thewho@portia.Stanford.EDU (Derek Fong) (02/20/90)
One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? Does apple use a special filter in their promotion ads to avoid glare from the camera's flash, or am I missing something? ---Derek Fong fong@cive.stanford.edu thewho@portia.stanford.edu
johnsonr@boulder.Colorado.EDU (JOHNSON RICHARD J) (02/21/90)
thewho@portia.Stanford.EDU (Derek Fong) writes: <One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with <a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? <---Derek Fong The phosphor in the 9" screen just shows up a little blue on film. | Richard Johnson johnsonr@spot.colorado.edu | | CSC doesn't necessarily share my opinions, but is welcome to. | | Power Tower...Dual Keel...Phase One...Allison/bertha/Colleen...?... | | Space Station Freedom is Dead. Long Live Space Station Freedom! |
fiddler@concertina.Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (02/21/90)
In article <9312@portia.Stanford.EDU>, thewho@portia.Stanford.EDU (Derek Fong) writes: > One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with > a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? Does apple use > a special filter in their promotion ads to avoid glare from the camera's > flash, or am I missing something? No special filter. Absolutely no flash. (!) (Using a flash would almost certainly overpower the screen's light output so that you'd see what looked like a Mac that wasn't turned on. The camera's shutter has to remain open at least long enough to cover a full screen paint, typically using 1/30th of a second to make sure the whole paint is completed, even a flash that didn't wash out the screen would not last nearly long enough.) Color films have different spectral sensitivities than your eye. Films in general tend to be much more sensitive to the blue end of the spectrum than your eye. (There are some exceptions...but in general this is true.) In this case, the blue component of the screen's phosphor output shows up quite strongly on film. We'll ignore the brain's ability to ignore rather strong color shifts to make things seem to be whatever color we think it "ought" to be: A picture taken under fluorescent light with daylight film, for example, often has a strong green cast, while if you were in the same room, you'd see the light as pretty neutral. The film most likely used for those product shot, btw, would be Kodachrome 64. I'm not that fond of it, but most advertisers go for it. ------------ "...Then anyone who leaves behind him a written manual, and likewise anyone who receives it, in the belief that such writing will be clear and certain, must be exceedingly simple-minded..." Plato, _Phaedrus_
nebel@wam.umd.edu (Chris D. Nebel) (02/21/90)
In article <9312@portia.Stanford.EDU> thewho@portia.Stanford.EDU (Derek Fong) writes: >One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with >a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? 9" Mac screens really are tinted slightly blue. I've heard that this was done because it's easier to read black on very light blue than it is to read black on white. As someone else pointed out, the blue tint shows up more strongly on film. Chris Nebel nebel@wam.umd.edu
sdh@flash.bellcore.com (Stephen D Hawley) (02/21/90)
In article <9312@portia.Stanford.EDU> thewho@portia.Stanford.EDU (Derek Fong) writes: >One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with >a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? Does apple use >a special filter in their promotion ads to avoid glare from the camera's >flash, or am I missing something? > They don't use a special filter. It just comes out that way. Really. I had a couple of promo shots taken at work of some mac stuff I did. I asked the photographer, and he said that the screens show up blue for certain types of color film. Lo and behold, when the promo shots came back, the screen was blue. I also got $5 for signing a release, so I'm a professional model too... :') Steve Hawley sdh@flash.bellcore.com A noun's a special kind of word. It's ev'ry name you ever heard. I find it quite interesting, A noun's a person place or thing.
Ed.Edell@p1.f563.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Ed Edell) (02/23/90)
>One weird thing I've noticed is that all the Apple ads show the Mac with >a "blue tinted" screen. Does anyone know why this is done? Does apple use >a special filter in their promotion ads to avoid glare from the camera's >flash, or am I missing something? > >Derek Fong >fong@cive.stanford.edu >thewho@portia.stanford.edu It seems to me that most photographers are using film that is balanced for Tungsten (indoor) lighting, which is much cooler on the Kelvin scale then daylight. The Mac screen (like most other CRTs), has a much 'warmer' color temperature (the white has more 'red' in it.) If photographers used film balanced for daylight, the mac screen would show up much closer to the white that appears to the human eye. But then, photographers would have to use lighting in their studios that was corrected to produce a higher Kelvin temperature (a 'warmer' white); it amounts to putting a filter on _all_ of the lighting, or using other types of lighting which produce a higher color temperature, more comparible with daylight at 12 noon. Over the years, it seems that folks have come to 'expect' to see the Mac screen appearing 'blueish' in color print ads. I can see no real reason for Mac screens to appear Blue in color photographs other then the reasons I mentioned above. (BTW, the same things apply to video... Check out some commercials) -Ed -- Ed Edell via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!107!563.1!Ed.Edell INET: Ed.Edell@p1.f563.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG