Polarizing filters

[Nino]

Maybe this is something that everybody already know and I’m just finding out on my own. Since moving to Florida some 14 years ago polarizing filters are almost a permanent fixture in front of my lenses but seldom found the need to use them indoor. This year while shooting the Gruden QB Camp shows for ESPN I wanted to eliminate some unwanted glare, nothing serious but it bothered the PIA in me. The centerpiece of these shows is a large LCD monitor, that’s where the conversation about football plays takes place. We usually adjust the brightness of the monitor to match the existing lights and exposure, BTW, all our lights are daylight balanced. I realized that as I was rotating the polarized filter the monitors was also changing the brightness to the point that is was going entirely dark without effecting any other part of the scene. I wasn’t about or had the time to find out why back then, the newly found “technique” came handy in controlling the brightness of the monitors without having to go into its menu. We used polarizer filters on all cameras that had the monitor in the shot.

I experimented a bit further about polarizer and LCDs. When I try to view my iPhone or iPad wearing polarizing glasses the screen goes black.

Maybe somebody has a more scientific explanation?

[Shootblue]

Looks like you are polarizing already polarized light.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display

[marstaton4]

I'm certainly not an expert on the subject but would a circular polarizing filter have less of an impact on the monitor?

[Ben Longden]

It should do....

[Nino]

I don't want to eliminate it, I want to enhance it. I figured we were working against another polarized source but never took the time to find out what, thanks Justin. This has been a blessing. Many of the shows we do have large monitors in it and everything hinge around the content of the videos shown. They normally cut into the footage but the monitor in the shot plays an important role. It was always time consuming and a PIA adjusting the monitor to match exposure especially when videos can be all over the place. Instead of stopping and making adjustment all I have to do now is to simply rotate the filter a little and we're quickly back in business. The overall quality of the monitor's picture also appears to be greatly improved to the point that producer are staying longer with our videos rather than edit into the original footage.