External monitor on 7D consumes camera battery? at DVinfo.net

Urban Skargren · September 2nd, 2011, 06:12 AM

I was using an external Lilliput monitor with the 7D for the first time and I noticed the camera battery were consumed much faster than normal. Is that normal? The monitor has its own battery! Does the HDMI signal in itself consume energy from the camera?

Chris Barcellos · September 2nd, 2011, 10:57 AM

My thought is that it probably requires the camera chips to perform additional or different encoding than what is going to LCD, once the HDMI port is activated, so why wouldn't you expect a different battery usage. I had never considered that with my 5D, but now that you mention it, I do seem to see faster batter exhaustion when I am plugged into my Marshall monitor.

Zhong Cheung · September 3rd, 2011, 03:09 AM

I've had the complete opposite experience. I use a 7D and Lilliput monitor with its own external battery all the time. The Canon battery now lasts MUCH MUCH longer because the 7D's own LCD screen is off, passing the signal into the Lilliput LCD which is powered by its own separate battery.

The one time I used the 7D without the Lilliput, I noticed the Canon battery drained so fast. I smoked through my Canon battery stash so fast that day and had to recharge four Canon batteries just to have enough juice to run through the day.

September 2nd, 2011, 06:12 AM	#1
Urban Skargren Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Medellin, Colombia Posts: 225	External monitor on 7D consumes camera battery? I was using an external Lilliput monitor with the 7D for the first time and I noticed the camera battery were consumed much faster than normal. Is that normal? The monitor has its own battery! Does the HDMI signal in itself consume energy from the camera?

September 2nd, 2011, 10:57 AM	#2
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Re: External monitor on 7D consumes camera battery? My thought is that it probably requires the camera chips to perform additional or different encoding than what is going to LCD, once the HDMI port is activated, so why wouldn't you expect a different battery usage. I had never considered that with my 5D, but now that you mention it, I do seem to see faster batter exhaustion when I am plugged into my Marshall monitor. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

September 3rd, 2011, 03:09 AM	#3
Zhong Cheung Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: North Hollywood, CA Posts: 202	Re: External monitor on 7D consumes camera battery? I've had the complete opposite experience. I use a 7D and Lilliput monitor with its own external battery all the time. The Canon battery now lasts MUCH MUCH longer because the 7D's own LCD screen is off, passing the signal into the Lilliput LCD which is powered by its own separate battery. The one time I used the 7D without the Lilliput, I noticed the Canon battery drained so fast. I smoked through my Canon battery stash so fast that day and had to recharge four Canon batteries just to have enough juice to run through the day.