MAX h264 encoding incorrect color

[protel]

I am not satisfied with the quality of my resulting h264 encoding - the color red is too far away from the original and looks orange. With a test chart encoding the color red with an original value of 0-91-71 (HSB) becomes 7-94-79. When encoding out of Avid MC without Matrox Max I get 0-87-71.

The other colors are much closer to the original. But the overall quality of the encoding without Matrox Max is closer to the original. Is this the price I have to pay for fast encoding?

System: Mac OS 10.6.6
Avid Media Composer 5.0.3.9
Matrox MX02LE with MAX
Firmware 31.1
Software 2.2.1.0042

[Matrox_Support_Joe]

How exactly are you encoding? Are you exporting out of Avid or are you exporting the sequence out of Avid and then encoding with another application like Compressor?

Please list detailed steps and the exact Matrox presets being chosen. Please also mention if the preset is being modified in any way.
_________________
Regards,
Joe
Matrox Video Technical Support

[protel]

We exported right out of Avid MC: Export as QuickTime Movie, Color Levels 601, Custom Codec, Format Options: Matrox MAX H.264. We tried several options in the Matrox H.264 settings including the factory preset, the resulting color was always the same.

Alternatively we used Format Options: Avid H.264 also with Color Levels 601, this gave correct colors (but took sooo much longer ...).

We don?t have Compressor so we can?t compare with that option.

Maybe this is only an issue with MC 5. We now know the Matrox LE is not entirely compatible with MC 5.0, but before we give it back and order a Matrox Mini MAX instead we?d like to know if this problem will be the same.

[protel]

Just tried the Matrox Mini MAX, the result is exactly the same (red becomes orange). This is not acceptable for our customer who builds red fire fighting vehicles ...

[Matrox_Support_Joe]

Hello protel,

I apologize for the delayed response.

When encoding using Matrox MAX, if the colors on the destination file look lighter than the original, try an encode with the following modification:

When exporting your file using the Quicktime 7 plugin

1. Open the file to be exported
2. File -> Export -> movie to Quicktime movie
3. Click 'Options'
4. Click 'Settings' and change the compression type to Matrox MAX H.264
5. Configure your H.264 parameters according to your needs
6. Click OK
7. In the 'video settings' window, click on 'filter'.
8. Expand the 'adjustments' category.
9. Click on 'Color sync'
10. Change the 'Destination profile' setting to: Colormatch RGB

You can also tweak the brightness and contrast settings filter to better match your original footage
_________________
Regards,
Joe
Matrox Video Technical Support

[protel]

Thank you for your help. This modification creates a good result, but it doubles the encoding time.

What is the reason for this problem? Does it only occur with Avid MC?

[Matrox_Support_Joe]