Looking to buy a HDTV and/or NTSC monitor for editing - help!
 

Hey HDV'ers,

I have a 23" inch Apple Cinema, but no external monitor to check out my footage. It's been a pain, and I just came across $250 of Sears credit that I can use. (my regular television died, and they gave me $250 towards a new television that I really don't need.)

Anyway!! My question is - at Sears they sell HDTV's for about $600 and up. Should I not bother and get a NTSC monitor or go for an HDTV monitor? Who uses an HDTV montior to check their footage?? When I edited on NTSC non-linears we always used NTSC monitors.

Help if you can! Thanks!

Murph

Re: Looking to buy a HDTV and/or NTSC monitor for editing - help!
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Christopher C. Murphy : Hey HDV'ers,

I have a 23" inch Apple Cinema, but no external monitor to check out my footage. It's been a pain, and I just came across $250 of Sears credit that I can use. (my regular television died, and they gave me $250 towards a new television that I really don't need.)

Anyway!! My question is - at Sears they sell HDTV's for about $600 and up. Should I not bother and get a NTSC monitor or go for an HDTV monitor? Who uses an HDTV montior to check their footage?? When I edited on NTSC non-linears we always used NTSC monitors.

Help if you can! Thanks!

Murph -->>>

Whatever choice you make, be certain beyond any doubt, that the resolution your display device offers is high enough to show the 1280 X 720p image.

In the TV's case, that means nothing that's 'HDTV capable' cause they're not. They're just WS digital TVs.....100hz refresh is essential for true HDTVs. Some people prefer projection to CRT, and plasmas don't appear to curry much favour.

It's your decision, but as you already have the 23" Apple Cinema, which should be fine as a monitor during editing, why not go the HDTV route to view the final product. If you want to know how your production will look and feel for your target audience, then nothing else would give you the same insight into the impact your work with the HD10 will have......just my 2 cents worth.

I'm working with high quality anamorphic DV, not HD, but my monitor can handle it. I use a 17" Sony 16:9 LCD screen that has component, s-video, composite and VGA inputs. Native resolution is 1280x768. The image really looks pretty nice, but it isn't a broadcast monitor. It does overscan with SD video however, and I'll bet all the consumer HD monitor/receivers will do that also. I guess if you were going in the VGA port that wouldn't be a problem. I noticed a similar screen from Sharp the other day also, cost is around your $600 ballpark. No idea if Sears handles this sort of thing though.

"Is that a real poncho, or is that a Sears poncho?" -- Frank Zappa

Thanks guys....that's great advice! Exactly what I was hoping to get. :)

Murph

First, your 23" Cinema Display is going to be better and give a more accurate picture than 99% of the LCD or Plasma displays in the store. That display rocks.

If you are looking for an HDTV monitor that will also give you an accurate sense of what the output will look out on most TV's, I would suggest an HDTV CRT/Tube TV with a flat screen, such as Samsung's 26" HDTV for around $600 or $700. It even has a DVI input (as well as component). You can go up to 30" for less than $1,000.00 with these. Unfortunately they are HUGE (100 lbs).

I would avoid Plasma's or LCD TV's, especially given you already have a 23" Cinema Display.

If you want to see (and possibly show off) the real capabilities of your HDTV content, and you don't want to kill your budget, I would highly suggest a home theater digital projector. In a room with low ambient light it will reproduce a more accurate and obviously much larger picture than any plasma or rear projection TV, and for much less money (than a plasma at least).

For example, the Sanyo PLV-Z2 ($1,700.00 street price) is a native 720p home theater projector easily capable of producing a very nice 100" HD picture.

If you show a potential client DV footage on this 100" screen and then show him your HD10 footage on the same screen, the difference is like night and day. The true beauty of HD is not apparent until you start talking really big screens like this.

You can sit this thing on the coffee table (or keep it in the closet), shine it on a white or grey wall, and you have instant 100" screen. It only weighs 9 lbs, so it is portable as well (you can take your HD10, your HDV tapes, and your projector with you and you have a portable screening room).

Hope this helps.

FYI, for reviews of home theater projectors as well as a list of the "top 5" home theater projectors in various price categories, check out:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-multimedia-projectors.htm

We used their website a ton when researching HDTV projectors a year ago.

Ben

By the way, here is a link to a review of the Sanyo PLV-Z2:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/sanyo_plv_z2.htm

I want one :)

Ben

Thanks guys, I'm going to check out all the televisions now.

Murph