Help selecting a monitor for editing NTSC & PAL SD footage
 

I'm looking to get a fairly cheap (under $500 CDN) monitor for use while editing / colour correcting NTSC and Pal Standard-definition footage. I have a lead on a Sony PVM-1344Q for $300 USD - based on its stats, it seems like a "good enough" monitor for my purposes...is this a good price? Are there any specific monitors I should be considering?
Thanks
Ari

Sometimes used monitors develop subtle problems that affect image quality.

With age, all CRTs will lose brightness + grayscale tracking. It's not hte age that does it, but the electrons hitting the phosphors in the CRT tube. So the longer the CRT has been on, the faster the phosphors will change.

I would test the monitor before you buy. If it looks good, that should be a pretty good deal. New monitors cost a few hundred more.

Thanks for the reply Glenn - Should the absence of "16x9" support in the specs worry me at all? I have never had a problem displaying 16x9 on a 4x3 screen before, but noticed many professional monitors make a note of stating 16x9 support.

The 16x9 switch will squeeze the image until the geometry is right. It looks like letterboxing, except it's squeezing instead of cropping.

2- A monitor that old may have some image defects. I think it's 1991 era?
It may be more likely to have problems than not. i.e. public libraries tend to have a lot of old CRTs. You can see what kind of problems they have.

In any case, the thing to do would be to test the monitor.

monitor
 

If you are in Canada I recomend going to tiger direct.ca or to Staples.ca

You can get good flat screens for a good price.

If you go to staples I would buy the extended warenty, then you have in store exchange, no questions asked.


gus

Hey Gus - I didn't think either of those stores stocked screens of high enough quality for colour correction activities?