How to Display High-Quality Full-screen Video in Final Cut Pro [u]

[ UPDATE Aug. 11, 2023. When I first wrote this tutorial I explained how to display the correct color space on a monitor. Except… I was wrong. I removed that section and replaced it with a link to an article that provides correct instructions.]

This tutorial shows three different ways to display video full-screen in Apple Final Cut Pro. The first uses a single monitor, the second uses two monitors, while the third connects two or three monitors to provide the most accurate color and image quality.

In the old days, if we wanted to monitor our video to see exactly what it would look like for color grading, we needed to buy an external video monitor. While video monitors are still necessary for HDR media, there are now computer monitors which will work very well as a grading monitor for SD and HD media.

A SIMPLE TRICK FOR SINGLE MONITORS

If all you have is the single monitor attached to your computer, you are not out of luck.

In the lower right corner of the Viewer is an icon with two arrows (see screen shot above). Click this to enlarge the Viewer to fill the frame and hide the rest of the interface.

Use keyboard shortcuts – like the J-K-L keys – for playback.

FULL-SCREEN SHORTCUT: Shift + Cmd + F.
To return to the interface, press ESC.

I have used this techniques for years and it works great.

A MOSTLY-SIMPLE TRICK FOR TWO MONITORS

If you have two monitors, two new icons appear in the top right corner of the FCP interface.

• Click the down chevron (right red arrow) and select Viewer.
• Then, click the overlapping monitor icon (left red arrow) to display the Viewer and video scopes on the second monitor.

Feel free to experiment with displaying the Timeline or Browser on the second monitor. Pick whichever screen layout works best for you.

• To display the video scopes, type Cmd + 7 or choose View > Show in Viewer > Video Scopes.
• To stack them vertically, uncheck the Vertical layout option in the View menu (top red arrow).
• To exit this display, click the overlapping monitors icon again.

NOTE: Click the View icon (top red arrow) to change the number and orientation of scopes on display. Drag one of the dividing lines (middle and bottom arrows) to change the size of the scopes.

UPDATE: HOW TO SET COLOR SPACE

Both these techniques work regardless of the resolution or color space accuracy of the monitor. But, if you need to trust the colors the monitor is showing, you need to set its color space and resolution.

Here’s how to accurately set the color space of a computer monitor.

HOW TO CHANGE MONITOR RESOLUTION

To use a monitor as a “Retina Display,” you need to set the monitor resolution to 1/2 its total resolution. For example, set a 4K (3840 x 2160) monitor to 1920 x 1080.

• Open Apple menu > System Settings (System Preferences on older versions of the macOS).
• Click Displays.

• Click the icon of the monitor you want to change.

• To change the monitor resolution, click the monitor icon at the top of the Display setting to select it. Then, right-click any of the text icons and choose Show List.

• From the resolutions displayed, pick the one indicated by a red arrow that equals or exceeds your project. This is important. Choosing a non-standard frame size disables full-screen display from inside an NLE. For video, there are four important horizontal resolutions:
• UHD: 3840 x 2160
• 1080: 1920 x 1080
• 1080 (vertical): 1080×1920
• 720: 1280 x 720

NOTE: 5K monitors would also support 4K (4096 x 2160) and 5K (5120 x 2700) resolutions.

ENABLE THE DISPLAY IN FINAL CUT

These last two steps are done inside Final Cut.

Go to Final Cut Pro > Settings > Playback and make sure the monitor appears in the A/V Output menu. If not, make sure the monitor is connected via HDMI or DisplayPort.

Finally, choose Window > A/V Output. When you do, the output of the Timeline will appear full screen (i.e. without video scopes) in the monitor. You’ll need to re-enable this setting each time you relaunch FCP.

NOTE: If A/V Output is gray, recheck the monitor resolution to assure that it equal to or larger than the size of your project and that it matches one of the video resolutions. Also, try changing how you connect the monitor, for example, try HDMI or DisplayPort. There are Thunderbolt to DisplayPort converter cables, which are not  very expensive.

To disable the monitor display, uncheck Window > AV Output.

SUMMARY

Is using a third monitor for video proofing essential? Well… it depends.

• If you are creating videos for social media, no, you don’t need this at all. As far as I can tell, social media has no quality standards.
• If you are creating wedding, event or memorial videos, a monitor setup like this will be helpful in assuring that your color looks their best. While not required, it is a good practice to follow.
• If you are creating media for broadcast, cable, or streaming, yes, you do. You need to guarantee to the client that the colors they see and approve on your screen are the actual colors in the video. Either using this technique or attaching a professional video monitor will be required.
• If you are editing HDR, yes, you need an external monitor – but this won’t work because it doesn’t support native HDR playback. HDR10 is a distribution format which many computer monitors support. However, HDR Rec. 2020 PQ or HLG are camera native and editing formats. They are not the same as HDR10. You’ll need a monitor specifically designed for HDR to accurately display these.

NOTE: Keep in mind that, like all video since forever, you have no control over the color quality of the consumer’s monitor. All you can do is guarantee that “it is OK leaving here.”

The good news is that using this last monitor setup provides an accurate way to monitor color for most projects without going to a lot of additional expense.

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