Now we'll set the color controls using the chroma and hue. Good professional monitors have a blue only button. Clicking this will turn off the red and green colors, leaving only black and blue bars or black and grey bars. Some monitors ship with individual controls for the red, green and blue guns instead of a blue only switch; in that case, turn the red and green guns off, so you are left with a blue image.

First, we'll set chroma (a.k.a. color), which adjusts the amount of color displayed or saturation level. Look to the two outside bars and their respective sub-bars below them. Once set correctly, both of the main bars should appear to be the same shade as their sub-bars. Dial in the direction that makes the shades of each set of blue or grey bars blend into each other.

To adjust the hue (a.k.a. phase or tint), look to the two inner bars. Repeat the process used for chroma, adjusting the hue control until the main bars and sub-bars cannot be distinguished from each other. Be sure to recheck the chroma adjustment after you finish adjusting Hue. Turn the blue only button off, and you are ready to edit in true colors.

If you are using an ordinary television set, make sure you turn off any automatic color correction controls. With an ordinary television set or an NTSC monitor without the Blue Only option, you can make these adjustments by viewing the monitor through a Wratten 47B dark blue photographic filter, which can be purchased at any well-stocked camera store. Adjust the same way as if you had a Blue Only button.

Contributing editor Morgan Paar is a nomadic producer, shooter and editor making documentaries worldwide.

It is ideal to work in a dark room while editing and color correcting. Glare on the monitor can alter the perceived contrast. If you prefer to work with some light, all lamps in the room should be daylight balanced. Normal household bulbs give off a yellowish tint, again altering perceived contrast. And if you really want to have the most calibrated video signal on your block, paint the walls of your editing room a neutral gray.