Color Correction 101

In my other life, I'm an editor who does plenty of color correction. So regarding whether or not Clinton's campaign made Obama's skin blacker in this television ad, it's clear that the blacks have been crushed in the image (as evidenced by the blacker suit and hair).

Now, it's really a judgment call on the part of the editor on what the "right" image is. There is a waveform monitor typically used to measure black levels (that level is supposed to "sit" on a particular line for the image to be correct), but I would argue that the lighter broadcast videos of the debate are a touch washed out. Also, commercials sometimes use a different standard and the blacks are often crushed more than in broadcast. AND, sometimes shots are so tough to calibrate that a properly color corrected image often looks worse than one that is un-corrected.

The image has absolutely been manipulated. However, this could easily be a bad color correction done quickly. I will also say that it's notoriously difficult to color correct footage of African Americans. That usually has to do with skin color, not black levels, however.

I'm not going to impute bad motives to the Clinton campaign on this one - yet.