensive display system design and performance. The greatest example of this is the impact of lighting upon a viewing environment. Less obvious factors also affect how a TV or monitor appears to the viewer or may induce viewing fatigue.

Manufacturers assume that most consumers watch TV in high ambient lighting conditions at home. The builders of consumer displays also know that TVs are watched during the day or in living rooms with most of the lights on. As a result, they incorporate characteristics into the design of their products that aim to recognize and partly address these challenges.

On the other hand, reference viewing environments are used by the program producers when all the critical decisions are made for how the picture appears. Darkened post-production studios are used to avoid ambient lighting causing screen reflections and color contamination. Room lighting interferes with the picture unless tightly controlled. Another aid is bias lighting that helps to reduce eye strain in the technician who watches the display for hours on end.

Unfortunately, high ambient lighting cannot be overcome without compromising image consistency and fidelity. Manufacturers use various tricks to make an image "watchable" under unfriendly conditions. A "watchable" picture may be fine for casual viewing sessions, but it misses the mark when it comes to revealing and reproducing all the fine details and subtleties that cinematographers work so hard to incorporate into a film. In home theaters, the goal should be to ensure that these subtleties come through.

Color, detail, mood, shadow and lighting are at the core of the cinematographer's art. Reference video attempts to communicate that art as effectively as the technology allows. Calibration offers the means to remove as many obstacles as possible from the delivery of image fidelity. It's the subtleties in image composition that can make the difference in whether we see and experience the moods intended in a dramatic presentation.

For example, many of us are familiar with the green tint used in "The Matrix" whenever the action occurred in the computerized world of the matrix vs. the "real" world. Others may be familiar with James Cameron's use of blue lighting in 'The Terminator' films to set the mechanical mood central to the main character. And when it comes to flesh tones, makeup artists alter faces to depict various states of emotion portrayed by the actors.

All this work can be significantly undermined if the color of the display is not correct. Emotional moods are varied by subtle changes in lighting from scene to scene. Calibration preserves the very emotional impact intended in a program.

The best time to address and optimize the viewing environment is when the room is being designed and/or decorated. Once the wall and ceiling colors, lighting and furnishings are decided, viewing environment becomes a more challenging variable. A professional calibrator can suggest ways conflicting system components can be corrected and explain how imaging will be improved.

You, as the viewer, ultimately have to decide what is workable in terms of your own priorities and lifestyle.

Contributions to this FAQ article were made by the following ISF Forum calibrators:
CinemaQuest, Inc.

72,73% of 11 voters found this FAQ useful, I found this FAQ

useful

not useful

< Prev		Next >