editing preview using lcd television
 

Does anyone use an lcd television for preview when editing? I use my ntsc television currently to preview my editing work. I want to buy a 15" lcd television and use that for preview. Does anyone have any input on the subject? I do not do broadcast work or web work, I edit video for view on dvds 90% of the time if that helps..

I use an 26" HDTV for previews, watching finished videos and watching raw footage from my camcorder. I have a separate monitor for main computer use.

My needs are more for viewing video than for viewing computer text or computer video files. This was an important difference for me to realize. Reading a ton of posts on the various discussion boards what I found was people using an HDTV stated computer text and images didn't look as good as on a computer monitor. People using an LCD computer monitor complained about aspect ratios, image quality, and sharpness when viewing from a cable box, setop DVD player and camcorder.

With that information I decided to buy an LCD HDTV instead of a computer monitor. It's connected to the 2nd DVI output on my video card with a DVI to HDMI cable. My camcorders are connected to the component inputs. If the TV had a 2nd HDMI I would have used that. Each input was adjusted for picture quality and matched to look as similar as possible. The camcorder connections inputs were not adjusted much. The PC DVI/HDMI required more. This makes sense since after all I am using a TV as a computer monitor.

Video from my HD camcorder looks stunning. It's like looking through a window. Previews from Vegas look just as good, but their is a little stutter due to how Vegas handles previews.

So, sorry for the long reply, but I spent a lot of time deciding and I figured I share my experiences. I would suggest getting something bigger than 15", especially if you are or plan to use an HD camcorder.

Currently I am using a 13" color tv for viewing my output of my edited work. I use two 17" crt monitors for editing. I just want something that will not weigh as much and be so bulky. The cost is another factor.

Not sure what price you have in mind. My Sony 26" HDTV LCD cost $724.

Their is a post floating around somewhere, someone was having problems finding a small LCD display that looked good. I believe he took his HD camcorder into a Best Buy store and connected to many different LCD computer monitors and HDTV's. I think he stated he couldn't find a display that looked good until he got over 24".

I am not using an hd camcorder. My setup is this, edit on two crts and outputs connect to tv. Would taking my camcorder into Bestbuy and hooking it up to an HD tv give me an idea of what looks good? I guess it is worth a try. That would beat buying one and not liking it.

I assume you preview by passing signals through your camcorder ? If so I think it will be worthwhile to bring you camcorder to the store. It should answer any questions you have about how things will look and according the the other poster, the smaller LCD displays vary greatly in their picture quality.

By the way, my Sony is last year's model, the 26S2000. According to what I could find, the only difference between it and this years 26S2010 is the color, silver vs. black. Not many places still have the S2000 TV's. I got mine at B&H.

Good luck in your search, and I'd be interested to hear what you find.

Are you working in 4:3 or 16:9? If it's primarily 4:3 then you may find that a widescreen LCD panel doesn't look so great. For that matter, many of the 16:9 LCD panels don't look so great with standard definition widescreen footage. I have a 3 year old Samsung 22" LCD TV with 1280x720 resolution. It looks very nice when editing 16:9 standard def DV. But I also have a 6 month old 21" Gateway 1680x1050 LCD. It looks bad with standard definition 16:9 DV, and it stretches the image out of proportion to fit its native 16:10 size. The problem is that the screen will need to scale the 720x480 DV to fit its native resolution. Some TV's do a better job at this than others.

So I think you will find a lot of variation and if you want to go this route it's definitely a good idea to try before you buy, or at least be able to return if you're not happy. But if you're working with 4:3 video I would question the value of going to and LCD panel. Your money might be better spent on a CRT monitor.

I do 4:3 mainly. I currently use a 13" crt television to view what I am currently editing on my computer. I use it to see what my edited work will look like as it will be seen by many others on there televisions. It has been suggested by others to buy a broadcast monitor, but I do not do broadcast quality material. My primary work is edited and put on dvd. So buying an expensive broadcast monitor seems to me to be unnecessary for my work. I just thought an lcd tv is much flatter and weighs less on my desk. The crt television is bulky. I just wanted to ask first to see if anyone uses an lcd television for viewing there edited work before saving it to dvd.