Need help with connecting a broadcast monitor to Final Cut 7
 

Hi dear interweb video professionals!

I have problems trying to connect a JVC HD broadcast monitor with DVI from my Mac Pro and Final Cut Pro 7. I'd like to use the Digital Cinema Desktop Preview-option in FCP to display my timeline on the external monitor. FCP is running on two 24" Apple Display monitors.

Everytime I go to "View - External Video - All Frames" the monitor goes black. However, if I choose "View - External Video - Show Current" it actually shows me the current frame. No matter what sequence settings I have, it's all the same problem. Screensaver is disabled, and I'm running FCP 7.0.2 on OSX 10.6.4.

The monitor shows up in OSX with the other displays, and it shows my wallpaper properly so that's not the problem.

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance....

Hey Filip

See if rearranging the monitor connections to the gfx card outputs as noted below helps:

Make sure that you JVC monitor occupies the second video output from your Mac, so that your first output goes to your first (primary) 24" Apple Display, your second output (on the same gfx card as the first output) goes to your JVC, and the third output (first output on second gfx card?) goes to your second 24" Apple Display.


Failing that, give us some more details regarding your hardware/software (what Mac, what gfx cards, what JVC monitor etc).

Also worth noting, your broadcast monitor will not be providing you with accurate monitoring from FCP if you connect it only via DVI and use the Digital Cinema Desktop output. You'll really need an I/O card such as those from Matrox, AJA, Blackmagic or Motu if you want to provide that monitor with a proper broadcast quality reference signal.

Hope it helps
Andy

Just to confirm that for Digital Cinema Desktop Preview to work correctly the monitor needs to be connected to second output on the primary graphics card which must be in the lowest PCI-e slot.

Thank you very much Andy! The JVC monitor was 3rd and when I switched it to the 2nd output it worked!
Why doesn't the Digital Cinema Desktop give me a reference signal? Would it help me to buy a Blackmagic Intensity Pro with HDMI output and a HDMI to DVI cable?

Thanks again, really appreciate the help!

No because the BM products only output YUV whereas you need RGB. Furthermore, Apple states that the DCD should not be used for anything color critical.

This issue is discussed a few times among several articles.

Hi Filip

Yes, the Blackmagic Intensity (together with an HDMI to DVI adapter) should be a good cheap option for providing your monitor with a broadcast quality output from your FCP system. Far better than your current setup. Allan Tepper's articles are superb, but the primary focus within is regarding providing an RGB signal to a HP DreamColor display (which is in essence a computer/graphics monitor, not a broadcast video monitor designed specifically for the task, and which requires RGB progressive for optimal use ie for the DreamColor engine to work). That said, without knowing what specific monitor you are using its difficult to be sure that your monitor does not have similar restrictions when driven from its DVI input.

Cheers
Andy

Okey, thank you for your time. I'll read the article right away!

The reason I said 'RGB' is that a true video signal is RGB which is what you get when using a professional I/O device such as the Kona. Furthermore, I don't see any reason NOT to describe the Dreamcolor as a broadcast monitor.

Hey Steve

My intention is solely to offer good real world advice to our poster ... yes, a 4:4:4 RGB signal may technically be the second coming or as close as many will get to it, but 10 bit 4:2:2 Y'Cr'Cb' is not suddenly a waste of space for video professionals. Filip is mistakenly trying to get a broadcast quality output to his HD monitor using Apple's DCD function, we both know that's not going to work as it's just a preview quality image on steroids ... but given his apparent needs and equipment to hand, a relatively inexpensive Blackmagic Intensity card certainly will allow him to send an excellent broadcast quality image to his existing monitor for reference evaluation. I guess my argument is that whilst the DreamColor display does indeed "need" RGB to function optimally, a true broadcast HD video monitor (ie a monitor that is built specifically for that task) does not necessarily "need" RGB at all, as it is likely designed to work with a regular SMPTE standard Y'Cr'Cb' input.

Hope that clarifies my post

Regards
Andy

Ps FWIW I'm a big big fan of the both DreamColor display (I want one) and Allan Tepper's articles, am certainly not intending to cast aspersions on either (or yourself)!