Finally! External LCD Monitor Solution < $200

[Andrew Dean]

so the 820 is $165-175us. The 850, which is an identical model, but with pal instead of ntsc is over $300us. lame. anybody know of an 800x480 battery powered monitor that does ntsc and pal?

[Marty Hudzik]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Although I'm excited about having a light weight monitor, it's hard to drop $200 when you could put that into a laptop and view Firewire output. Adobe OnLocation (I think this used to be DVRack) is looking more interesting.

I have Adobe OnLocation and a laptop and for just straight up monitoring I find this to not be a good solution. There is a significant delay in the image that would make it impractical for a camera operator. For an engineer to check as it is recording maybe, but way too delayed for actually reacting to events as they happen live.

[Brent Kolitz]

Well, UPS just delivered the Sony, but unfortunately I don't have access to my camera until I get home -- all I have here to play on it is an SD wedding video and a disc of 5MP stills.

I can say I'm severely underwhelmed by the picture, and in fact I was severely underwhelmed even by the Sony intro screen that comes on before you insert a disc. I wish I had a Pixar title lying around to see the best this might be capable of...

However, I'll keep hoping that an HD signal through composite will look much better...and I'll keep in mind that if this device makes focusing easier, than I guess that's all that's being asked of it -- I don't think anyone mentioned that they couldn't take their eyes off the display because it was so stunning, but I got the impression from Jerome's intial post that this screen was decidely pretty remarkable. Maybe I just haven't fed it anything decent yet, but I assumed that the built in intro screen would at least take full advantage of its capabilities.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Brent Kolitz

I can say I'm severely underwhelmed by the picture, and in fact I was severely underwhelmed even by the Sony intro screen that comes on before you insert a disc. I wish I had a Pixar title lying around to see the best this might be capable of...

I saw these in the Sony store yesterday, and yes, I too was underwhelmed by the image. The LCD was very fuzzy and unremarkable when compared to my wife's two year-old Dell laptop with a 15" LCD. I was hoping this device would be closer to the LCD on a new Nikon D3/D300, iPhone or even the EX1. Is this due to poor interlacing or just fuzzy. If anyone is worried about whether they have a bad unit, I can say that mine as well as all three of the Sony store demos have about the same image quality. I wasn't able to check focusing with my Sony EX1 because the connection didn't work, perhaps due to my cable attachment. In any case, even the Sony DVD player's LCD is fuzzy, if this monitor helps with focusing, it's still a winner.

[Jerome Cloninger]

Originally Posted by Brent Kolitz

I can say I'm severely underwhelmed by the picture, and in fact I was severely underwhelmed even by the Sony intro screen that comes on before you insert a disc. I wish I had a Pixar title lying around to see the best this might be capable of...

However, I'll keep hoping that an HD signal through composite will look much better...and I'll keep in mind that if this device makes focusing easier, than I guess that's all that's being asked of it -- I don't think anyone mentioned that they couldn't take their eyes off the display because it was so stunning, but I got the impression from Jerome's intial post that this screen was decidely pretty remarkable.

For a $180 Portable DVD player, I think it is remarkable. I saw some DVD that had a bunch of trailers on it at best buy right before I bought 2 of them.

Either you guys are being too picky or something is wrong.

Anyrate, yes, it will help you with focusing... I'm not defending this item "guns a blazing" but perhaps being a little too picky?

[Brent Kolitz]

Originally Posted by Jerome Cloninger

Either you guys are being too picky or something is wrong.

Anyrate, yes, it will help you with focusing... I'm not defending this item "guns a blazing" but perhaps being a little too picky?

Well, extremely preliminary testing (mediocre indoor lighting with various still objects in the room) with my camera leaves me feeling somewhat better about the picture -- particularly if you view it from a couple feet away, rather than close-up, where noise becomes more apparent.

I can't say for sure that this helps me focus any more accurately than using my viewfinder or flip-out LCD, but the size of the image does make it more comfortable.

But now my biggest issue is the 4:3 composite signal put out by my JVC HD200 -- so I'm not even using all of the Sony's screen real estate. And choosing the "Full" option on the Sony is no good, since that mode really looks pretty poor (not to mention that circles become ovals, etc.). It would be better if this thing weren't widescreen.

So going component out to a high quality ~7-8 inch LCD sounds better and better....except for the price.

[Jerome Cloninger]

Originally Posted by Brent Kolitz

But now my biggest issue is the 4:3 composite signal put out by my JVC HD200 -- so I'm not even using all of the Sony's screen real estate. And choosing the "Full" option on the Sony is no good, since that mode really looks pretty poor (not to mention that circles become ovals, etc.). It would be better if this thing weren't widescreen.

So going component out to a high quality ~7-8 inch LCD sounds better and better....except for the price.

So you are shooting 4:3 square on a nice HD camera?

If not, then have a look in your camera's menu and see what you can change about it. Aspect ratio or whatever. If circles become ovals, then it leaves me to think you are shooting 4:3 square.

[Brent Kolitz]

Originally Posted by Jerome Cloninger

So you are shooting 4:3 square on a nice HD camera?

If not, then have a look in your camera's menu and see what you can change about it. Aspect ratio or whatever. If circles become ovals, then it leaves me to think you are shooting 4:3 square.

I'm shooting in HDV, definitely. However, while the JVC's component outputs give 16:9 HD, the composite output is giving 4:3 SD. I'm going to post on the ProHD forum to confirm this, but I recently went through all the menus in the camera, and I don't remember seeing any setting having to do with the composite output.

This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that on the JVC, both the viewfinder and flip-out LCD panels are in fact 4:3 panels, with the image area letterboxed within it. But that fact may be unrelated...

In the end, if the JVC's composite out is fixed at 4:3, then this Sony solution becomes much less worthwhile, since you can't even use the full screen, as you end up with an image that's both letterboxed and pillarboxed.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Jerome Cloninger

Either you guys are being too picky or something is wrong.

I really like this monitor suggestion. Yes, I'm a little picky because I think the monitor should be as good as that on a $100 digital picture frame. Don't you think that this is the fuzziest LCD in the entire Sony store? Surely, this device will improve as Sony adds BluRay capability and a better LCD.

I bought one, but I haven't used it yet. I hope it will help my current problem which is critical focusing with a shallow DOF 35mm converter. (Sony EX1 + RedRock M2 + Nikon 50 or 85mm f/1.4 @ f2) My current best method is to use the EX1 "peaking" features that highlights the sharpest image features in blue. I'm using a small deodorant stick as it is has flat sides and it is compact. Then, I just take the stick out of the frame.

[Brent Kolitz]

Someone on the ProHD forum just confirmed for me the JVC will only output 4:3 SD from the composite output.

So that makes the decision easy for me, and unfortunately this Sony will be taking a return trip to B&H. At least I don't have to forever wring my hands about its image quality...

Thanks though for the tip, Jerome -- the idea was definitely worth checking out...

[Jerome Cloninger]

Originally Posted by Brent Kolitz

Someone on the ProHD forum just confirmed for me the JVC will only output 4:3 SD from the composite output.

So that makes the decision easy for me, and unfortunately this Sony will be taking a return trip to B&H. At least I don't have to forever wring my hands about its image quality...

Thanks though for the tip, Jerome -- the idea was definitely worth checking out...

That sucks that camera only outputs 4:3 through composite. And did you mention earlier that the LCD and VF was also 4:3? That is really hard for me to grasp why they did that to a HD camera.

Oh well... atleast you gave it a shot.

[Jerome Cloninger]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

I really like this monitor suggestion. Yes, I'm a little picky because I think the monitor should be as good as that on a $100 digital picture frame. Don't you think that this is the fuzziest LCD in the entire Sony store? Surely, this device will improve as Sony adds BluRay capability and a better LCD.

I bought one, but I haven't used it yet. I hope it will help my current problem which is ciritical focusing on a shallow DOF 35mm converter.

I don't see any fuzziness. Really. I mean, its not as crisp as my 1080 Aquos for my computer monitor, but its better than anything in that price range and even some more expensive smaller LCDs I've seen in use for live switchers.

With the 35mm converter, it should help you out alot. Please post your findings..

[Brent Kolitz]

Originally Posted by Jerome Cloninger

That sucks that camera only outputs 4:3 through composite. And did you mention earlier that the LCD and VF was also 4:3? That is really hard for me to grasp why they did that to a HD camera.

Oh well... atleast you gave it a shot.

Jerome -- turns out my info was wrong, and the JVC can be set to output composite at 16:9, so now I just have to decide if the Sony's image is acceptable enough to me.

As far as the JVC's LCD and VF being 4:3, I can only guess they wanted to use existing parts and be cheap? It's readily acknowledged that these are great cameras, but their LCD and VF are extremely subpar in quality. The fact that they're 4:3 actually has the plus that a lot of the info display text remains in the "letterbox bars" and out of the image area. The main reason they suck is that they just don't look so great...

[Andrew Dean]

So since sony bends you over if you want pal, i was looking around at other 800x480 dvd players that are more region/format friendly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882136168

I'm not endorsing newegg or anything, just using it as a reference. Has anybody seen one of these in person? If you are at a store that has one, would you mind giving it a quick glance to see if the screen is substantially worse than the sony?

also, it looks like it should be able to fold flat on itself... but i could be mistaken.

If you come across this or a different brand of 800x480 dvd, please give it a glance and see if it looks any good/is pal happy.

thanks a ton from down under!

[Mike Stivala]

Originally Posted by Steve Sobodos

Great! My Canon can send anamorphic 16x9 composite out so it's off to Best Buy. Thanks.

Just want to clarify...
so if I"m shooting 1080 60i with my XH-A1, I can take the composite out of the camera into the composite in of this DVD player - and when I switch the DVD player to 16x9 mode I will be able to clearly view the entire frame, right?

THe composite output of the camera outputs anamorphic (when shooting in 1080 60) and the 16x9 mode on the DvD player "squishes" it to the correct aspect?

DO I have this correct??
Just want to confim, then I'm off to best buy!!!! - I got one of those gift cards too!!!

thanks