Getting 1080i CRT Monitor working with G5
 

I bought a JVC DT-V1700CG 17" studio monitor to go with my FX1. It works great and I am very pleased, those of you who only view footage on the camera LCD screen really need to connect with something like this to truly see your footage.

Anyways, I recently picked up a dual 2.5 G5 and iMovie HD. I love being finally able to edit my HDV footage in native software, but iMovie is so horribly remedial compared to what we used before (avid, lol).

Anyways, right now I do not have a direct connection to the monitor from the computer (video card) itself.

This works for capturing footage, but right now in editing it renders the monitor useless, obviously :(

Anyways I was wondering if anyone knew the proper way to connect and sync my normal apple monitor and my studio monitor. The G5 I bought has a 5200 Ultra (The lowest card Apple offered standard at the time, and with a lot of complaints I heard)

any help would be much appreciated.

:)

Normally you use your camera or (H)DV deck to convert the signal
from the computer to analog. This is how it works in DV and I
assume/hope this works with HDV as well. You connect the camera
through firewire (as with a capture), switch it into VCR mode and
connect the monitor through the analog out of the camera. Then
you've got to enable iMovie/FCP to output the preview through
the camera (I have no idea how to do this on that platform since
I'm PC based).

You will need a HD card (Decklink HD) for that.

You can not use the camera for monitoring. That would require that all footage would be recompressed from AIC to MPEG 2 in real time.

wow....

decklink hd = $995

SDI expansion card for my monitor = $3600

......




I guess that is the professional-all-the-way option, but after already spneding several thousand dollars, i wonder if there is anything I can do in the meantime, there are so many things I need to buy right now it makes my hair fall out.

These are professional monitors and they do not offer any kind of DVI in I believe.

What I was wondering is if there is some kind of box to go from DVI to Component or similar?

wishful thinking, I guess =/

any help appreciated, thanks guys =]

There is no graceful solution.

ATI has a component adapter, but it does not work on Macs.

You could transcode the VGA output to component (less than $200), but then you would have sync issues. With the ultility SwitchResX you could create a custom resolution and I've heard that certain timings with a 540p signal will work on a 1080i monitor.

like I said, there is no graceful solution. 720p is much easier than 1080i

kinda bringing this back from the dead...

ok, so I find a decklink hd card for $590, a little easier to swallow.

The SDI expansion card (retail: $3600) for my monitor still isnt, however.

What I was wondering is can I sync my monitor properly with some kind of SDI to component adapter? I already have a component/RGB card for this monitor.

Also, is it wise to buy a decklink card now? Right now I am using imovie to import/export while editing in FCP 4.5...not the most graceful or native solution.

Should I wait until FCP 5 (Full Native HDV support) before I "invest" in one of these cards?

I would recomend you at least wait until NAB. I feel that this year is gonna be HDV year, with lots of goodies for HDV production.

yeah, things would have been much easier if i decided to buy all this equipment in 2006/7, but alas...

anyways, i might just end up waiting for NAB to purchase this stuff. Does anyone know if an SDI to component will work for editing in FCP?

What kind of quality loss am I looking at by converting the signal so?