Anyway to shoot on 16.9 and previewing in 4.3?
 

Can i shot with a xl2 in 16:9 but preview the image in a Standard monitor without the image squeezed?

The problem i think i will have is that i usually attach a sony glasstron to the cameras, but if i shot in anamorphic i will see everything squeezed? Anyone to fix this in the XL2? Can i get an image as in the viewfinder of the xl2 with the tipicall black bars?

Unfortunately there is no way to control the 16:9 output from the XL2 -- it is always anamorphic. If you don't use a 16:9 monitor, then you'll need a 4:3 monitor which can detect 16:9 and automatically add the letterbox matte.

We use a 27" Sony 4:3 television. It has a manual setting that can take an anamorphic image from a converter/camera and turn it into widescreen without loosing resolution. Theses TVs are getting very cheep, and they allow standard firewire converters to feed anamorphic 720X480 images without any stuttering or slowdown. When compared to other viable options, this is the cheapest.

Setup of these TVs is easy as well. There is a tutorial somewhere on the web that walks you systematically through the process of picture adjustment.

Yes, a field monitor has a swicht button for going from 16.9 to 4.3.

But I´m afraid i cannot do that with the glasstron.

I'm at work right now so I cant remember the specifics model but I bought a toshiba 12 or 13 inch TV from Best Buy ....and it's got a "16:9" button on the remote that will allow you to view the XL2 16:9 image... letterboxed on the TV ...it's awesome ...i've used it out in the field ..and in the studio ..works great ...the TV was around 130 dollars.



j.

<<<-- Originally posted by John Wheeler : I'm at work right now so I cant remember the specifics model but I bought a toshiba 12 or 13 inch TV from Best Buy ....and it's got a "16:9" button on the remote that will allow you to view the XL2 16:9 image... letterboxed on the TV ...it's awesome ...i've used it out in the field ..and in the studio ..works great ...the TV was around 130 dollars.



j. -->>>

I'm guessing this it it?


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....4&type=product

It's on sale for $129.00. A great deal for what it is. But how is the image quality? I have a 20" Sony Wega that has this feature but that is too big to take on a small shoot. I am not real pleased with the quality of the image compared to a production monitor and the Toshiba 14" probably isn't any better. But who knows. I may have to go check it out!

For $130, that should be considered practically disposable... a cheap field monitor, will help you get focus and frame, and if it breaks, it won't break you. I wouldn't worry about image quality for that kind of inexpensive pricetag.

Unfortunately none of these suggestions really address Miguel's question of how to make this work with his existing screen.

The only thing which comes to mind is that you should be able to use "service mode" on your Sony TV to squash the image into the correct proportion. I have done this with a 4:3 Sony consumer TV and it does work, however once you make the adjustment then everything on your TV will be squashed into a 16:9 letterbox until you go back into service mode and restore the defaults.

Have a look at the following links, but be sure to read all the disclaimers. If you follow the instructions you should be OK, but there is always a chance you could permanently damage your TV, so proceed at your own risk!

Entering service mode: http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/how2adj.html#5.1

Anamorphic squeeze: http://gregl.net/videophile/16x9on4x3.htm

Thanks for your answers. There are two problems here:
- you are talking about buying a standard tv. That is not possible since they cannot work with batteries.
- now, i think you all now what sony glasstron are.
Here they are:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/hccreviews/Accessories/Sony/SonyGlasstron.jpg

So, any way to "squeeze" the video signal?

I looked into this a few months ago and believe it or not there are a few companies that make little converter boxes that take svhs in 4x3 and spit out svhs 16x9. However these little converters were between $600-$1200 dollars. If price is not an issue I can try to dig up the links. Apparently the market for these is big industrial video production houses that will throw that kind of cash at adapters and converters without batting an eye.

For that much money you can buy a small field monitor with 16x9 built in.

FWIW

<<<-- Originally posted by Miguel Lopez : now, i think you all now what sony glasstron are. -->>>

Oh, OK... never saw one of those before. In that case I'd agree with the others, go out and buy some sort of battery powered monitor that supports 16:9. We have several other threads going about portable LCD monitors which do this.