Basic Betacam Camerawork, 3rd Edition

The ‘film’ look

A cinema screen is a highly reflective surface and the audience watch the giant projected images in a darkened auditorium. A television set is a small light box that emits its picture usually into a well-lit room often provided by high intensity daylight. The initial brightness ratio between black and white tones of a subject before a video camera often exceeds the dynamic range of any display monitor. This problem is exacerbated (because of the regulations imposed on the design of the transmission path), by a lower contrast ratio handling ability than is theoretically possible and because television is viewed in less than favourable lighting conditions.

These are simply the differences in viewing conditions between film and video. ...