Roku Developer Program

[powerfinger]

Hello,

I am developing on a Model 2100X Roku unit. I have a monitor set up from the HDMI port and another one from the composite video port. My Roku is set to 720p.

I am getting graphic art for the overhang, logo, etc. from the graphics artist as a PSD file, which I convert to png or JPG, depending on the Roku requirement. When I look at my elements on my computer, the colors match the screen design mockups the graphic designer also provided.

When I put the PNG elements into my Roku project, the colors do not look the same on the HDMI device, when compared to the computer. They look considerably closer on the composite device, but are still a little off. We noticed this on our first deployment, but since the color was a darker shade of green and the logo black, decided to go with it. This time, though, the logo is not black and the look is quite different than the design.

I understand that the I have the composite device, an SD unit, displaying the HD png file and vice/versa if I shift my monitor type in the Roku Settings. But, I would prefer that the HDMI look "right" and the composite look "wrong", which is the opposite of what I have now.

In essence, I have two questions:

1. Can I make the colors match somehow? given that the 2100X has both output ports working at the same time irregardless of settings, it would be nice.

2. How do I get the HDMI port to display colors that match what the computer graphics display (which includes the look of the channel website) - short of "poking and praying" for the offset color value?

Thanks

[RokuJoel]

Photoshop has settings to allow you to view graphics as if they were on a TV instead of a computer screen, as well as settings to let you view in various aspect rations (i.e. DV NTSC aspect ration).

Here's an article that may help:

http://www.videouniversity.com/articles/photoshop-for-video-tips-and-tricks/

- Joel

[squirreltown]

I found that graphics that need to match the Roku interface, for instance matching the Overhang slice to a background color should have the NTSC(1953) profile applied. The best profile for matching photographs where you care about the color is - HDTV (rec.709) 16-235. Both are available in Photoshop.
If you want to get the HDMI and analog output to match perfectly, you would probably need different graphics for each, but consider that TV's are all a little different as far as color reproduction goes, so it may be more trouble than its worth.

[powerfinger]

Thank you both for the advice. I will pursue the photoshop settings.

Regarding the second post - unfortunately there is no way to have two different looks for two different monitors in this scenario, at least as far as I can tell. The reason is that the 2100 unit sends the HDMI and the composite signal at the same time, from the same grpahics files in the project. Which files it sends depends on how the 2100 is set up. I can change the settings on the 2100 to match the display resolution, but I can only pick one and in this scenario there are two.

The SD vs HD graphics files in the project and corresponding settings on the box handle the differences appropriately, so long as only one display type is used on the output. I would guess that at some point, maybe already, the composite port will just go away and it would not be possible to hook up the monitors in the manner I can with 2100.

thanks again for the help