The field of menu design traces its roots to the world of computer-based interactive multimedia. But the specific requirements of the DVD-Video format are largely defined by the rules of television. When the RGB world of computer graphics meets the reality of NTSC video, there's often a bit of a learning curve on both sides.
One big difference is that computer monitors display images all the way out to their edges, while the outer 5-10 percent (horizontal and vertical) of an image may be lost on an NTSC monitor. So for menus to look right on set-top DVD players, the titling and menu items need to be positioned well within the NTSC "safe area."
NTSC video also has a smaller range of safe colors. "Stay away from bright yellows and reds," says Matt Grady of Video Transfer, "because they cause pixel shifts and breakup. Menu graphics should be saved with RGB saturation values lower than 240 [out of 255]."
Chris Ammen of TVA is more conservative, advising saturation of not more than 75 percent. He also suggests that "detail should be carried in the gray scale, not between two colors with the same luminance value, such as dark red text over a blue background."
Ammen also points out that the pixels on computer monitors are square, while video uses rectangular pixels. "Create your graphics at 720 x 540," he says, "then scale them to 720 x 480. If you create them at 720 x 480, your circles will be squished when you look at them on a video monitor."
