# Black glare in black and white footage

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-glare-in-black-and-white-footage/174312>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 10, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-glare-in-black-and-white-footage/174312 "2003-05-10T13:10:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-glare-in-black-and-white-footage/174312/1 "2003-05-10T13:10:16Z")

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I’ve noticed that in old black-and-white footage of people performing music onstage, when the spotlight hits a reflective part of an instrument, the resulting glare often appears black. What’s up with that? Is there some kind of solarization thing going on?

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-glare-in-black-and-white-footage/174312/2 "2003-05-11T20:58:18Z")

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This sounds to me like a problem with old TV cameras (even if the show was then recorded off a scope onto film). The camera gets oversaturated by the light and you got a black blotch.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-glare-in-black-and-white-footage/174312/3 "2003-05-11T23:12:06Z")

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That’s probably it – old TV cameras “went blind” for a few seconds if there was too much glare.