Menu Settings
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Scroll the menu to reveal
more Display settings.
The frame guides setting on Blackmagic Cameras lets you
display overlays on the camera's LCD and SDI/HDMI output.
Frame guides provide helpful markers so you can accurately
compose your shots for various television, online and cinema
aspect ratios, for example the popular 2.39:1 flat widescreen
ratio as shown above.
SDI/HDMI Overlays
You can monitor your video on an external display using the HDMI port on Blackmagic Pocket Cinema
Camera, or the SDI port on Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K.
The 'SDI overlay' or 'HDMI overlay' setting lets you display useful information on your monitor. Use
the arrow icons to select which overlays to display on your SDI or HDMI feed.
All: displays both frame guides and recording information.
Status: displays only the recording information, such as f-stop number, frame rate, battery life etc.
Guides: displays only the frame guides.
Off: gives you a clean feed.
You can also view guides on the camera LCD by opening the dashboard and selecting the 'frame
guides' icon.
LCD Overlay
You can turn the frame guides on or off for the LCD independently of the SDI/HDMI output. For example,
you may want to view frame guides on the LCD, but output a clean video feed over the camera's
SDI/HDMI output.
Frame Guides
You can choose from several different frame guides to display on your Blackmagic camera's LCD.
The frame guides can also be viewed on the SDI output, or the HDMI output on Blackmagic Pocket
Cinema Camera. Frame guides include aspect ratios for various cinema, television and online standards,
plus a rule of thirds composition grid. Use the 'frame guides' setting arrow icons to select your desired
frame guide.
HDTV: Displays action and title safe regions of your image within a 1.78:1 aspect ratio compatible
with 16:9 HD television and computer screens.
4:3: Displays the 4:3 aspect ratio compatible with SD television screens, or to help frame shots when
using 2x anamorphic adapters.
2.35:1, 2.39:1 and 2.40:1: Displays the broad widescreen aspect ratio compatible with anamorphic
or flat widescreen cinema presentation. The three widescreen settings differ slightly based on the
changing cinema standards over time. 2.39:1 is one of the most prominent standards in use today.
1.85:1: Displays another common flat widescreen cinema aspect ratio. This ratio is slightly wider than
HDTV 1.78:1 but not as wide as 2.39:1.
Thirds: Displays a grid with two vertical and horizontal lines placed in each third of the image.
Thirds are an extremely powerful tool to help compose your shots. For example, the human eye