BenQ Color Technology with Dr. Bai | 709 Reasons Why
<b>[Music] 709 Reasons Why is</b> <b>brought to you by Calman.</b> <b>Hi, I'm Chris Bai. I'm a color scientist.</b> <b>And what I do at BenQ and my team is we</b> <b>actually involve a lot of</b> <b>color standards and color</b> <b>research at BenQ. So my team actually is</b>
<b>called Color Technology Lab.</b> <b>So what we do is we focus on the</b> <b>research, color research,</b> <b>not for the product right now,</b> <b>but for the products three</b> <b>years or five years later.</b> <b>So we focus on the topics like, for</b> <b>example, observer metamorism and also</b> <b>like new technologies.</b>
<b>For example, like OLED or mini LEDs, how</b> <b>the applications or</b> <b>the implications causing,</b> <b>for example, metamorism. So how can we</b> <b>solve it using different types of</b> <b>calibration techniques to do this?</b> <b>So it sounds like very simple at first,</b> <b>but there is a lot of</b> <b>theories or a lot of practicals</b> <b>involved, techniques involved in here.</b> <b>I must say I'm movie savvy. I like</b> <b>watching movies a lot.</b> <b>But sadly, recently, I have a lot of</b> <b>travel, so I don't have</b> <b>much time to go actually go</b> <b>into a theater to watch a movie. But many</b>
<b>watch my movie on the plane.</b> <b>But the movie I like the most or it</b> <b>actually influenced me a</b> <b>lot is called The Matrix.</b> <b>This movie I like is because of the plot.</b> <b>It actually got me thinking that this is</b> <b>actually how we are created.</b> <b>And is there somebody always watching us</b> <b>or our behavior or our thinking is by</b> <b>programming or is autonomous?</b> <b>OK, this is what got me thinking how we</b> <b>are as a human, how</b> <b>are we deciding things?</b> <b>And I think The Matrix really explained</b> <b>this or not explained it, or by</b> <b>discussing this</b> <b>philosophy a lot in this trilogy.</b> <b>But color really plays a very</b> <b>important role in this movie.</b>
<b>Because by this, there are different</b> <b>worlds in this movie.</b> <b>So there are the world created by The</b> <b>Matrix, the world in the real world.</b> <b>And they're</b> <b>differentiated by the color tone.</b> <b>For example, the world created by The</b> <b>Matrix, usually you can see a lot of</b> <b>greenish color and you can</b> <b>see a lot of darker color.</b>
<b>So that gives you a sense of digitize.</b> <b>So you can distinguish that</b> <b>world from the real world.</b> <b>The real world is more like a natural</b> <b>color and giving you a</b> <b>little bit bluish tone.</b> <b>So that gives you a</b> <b>little bit of depression.</b> <b>So you can feel like, oh, they're</b> <b>depressed by that depressed feeling.</b>
<b>So this is a really good color cue that</b> <b>gives you a sense of</b> <b>what we're talking about.</b> <b>And you don't get confused very easily</b> <b>when you're watching this movie.</b> <b>So color plays a very</b> <b>important role in this movie.</b>
<b>And that's why I like this movie a lot.</b> <b>And I really spend a</b> <b>lot of time in this movie.</b> <b>And even now, I usually watch a couple of</b> <b>times when I have time to think about</b> <b>this, the philosophy and</b> <b>what they're talking about.</b> <b>And especially in this part, when they</b> <b>have something important to discuss,</b> <b>they want to explain the</b> <b>philosophy behind this movie.</b>
<b>They give you a white space.</b> <b>They put the characters in</b> <b>the white room or natural space.</b> <b>Because that will actually let the viewer</b> <b>to concentrate on the discussion.</b>
<b>Because white, usually there's no</b> <b>disturbance around them.</b> <b>So the audience will focus on the</b> <b>discussion they're having.</b> <b>So you can be more focused on what</b> <b>they're talking about.</b> <b>What's the dialogue?</b> <b>I think that's a really</b> <b>great use of the color.</b> <b>So you want to have this</b> <b>color as a cue for your movie.</b>
<b>So the most important part is get the</b> <b>color right for your</b> <b>viewers, for your audience.</b> <b>And there must be someone to decide how</b> <b>the color should look like</b> <b>for this film or this movie.</b> <b>So that one for the</b> <b>movie should be the director.</b> <b>And if you want this</b> <b>color to be accurate, right?</b> <b>So during the whole color process, all</b> <b>the monitors, all the displays, even the</b> <b>projectors, you have</b> <b>to be color accurate.</b> <b>They have to be calibrated.</b> <b>Even though, for example, on the viewer</b> <b>side, your monitors and also maybe your</b> <b>TV or your mobile phone, your tablet,</b> <b>should be also reflecting the</b> <b>director's intention as well.</b>
<b>Because by that, you can only see what is</b> <b>in the director's mind.</b> <b>So you can fully understand what the</b> <b>movie is telling you by the colors.</b> <b>By choosing this film, it's actually</b> <b>trying to solve my own problem.</b> <b>Because when I'm facing a job when I</b> <b>graduated from my undergraduate study,</b> <b>because at that time I</b> <b>was a wedding photographer.</b> <b>I did a lot of contract jobs.</b> <b>But at that time, mostly I</b> <b>was dealing with the film.</b>
<b>And doing film was not too bad in color</b> <b>because once you get the right film, you</b> <b>get the right developer,</b> <b>you get the right</b> <b>chemicals and the papers.</b> <b>If you get all the same stuff and you go</b> <b>to the right developer and</b> <b>find the right people to do that,</b> <b>you get a pretty consistent output, a</b> <b>pretty consistent color every time.</b> <b>But when that time is an era when you</b> <b>transition from the film to digital,</b> <b>so I brought my first digital DSLR at</b> <b>that time and I tried it a couple of</b> <b>times and it was my shooting.</b> <b>And I found out it's very convenient</b> <b>because you can look at</b> <b>your pictures right away</b> <b>and check if you want</b> <b>to reshoot it or not.</b>
<b>You don't need to wait until</b> <b>three or five days later on.</b> <b>And you can show it to</b> <b>your client right away.</b> <b>So that was very convenient.</b> <b>But one thing that most</b> <b>confused me a lot was the color.</b> <b>Because the color on the</b> <b>screen, on the back of the camera,</b> <b>or if you show it on your monitor or even</b> <b>print it out, the</b> <b>colors are totally different.</b> <b>And it got me thinking,</b> <b>okay, these are very different.</b>
<b>But which one should I follow?</b> <b>There must be one I should follow.</b> <b>But I never got the answer at that time.</b> <b>And I tried to figure it out and I never</b> <b>get the right practice at that time.</b> <b>So I sent the photos to my client and</b> <b>also the hard copy one to my client.</b> <b>They don't match at all.</b>
<b>And my clients were not happy because</b> <b>they look at their monitor</b> <b>and they believe the monitor one should</b> <b>be the one they're looking at.</b> <b>And they received the hard</b> <b>copy ones and they're saying,</b> <b>"Well, this is not right. You should</b> <b>re-print it. You should re-do it."</b> <b>So I spent a lot of money</b> <b>and time and redo these photos.</b>
<b>And that is just, I think it's causing</b> <b>more problems than what I</b> <b>did before with the film.</b> <b>But I think digital was the way to go.</b> <b>So I think if I was experiencing this</b> <b>problem, then a lot of people,</b> <b>a lot of photographers</b> <b>will experience this problem.</b> <b>So at that time, I think we</b> <b>should find a solution to this</b> <b>because there must be a way using</b> <b>scientific way to solve this problem.</b> <b>So I tried to figure out and that at that</b> <b>time, there was a very new</b> <b>field called color science</b> <b>that provided color management practice.</b> <b>So maybe this is the solution to that.</b>
<b>So that's why I went to UK, to Leeds</b> <b>actually, to study my</b> <b>master's degree in color science.</b> <b>And the more I study, I find it more</b> <b>interesting and there are</b> <b>more to learn about from color</b> <b>and how I interact with human visual</b> <b>system and how we recognize color.</b> <b>So that's why I decided to go for a PhD</b> <b>degree, to learn more</b> <b>about it and to research more.</b> <b>I think the most proud thing in my work</b> <b>is actually to solve a lot of color</b> <b>communication problems</b> <b>between my client and their clients.</b> <b>Because most of the time when they have</b> <b>an argument or</b> <b>communication problem between colors,</b> <b>most of the time the problem is their</b> <b>displays, not their work.</b> <b>But usually people tend</b> <b>to focus on their work.</b>
<b>So my client usually call their designer,</b> <b>they say, "Well, it doesn't look right.</b> <b>So you should redo your work."</b> <b>And the designer said, "Well, on my end,</b> <b>it looks pretty okay.</b> <b>So I don't want to</b> <b>spending more time on this."</b>
<b>And this argument</b> <b>just go on and on and on.</b> <b>And they're spending so much time and</b> <b>effort on just going</b> <b>on with this argument.</b> <b>But when I pointed out, if</b> <b>you calibrate your monitors,</b> <b>you will get more</b> <b>consistent output from two ends.</b>
<b>So once I demonstrate the calibration and</b> <b>they're pretty happy with it,</b> <b>and most of the time</b> <b>the problem was gone.</b> <b>Think about this.</b> <b>Think about this.</b> <b>I think most of you having this</b> <b>experience of buying a television set,</b> <b>maybe most of you buying them online</b> <b>right now, but back in the old days,</b> <b>we actually go into a shop or a</b> <b>superstore to look at a</b> <b>lot of television sets.</b> <b>So you will actually go to pick one from</b> <b>maybe 20 of the television sets.</b> <b>But to look at one you</b> <b>like the color the most.</b>
<b>But they're actually playing the same</b> <b>content, the same</b> <b>video with the same photos.</b> <b>But have you think about this?</b> <b>If they're playing the same</b> <b>content from the same source,</b> <b>why they look different on different TVs?</b> <b>So there must be something wrong or doing</b> <b>something different for each television.</b> <b>So this is why we get different results</b> <b>from the same content,</b> <b>but on different either</b> <b>monitors or television.</b>
<b>So we can't take it for granted that when</b> <b>we look at an image that</b> <b>that is the true image,</b> <b>there is some adjustment on your display.</b> <b>So you need a calibration process to take</b> <b>away those adjustments.</b> <b>So you can look at what is your true</b> <b>reproduction of your</b> <b>artwork or the images.</b> <b>So that is, I think, having this</b> <b>education out to my</b> <b>clients or their clients</b> <b>and solving their communication error or</b> <b>communication argument.</b> <b>I think this is one</b> <b>of my proudest moment.</b> <b>So this monitor here is our BenQ SW272Q.</b>
<b>So this monitor is actually a</b> <b>professional monitor with a hardware</b> <b>calibration capability.</b> <b>And this is also camera ready.</b> <b>So what this monitor does is actually we</b> <b>call it doing nothing.</b> <b>By doing nothing, the definition is it's</b> <b>actually truthfully</b> <b>reproduce your content.</b> <b>So if you look at your</b> <b>content and it looks really good,</b> <b>then it is your job, which you make a</b> <b>really good image out of the program.</b> <b>But if you find there's something wrong</b> <b>with the images or the artwork,</b> <b>then there is a chance that you can fix</b> <b>it right now before you</b> <b>send it out to others.</b>
<b>So this is what we call truthfully</b> <b>truthful reproduction.</b> <b>But it sounds easy, right?</b> <b>It sounds like we're not doing anything,</b> <b>but we believe there</b> <b>is a lot of work to do.</b> <b>Because if you want your artwork or</b> <b>images to be truthfully reproduced,</b> <b>then this monitor has to be standardized,</b> <b>has to be calibrated properly in order to</b> <b>show your truthfully</b> <b>reproduction of your artwork.</b> <b>So basically you need to, the color</b> <b>temperature, the brightness,</b> <b>the color gamut, the gamma value has to</b> <b>be calibrated properly.</b>
<b>So this we do it at the factory level,</b> <b>or you can use the</b> <b>calumet solution to do this.</b> <b>Harder calibration is actually you write</b> <b>all the calibration data</b> <b>inside the monitor itself.</b> <b>And this actually provide a more accurate</b> <b>calibration results to the user,</b> <b>like the content creator or all the</b> <b>designers or all the photographers.</b> <b>Okay.</b>
<b>Why is it important?</b> <b>Because you really, really need a really</b> <b>good calibration result, a really good.</b> <b>So in order to have a good truthfully</b> <b>reproduced color out of this monitor.</b> <b>Okay.</b> <b>So only by hard calibration, you can</b> <b>achieve this level of accuracy.</b>
<b>So that's why we recommended that for</b> <b>people who actually need a</b> <b>really good color accuracy,</b> <b>that hard calibration is</b> <b>your best shot to do this.</b> <b>And Calumet provide a</b> <b>really good solution to this.</b> <b>So by Calumet ready, that means we allow</b> <b>the Calumet software</b> <b>to actually writing data</b> <b>into the monitor itself.</b> <b>So to achieve hard</b> <b>calibration, to achieve the</b> <b>accurate color accuracy</b> <b>for the content creators.</b>
<b>So that's why we need a periodic</b> <b>calibration and to get</b> <b>the more accurate result.</b> <b>Games nowadays are really getting the</b> <b>using the same techniques,</b> <b>post-production</b> <b>techniques, like the movie industry.</b> <b>Playing a game is now like getting into a</b> <b>world created by the gaming vendors.</b> <b>Okay.</b>
<b>So in order to do this color, it has to</b> <b>be accurate from the</b> <b>gaming game director or the art</b> <b>director from the gaming vendors.</b> <b>So that's why we also need a very</b> <b>accurate reproduction for these game.</b> <b>So the gamers can have this immersive</b> <b>experience from their</b> <b>game so they can enjoy.</b>
<b>So they can be</b> <b>excited so they can well be</b> <b>incorporate into the whole experience a</b> <b>lot more than just only with the sound.</b> <b>Because color is a visual clue to</b> <b>actually allow us to be more immersive</b> <b>into the whole experience.</b> <b>And by allowing the accurate color</b> <b>approved by the art director,</b> <b>then you can get the same message that</b> <b>the art director would like to show us,</b> <b>show the gamers in the same game.</b>
<b>So that's why having an accurate</b> <b>reproduction for the gamers is very</b> <b>important in these days right now.</b> <b>I must say between Portrait and BenQ, we</b> <b>have been</b> <b>collaborating for many, many years.</b> <b>And this is a really good collaboration</b> <b>because from our users, we</b> <b>get a lot of good feedbacks</b> <b>because we have really good hardware and</b> <b>Cal main is a really</b> <b>good piece of software.</b>
<b>And combine these two together, the users</b> <b>can get a really, really</b> <b>good experience from the</b> <b>software combination with hardware.</b> <b>So to enhance this experience right now,</b> <b>I think the post-production</b> <b>industry is looking for a more</b> <b>integrated solution between not only the</b> <b>monitors, but also maybe monitors with</b> <b>the projectors as well.</b> <b>And also many monitors</b> <b>also with the signage as well.</b> <b>Because integrating all different kinds</b> <b>of different displays,</b> <b>having consistent colors across this</b> <b>display will be a very</b> <b>good unique solution to this</b> <b>post-production house nowadays.</b> <b>Imagine this, if the client walks into</b> <b>the studio and they look at this around,</b> <b>you will definitely see monitors, you can</b> <b>definitely see signage</b> <b>maybe in the hallways</b> <b>or maybe in the meeting rooms.</b>
<b>And you will see projectors in the</b> <b>viewing room and they all look the same.</b> <b>You're displaying the same</b> <b>color, they'll be impressed.</b> <b>They'll see how you emphasize in the</b> <b>color and they'll say,</b> <b>wow, this is your core value.</b> <b>And this will be, they will be very, very</b> <b>interested in putting</b> <b>their work to you, right?</b> <b>In the studio.</b> <b>So I think together with Portrait Display</b> <b>and also with BenQ, we</b> <b>both have really good</b> <b>products together.</b> <b>So if we can put the software and also</b> <b>the hardware together,</b> <b>we can create this unique</b> <b>collaboration between us and to create a</b> <b>much more value for this whole industry.</b>
<b>I think that could be a very brave but</b> <b>bold next step together.</b> <b>So I hope we can look into that future.</b> <b>[MUSIC]</b>
2024-10-12 15:25