How can I photograph a TV screen without black bands or flicker?
Asked 1/31/2012
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When I try to photograph a television while a program is playing, the picture shows black bands and doesn’t look clear. This happens with both phone cameras and digital cameras. How can I take a clear photo of a TV screen, and why do advertising photos of televisions often look perfect?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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The reason that you get a black band across the screen is that you are using a shutter speed that is too short.
The image on the screen is refreshed at a specific rate. This rate differs depending on where you live but it's either 50 or 60 Hz. There are also televison sets that refresh the image at double the rate; 100 or 120 Hz.
The screen is refreshed from the top to the bottom, and when the refresh reaches the bottom, the top has faded to black in time for the next refresh. Thus, some part of the screen is always black at any given moment.
To avoid the black band in the pictures, you need to have a shutter speed that is long enough to capture several frames. On the other hand, any movement in the TV image will of course be blurred if you capture too many frames.
You can try a shutter speed like 1/10 second, which would give you 5-6 frames.
Originally by user149. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user149
14y ago
0
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The black band happens because the TV screen refreshes in cycles (commonly 50/60 Hz, sometimes higher), while your camera shutter captures only part of that cycle. Since the image is drawn from top to bottom, a fast shutter can catch the screen mid-refresh, showing a dark band.
Try using a slower shutter speed so the camera records one or more full refresh cycles. A good starting point is around 1/25 second, then adjust by trial and error. In general, the shutter should be slightly slower than the TV’s refresh rate. Keep in mind that if the program itself has motion, too slow a shutter can blur the on-screen action.
Also, many advertising images of TVs are not photographed exactly as seen in-camera. The screen content is often added or cleaned up digitally afterward, which is why those photos can look perfectly sharp and band-free.
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