Andrew10, No word back from CyberLink tech support so no resolution yet. What you describe is essentially the same thing I posted via the Magic Lantern forum. I'm hoping for some kind of patch because editing low-light footage is a huge pain in the ass. But more importantly, what we're seeing in the preview window is not indicative of the final rendered product in many cases.

There is a fix, not ideal as the quality is reduced and you might not use LIGHTROOM? Basically the video files import into LR4 and look correct! weird and then you output them as mp4, but they are only 22mbit! but the imported files in pd now look correct at least!

Good suggestion as a workaround...but I expect a bit more from the folks at CyberLink. Hopefully they will come through!

Not entirely convinced they can sort this any time soon or are even interested. They asked me with the ticket to demonstrate the problem, basically all they need to do is upload your files and see for themselves, it ain't hard!

If I had to guess (and that's all I can do from this position), I'd say it boils down to a proper codec. Some codecs cost money, in some cases a lot of money, and it just could be that PD isn't a "professional" enough package to warrant licensing of proper codecs. That's all speculation on my part, based on other stuff I've read on the intertubes. Time will tell, but I'm trying to keep positive

Hi,
I am just piping in here with my experience with graphics color, Graphic cards and monitors. Some monitors display differently and different angle of viewing, the graphic card may need to be calibrated, and if you've used computer geek with those calibration gadgets (to me those things are used by inexperienced geek people in box stores) you may ha his/her idea of color. The graphic cards also have a color calibration module that you yourself can adjust to your preferences.
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Jim, Thanks for your feedback. However, in this case, we are talking about different levels of brightness/contrast on the same video clip on the same monitor, on the same graphic card. You can download my clip and play around with it in PD11. You'll see a difference between the preview window and the trim window, and that's all we're talking about here. Cyberlink has already acknowledged the issue and we're just waiting for a fix.

Mr. HEFED,
Thanks a million for bringing this PD display problem to the forum. I have been searching off an on for a couple of YEARS to find out exactly what method Power Director uses to display videos in imbedded preview mode. Like you, I too was concerned because my raw videos were always darker in imbedded-preview than they were when the viewer was detached, or when they were viewed in Windows Media Player, VLC, etc..

Even though I'm pretty sure that it's some kind of Cyberlink proprietary Rendering Codec issue, I couldn't find any way to locate-isolate and disable this mysterious varmit. Eventually I just learned to not adjust the brightness controls as dramatically and the resultant DVD turned out OK. BTW... I'm still running PD9, but come to this forum to learn if PD11 is better. If this "dimmer preview window" issue gets fixed, it will be (for my modest needs) the #1 best reason for an upgrade to PD11.

Thanks again for having the saavy and initiative to bring this issue to the forum experts, Mr. Hefed.

-Allen in Chicagoland

The problem is easy and they will know what it is and its basically dslr's and compact system cameras are using mov container but recording levels at 16-235, camcorders and other gear seem to be using full 0-255. So when its inserted into the timeline the 16-235 are mapped to PD's expected 0-255, bang the colours go whack. I have tried it on win7 32 and 64 on different laptops, workstations and its exactly the same, it repeats. Download HeFed examples and play them in windows media player, yuk, now use media player classic or vlc and use the 16-235 render settings and everything is good. So to sum up for Cyberlink expert programmers, apply 16-235 to the timeline and make it user selectable? easy. When can we expect a fix?

Quote: The problem is easy and they will know what it is and its basically dslr's and compact system cameras are using mov container but recording levels at 16-235, camcorders and other gear seem to be using full 0-255. So when its inserted into the timeline the 16-235 are mapped to PD's expected 0-255, bang the colours go whack. I have tried it on win7 32 and 64 on different laptops, workstations and its exactly the same, it repeats. Download HeFed examples and play them in windows media player, yuk, now use media player classic or vlc and use the 16-235 render settings and everything is good. So to sum up for Cyberlink expert programmers, apply 16-235 to the timeline and make it user selectable? easy. When can we expect a fix?

Great reporting.

Unfortunately CL Tech Support do not monitor this forum.

If you want a Tech Support response please send your suggestion direct to Cyberlink Tech Support.

Happy editing Happing editing

Best Regards

Neil
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You might want to try this registry hack that instructs PowerDirector to use the VMR9 video renderer instead of the VMR7 video renderer.

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/14828.page#71971


Even after I got the colors working correctly, I noticed that if the video has pure black in it (0,0,0), you can not brighten those pixels, they remains black (0,0,0). Other video editors will raise the level if you use the brighten or exposure controls. In PowerDirector, instead of brightening correctly, PD creates a huge contrast.

And as others have mentioned, you may need set your desktop display settings in the NVIDIA or AMD control panel so that the full dynamic range of 0-255 is selected instead of mapping the full range to 16-235. You won't have to do that if the video playback device displays the full dynamic range already. Otherwise you have to use the NVIDIA or AMD display settings.

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