How do I stop horizontal banding when photographing a monitor or screen?
Asked 1/30/2015
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2 answers
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I’m new to photography and seeing thick horizontal bands when I capture an image that is being displayed on a monitor. I’m using a Sigma 70-300mm lens with a machine-vision style camera and viewing the result on a computer screen. What causes these bands, and what settings can reduce or eliminate them?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
2
What you are seeing is the refresh of yur monitor, probably 60Hz. You can prevent that by shooting at a longer shutter speed, which means reducing the ISO value and/or your aperture (=bigger aperture number). Just try a few different settings.
A tripod will probably be helpful, to prevent camera shake at those slow speeds.
Edit: i'm just seeing that you posted a photo of a screen displaying a photo. And i don't really know what a guppy camera or an electrospinning process are. Still, it's probably the same principle.
Originally by user32110. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user32110
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The bands are most likely caused by the monitor’s refresh cycle (often around 60 Hz) interacting with your camera’s exposure timing. This is common when photographing screens.
A simple fix is to use a longer shutter speed so the exposure averages across more of the screen refresh. To make that possible, lower the ISO and/or use a smaller aperture (higher f-number) so the image doesn’t overexpose. Try a few shutter speeds and compare results.
Because longer shutter speeds can introduce blur from movement, using a tripod or otherwise stabilizing the camera will help.
In short: the issue is usually not the lens, but the mismatch between screen refresh and shutter speed.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
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