Calman takes advantage of the internal 3D LUT feature of the Blackmagic Design Teranex Mini to calibrate a video display with a 33x33x33 16-bit 3D cube lookup table (LUT)
Calman automatically creates an optimized display calibration 3D LUT and saves it to a computer file in a user-selected location. The LUT file can then be manually loaded into the Teranex Mini.
This setup guide assists you in calibrating the Teranex Mini with the Calman Color Cube workflow.
Calman Required Software
- Version 5.7.2 or later
- Calman Ultimate or Calman Studio can be used to create 3D LUTs for a Teranex Mini.
Calman Required Workflow
- Color Cube (3D LUT)
Calman 3D LUT Monitor Calibration
Follow this procedure to create an optimized software 3D LUT calibration file, ready to be manually loaded into a Teranex Mini.
Color Cube (3D LUT) Workflow
The Color Cube workflow in Calman is used to create monitor calibration 3D cube LUTs. In the Calman main menu, select Open Workflow Template / Color Cube (3D LUT). Proceed through each step of the Color Cube workflow in a normal fashion, using the following notes for Teranex Mini specifics.
Initial Setup
In the Initial Setup section of the Color Cube workflow, step through the following pages:
Session Setup – Meter Connect
- Connect your color meter to the Calman computer.
- On the Session Setup page, click the Find Meter button to connect your meter.
- On the Find Meters dialog, select your meter if it is listed, then click Search. If your meter is not listed on the Find Meters dialog, just click Search.
- Under the Target Display Type drop-down, for a colorimeter, select “LCD (LED White).” For a spectrophotometer, no special selection is required.
Session Setup – Source Connect
- On the Session Setup page, click the Find Source button.
- On the Source dialog, select your desired test pattern source.
Session Setup – LUT Device Setup
- On the Session Setup page, click the Find 3D LUT Device button.
- On the Find Display dialog, under Manufacturer, select ‘SpectraCal.’
- Under Model, select ‘SpectraCal – Cube Generator (3D LUT).’
- Click Connect.
Display Pre-Test
You can measure the performance of a video display before you calibrate it, on the pre-test Gamma & ColorChecker page.
If the Performance Analysis page then indicates any red pass/fail lights for the monitor’s native performance, you can proceed to the Display Optimization section of the workflow to optimize the monitor’s internal picture controls before performing the 3D LUT calibration. A few minutes spent optimizing the monitor’s native performance typically yields a more accurate 3D LUT calibration. The degree of improvement depends greatly on the individual monitor.
If you skip display optimization at this time and the final calibration validation indicates less than the desired improvement, you can easily return to the Display Optimization section to optimize the internal display controls and then repeat the 3D LUT calibration by clicking the Optimize Display button on the final calibration validation page.
On the Performance Analysis page:
- To proceed first to the workflow Display Optimization section, click the Optimize Display button.
- To skip directly to the Display Calibration section, click the Calibrate Cube LUT button.
Display Optimization
To optimize the monitor’s internal picture controls before creating a 3D calibration LUT, advance through the control adjustment pages in the Display Optimization section of the workflow
Display Calibration
In the Display Calibration section of the Color Cube workflow, there are provisions for calibrating both a 1D RGB LUT (1D Ramp LUT page) and a 3D cube LUT (3D Cube LUT page). When we are calibrating a Teranex Mini with a 3D LUT, we will skip the 1D Ramp LUT page (1D RGB LUT) and use only the 3D Cube LUT page.
1D Ramp LUT page
Skip over the 1D Ramp LUT page when creating a 3D LUT file for a Teranex Mini, as it does not support a correction 1D LUT.
3D Cube LUT page
- On the 3D Cube LUT page, click the AutoCal button (rotating arrows) at the right end of the meter action buttons. The AutoCal Setup dialog then appears.
- On the AutoCal Setup dialog, under File Format, select Blackmagic Design – Teranex Mini (.cube) (creates a 33x33x33 16-bit 3D LUT .cube format file)
- On the AutoCal Setup dialog, under File Path, select a convenient location for the LUT file that Calman will create. Name the .cube file to identify the monitor and the date.
- On the AutoCal Setup dialog, under Calibration Type, select the desired type of 3D LUT calibration process.
- IR Profile (time-based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible in the selected period of time. You select how much display quality you have time for, from 30 minutes to maximum display quality (6,000 points max). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
- IR Profile (point based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible with the selected number of measurement points (1,000 – 10,000 points). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
- Lightning LUT: Creates a display calibration 3D LUT in five minutes or less. Produces a very high-quality result on professional displays with moderate linearity. Displays with significant nonlinearity may produce marginal results.
- On the AutoCal Setup dialog, click OK.
Upon completion of the AutoCal 3D software LUT calibration process, Calman automatically writes the optimized 3D LUT calibration data into a Teranex Mini format .cube file, in the selected drive location.
To load the 3D LUT file into the Teranex Mini, proceed to the following section.
Teranex Mini 3D LUT Load
When Calman completes its automatic 3D LUT calibration, the created software 3D LUT file is ready to be loaded into the Teranex Mini. The Teranex Mini supports two separate LUTs, LUT 1 and LUT 2.
To load the software 3D LUT calibration file into your Teranex Mini:
- Open the Blackmagic Teranex Setup administration software.
- Click the Load button for the desired LUT slot.
- Select the desired .cube file that Calman saved to your computer.
- Click OK
- Click Save to confirm your settings.
- The LUT filename will appear next to each “Load” button so you know which LUT is being used for LUT 1 or LUT 2.
- To turn a LUT on, click the “Use LUT 1” or “Use LUT 2” checkboxes. To turn the LUT off, click the “Bypass LUT” checkbox.
- The 3D LUT can also be applied to your converter’s loop output by checking the “Enable 3D LUT on loop SDI output” checkbox.