Uniform Colour Variations

[c0rnedfr0g]

In the 24th Century, were there actual colour variations in the cloth, or was is it my television set or how it was filmed?

I have noticed the (pre-FC) "yellow" can vary between a flat, mustard yellow and a deep, canary gold.

Likewise, (pre-FC) "science blue" can vary between a rich, true blue and a lighter, aqua tone blue (look at Troi in TATV vs. Troi in GEN).

The "Voyager" style undershirts seem to vary between a purple-ish blue and a grey-blue (S1 DS9 Sisko esp. appears to have a more purplish-tone).

The FC style jumpsuits' shoulder area can vary between almost a navy-blue and a pale grey.

Am I seeing things? Is it the lighting? Sometimes, a single scene will have both uniforms colour variations together (Data and Geordi in GEN before Geordi is captured by Soran or Dax vs. Bashir in S1 DS9).

It seems that command Red has been fairly consistent, or at least with less-noticeable differences to me.

Anyone else notice this? Are there answers?

 

[SonicRanger]

The TNG-era blue changed a lot -- they kept changing the dye. There were drastic changes between every season -- I think comparing Seasons 2 and 4 will show the biggest contrast, just off the top of my head.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Anyone else notice this? Are there answers?

Studio lighting often changed the colours but my biggest puzzlement was the difference between taped off-air US NTSC videotapes of DS9's "Emissary" (on an Australian monitor screen) and commercial Aussie PAL versions. One showed green science uniforms, rather than TNG teal, but the other showed blue. Later US commercial versions were more teal. So it's a colour that confuses electrons.

 

[jgdst]

Anyone else notice this? Are there answers?

Studio lighting often changed the colours but my biggest puzzlement was the difference between taped off-air US NTSC videotapes of DS9's "Emissary" (on an Australian monitor screen) and commercial Aussie PAL versions. One showed green science uniforms, rather than TNG teal, but the other showed blue. Later US commercial versions were more teal. So it's a colour that confuses electrons.

I've also seen that change in colour between NTSC and PAL... weird stuff.

Some articles I've read regarding the Enteprise uniforms is that it was intended to have different shades of blue - i.e. blue for science, green/blue for medical and a whole different teal for communications. Not sure if that's supposed to be a canonical thing or just somebody picking up on the different dyes used between main cast and extras' uniforms...

The original style of uniform Major Kira wore in the first three seasons of DS9 always seems more pink in colour when worn on background characters, especially the men... is that just a psychological thing when I see it, or are the Militia uniforms a slighty different shade than Kira's?

 

[C.E. Evans]

Those undershirts in the original DS9/VOY uniforms often seemed to vary in color depending on the lighting. Sometimes they looked purple, sometimes they looked gray, sometimes even lavender. Same thing with the yokes on the FC uniforms at times...

The ENT uniforms however definitely started to fade for the main cast members as the series progressed, IMO. They were kinda a bluish-purple color at first, but then started really becoming more true blue with repeated washings. Some of the uniforms for the background extras however, still were the original bluish-purple though...

 

[ialfan]

Those undershirts in the original DS9/VOY uniforms often seemed to vary in color depending on the lighting. Sometimes they looked purple, sometimes they looked gray, sometimes even lavender. Same thing with the yokes on the FC uniforms at times...

The ENT uniforms however definitely started to fade for the main cast members as the series progressed, IMO. They were kinda a bluish-purple color at first, but then started really becoming more true blue with repeated washings. Some of the uniforms for the background extras however, still were the original bluish-purple though...

That was intentional. Starting with Season 2 they were redyed into a much better looking blue.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I've also seen that change in colour between NTSC and PAL... weird stuff.

That has alot... errrr... well, EVERYTHING to do with the technical differences between NTSC and PAL as far as the color signal goes. It's not surprise that TV engineers have referred to NTSC as "Never Twice the Same Color" and PAL as "Perfect At Last".

 

[Johnny]

isn't there compression in PAL television signals, especially in chromenance?
something about not tranmitting the green, and it being calculated in the circuitry at the other end, to lower bandwidth.
Also (and all this is about non digital tv's) the analogue tv signal was never allowed to reach pure white, otherwise the program was dropped. I'm not sure what the reason was behind that, but it's well likely to have affected the colour.

 

[Trekwatcher]

This is due to a variety of factors. On the one had, Christie's and IAW have made clear that the outfits from all the shows came in slightly different shades from the costumers. The costumes were made over a period of many years, so some variations are to be expected. Anyone who has seen the costumes up close can tell you that there are subtle differences in color, even for two of the same type of uniform from a given show or movie. Second, the costumes were washed every day, and tended to fade at slightly different rates. Third, lighting adjustments on the set made the uniforms look different. Fourth, individual TV settings can affect how the uniforms look.

 

[Jon1701]

You have to put most of it down to lighting.

Check out this shot from Final Mission (season 4 TNG)

http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x09/finalmission005.jpg

And compare it to this shot from The Wounded (just three episodes later)

http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x12/thewounded225.jpg


Huge difference in colour balance. I'm sure fabric & washing etc plays a factor, but a lot of it is lighting.

 

[Kadratis]

I had heard it was due to the combination of lighting and the post-production color correction that was done on the film after it was finished.