Safe area

erdna · Post by **erdna** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:42 pm

I noticed that in VS11 there is a title safe area indication (which can be showed or not), and in the burning module there is also a "TV safe area" setting (preferences>advanced) which can also be set on/off and can be adjusted. Is the latter an overscan setting?

Post by **Ron P.** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:42 am

They both are. Title safe/Safe zone is so that you can make sure that the content you do want seen will not be cut off in the overscan area. This applies more to the older traditional CRT televisions. The newer LCD/Plasma, wide-screen may not have this overscan area, so everything may be seen.

erdna · Post by **erdna** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:12 pm

Thanks, agree, but is this TV safe area still active in the VS11.5 SW? I made 2 SD DVD's (containing a 10 sec testpattern) with 0 and the other with 30 for the TV safe area setting in the burning module, did the same with 2 AVCHD discs. There was no difference in the resulting DVD images w.r.t. overscan...

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:22 pm

Not sure exactly what you mean.

Your tv will have an overscan if a crt, or maybe not if an lcd/plasma.

This area will not change whatever setting you put into VS.

The VS setting is a guide for you to use to ensure your text is seen, so if you know you can use a safe area of 10% and see everything then fine, you may be able to use 5%, or whatever.

erdna · Post by **erdna** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:48 pm

skier-hughes wrote:Not sure exactly what you mean.

Your tv will have an overscan if a crt, or maybe not if an lcd/plasma.

This area will not change whatever setting you put into VS.

The VS setting is a guide for you to use to ensure your text is seen, so if you know you can use a safe area of 10% and see everything then fine, you may be able to use 5%, or whatever.

I think you refer to the well known title safe area, which can be selected under File>preferences, and made visible in the Title part. The rectangle has a fixed relative size (10%?) To make my question more precize: what can I get in the final image when I set the TV safe area to 0% versus selecting 30% for this setting in burning module.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:00 pm

The Safe Areas don't do anything to your video. They are only a guide, showing where your video/text may go off the screen. As Graham stated, if you have a lcd or plasma tv you may be able to set it to 0%, because you don't have to worry about overscan areas (the parts you can't see) on those kinds of tvs. If you have a crt tv then your safe area should be at least 10%. Keeping your titles within that area keeps it "safe" from the overscan area (the parts you can't see).

I presume the safe area setting in the editing module is for your project, and the safe area setting in the burner module is for your menu.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:21 pm

Hi erdna

The safe area indication (rectangular box) is only an indication. It is just a guide as to where you place your text or thumbnails on the menu pages.

By changing the setting to 30% merely changes the box size. This has NO effect to the video frame size either in the project or in the burner module.
But prompts you to move your menu items within the safe area. If you use the thumbnail menu you would have to squash up all thumbnails.

Using 10% and you can spread your thumbnails. These two options would show differently on your TV screen, providing you rearranged the thumbnails.

If your TV produces a large overscan say 25% , less of the video will be seen on screen.

If you had placed your thumbnails towards the edge, ie outside the safe area. You may loose the thumbnail when viewed on TV ( yes a bit of an exaggeration ).

erdna · Post by **erdna** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:11 pm

Still confusing...I will put my question in another way: Suppose I edit some footage and create a video within all the safe area stuff (box), and then I save the video (create file). Then I open the burning module and load the saved file into it. What is then the meaning of the "TV safe area" setting (0-30%) in the burning module. I don't think it's going to change the image properties of the file I saved before. Maybe Black Lab gives an interesting hint regarding the safe area for the menu. I will check that one...

erdna · Post by **erdna** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:38 pm

Thanks Black Lab! You got it! Indeed it specifically relates to the menu title safe area and also shows up with a box in the menu title design window. The box dimensions reflect the "TV safe area" setting (0-30%)

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:46 pm

Gold star for me.