Field Monitor for your FX1/Z1U.... at DVinfo.net

Shannon Rawls · March 25th, 2005, 10:42 PM

OK...I'd like to have real HD field monitors when shooting on set with Sony HDV cameras. I want this not only for the director to use for composing his shot or for the Script Supervisor to monitor continuity or for looky-loos to have something to smile at each take, but for the Cinematographer to be able to correctly light and paint the picture as well.

Am I about to buy one? NO.

OK....so until I get one I had been using a pair of 9" DVD/TV combo Flat 12V portable Televisions from Orion. They have been extremely useful for video village. However....the screen size was a tad bit small for the amount of people who hung out in the village on my sets. I mean they are cool for personal use for a single shooter or for a DP to have near the camera, but for an area with 6 people minimum watching the screens??...naaaaaaa. I originally used 13" VHS/TV combos (we used the vcr for playback) and the screen size was perfect, but since I went 9"....too small. However, the 9" DVD combo's were perfect because the picture was better/clearer then the old 13" VHS combo's I had. I guess its because DVD's required a better image, so the manufacturers had to put in some better electronics....

OK, so now I want to go back to 13" screen size. But before I buy a pair of 13" DVD/TV combo's, I was looking around at some flat panel options. SInce the DVD players on the DVD/TV combos are basically useless (and I'd only buy them because its a better picture on those then a 13" VHS/TV combo) then someone tell me....

do you think something like this would be equal or BETTER then sticking with a "Tube Type" television....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

c'mon DVINFO family, help a brutha out....

- ShannonRawls.com

Douglas Spotted Eagle · March 25th, 2005, 10:53 PM

Shannon,
Wait til after NAB....I'd love to say more but you know how I am.
:-)
You gonna be there, right?

Shannon Rawls · March 25th, 2005, 11:10 PM

NAB???????????????

ahh man...

check your email Spot! hahahaha

__________________

How about this one guys? for a good SD field monitor:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...762439507&rd=1

and it's 12V DC & NTSC/PAL Switchable!!!!!

I was thinking of building them into a lightweight box side by side with convienent plugs on the side of the housing and mounting them on a C-Stand.

- ShannonRawls.com

Eric James · March 26th, 2005, 09:43 AM

For my field moniter I use a samsung 997df so I can see all 2073600 pixels from the HDV cam. I use a componet to VGA transcoder to get it into the display. The colors are not perfect but it is much much better than an SD display. The best part? This set-up only costs $200!

I've been shooting all week on a feature that I'm DPing with this set-up and it helped out quite a bit. There are some scenes where we didn't use the moniter and it was much much harder for me to paint the scene by looking in the LCD.

My 2 c,
Eric James

Kurth Bousman · March 26th, 2005, 09:50 AM

Shannon - I think you'd want an interlaced widescreen crt. The Z1 will probably shine more if the monitor is interlace vs. a prog lcd solution. Samsung makes a real nice 16:9 26" for about $700 ( and toshiba makes another cheap 16:9 crt ) both native 1080i. If you want a small, cheap lcd solution , I'd look also to samsung. I know that samsung has a combi dvdplayer/ 12" 16:9 lcd for about 5 bills - it just might have component in but is probably only 480 res. Otherwise . the lcd solution might be the HP 23" hd monitor that goes for about 15 bills( I believe it has dvi , s video and component ) or a cheaper 17" 16:9 samsung ( 7 bills ) .Since it's for a studio , I'd go with the 26"samsung if you're not lugging the beast around to exotic locations. take care - kurth

Shannon Rawls · March 29th, 2005, 10:37 PM

I went with a single Dell W1900 widescreen 16:9 LCD 1280x768 HD monitor to use on set. I will retrofit it to mount on a C-Stand.

Why did I choose this method.... Because it uses PIP/POP/PBP. This way, in case we do a dual camera shoot (like I frequently do) we can tap both cameras into this single monitor and have both pictures side-by-side of eachother because the screen is so wide! When using a single camera setup...I got a nice wide anamorphic field monitor for the director to use when framing & composing his shot.

Not to mention, it's light (16lbs), it's HD, it's component in, and it looks cool as f**k!

It should be here Friday....just in time for a short film we are doing called "Smashing Stereotypes"

*smile*

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs

- ShannonRawls.com

Ben Buie · March 30th, 2005, 01:32 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Shannon Rawls : I went with a single Dell W1900 widescreen 16:9 LCD 1280x768 HD monitor to use on set. I will retrofit it to mount on a C-Stand.
- ShannonRawls.com -->>>

Looks like a solid choice, way to think outside the box man.

For someone on more of a budget who still wants an LCD field monitor, the Envision E17W221 is not a bad little setup. 17" widescreen, component in (480p, 720p, 1080i), 13 lbs, VESA mount, can be found for $350.00 on-line. Gets good ratings and is dirt cheap.

Ben

Christopher C. Murphy · March 30th, 2005, 06:56 AM

Both of those units looks cool. When you guys get them up and running a short review would be great. I'm in the market very soon myself...

Thanks doods!

Kurth Bousman · March 30th, 2005, 10:43 AM

yeh Shannon , I double that . I'd love to hear how the z1 looks direct into a new widescreen lcd. Congrats on owning another tool/toy. - Kurth

Tommy Haupfear · March 30th, 2005, 12:42 PM

I'm still kinda iffy on a 720p LCD (or any LCD for that matter) for an interlaced cam. I'm aiming for the Samsung 26" 1080i CRT with their new SDI Vixslim technology for reduced depth. There is something to be said about the black levels of a traditional tube.

Shannon Rawls · March 30th, 2005, 05:23 PM

Ok, no problem. I'll report NOW instead of later, cause I've already tested it out for an hour! *smile*

Tommy.... an "i' camera on a "p" monitor...ummm...I dunno how it works or why it works....all I know is that it works and it LOOKS GOOD. I went to the DELL OUTLET store in the Westside Pavillion in Beverly Hills yesterday. The salesman was like "SURE, plug your camera on up buddy". We did, I tried it with Composite AND Component connections. It was gorgeous. I compared what I seen on the dell monitor to what the flipout LCD had and they were like brothers & sisters. The DELL was much crisper and cleaner...couldnt see any grids or pixels like I do camera LCD's, but otherwise, very much the same as far as colors and framing. So I am happy to know that a DP can easily color-correct & a director can easily compose his shot using this HD monitor. The native widescreen matched perfectly to the DELL, and the DELL even had "OVERSCAN" mode, effectively called "Standard". When the DELL is in "WIDE" mode, it is basic 16:9 and the frame matches that in the cameras viewfinder and the flip out lcd. but when the DELL is in "STANDARD" it overscans the image, and shows that 'extra' stuff on the outsides. When the camers is in OVERSCAN, they match. When I was plugged up using the components, the picture was clear as a glass of water, it was a trip looking at the soft baby hairs on the face of women walking out of the Robinsons-May store. LOL When plugged up using RCA composite jacks...it wasn't nearly as clear, but I would have been satisfied had I never seen the components. Basically, I only knew it could get better after seeing better, otherwise, BNC/RCA would have been fine for my purposes.

Picking up the DELL was great because it's very light compared to other field monitors I'm used to, like those big bulky sony monsters that always seem to almost fall off of whatever they are sitting on because some PA bumped it "Nice Save!" we always scream whe someone catches it before it slams to the floor. Not to mention, it's picture seems better to me anyhow, so I SURELY cant see myself buying a so-called 'broadcast field monitor" after witnessing this DELL. And hell, itss lighter then the 13" VCR/TV combo's I used to lug around, and the besture is 10x's better! The Picture-By-Picture feature is the BEST! I can plug up two cameras and monitor them on one widescreen DELL unit. Most likely I will use the Picture-IN-picture feature and have Camera "A" as the master image and have Camera "B" as a smaller image in the upper right hand corner....just to make sure that the B-Camera operator isn't shooting stupid stuf when he should be getting reactions and other B-roll footage.

I will be making a sunshade for this monitor so when shooting outside, I have no sun-glare. I'm also mounting it to a C-stand with wheels or some other type of collapsable stand that will fit in the trunk of a car. I looked at the Envision mnitors that Ben showed us, and while it's cool I liked the DELL becuase it is pure black, which makes a good color for on-set gear, it's 2-inches bigger, it has Picture-BY-Picture AND Picture-OUTSIDE-Picture which is important to me, and DELL stands by their stuff, so I have a little more peace of mind.

OH ..... and did I mention....when not out shooting a movie...I now have a 19" widescreen HD monitor to watch TV at home? I think I'm going to get a wall mount and putting it in the kitchen for my wife to have a TV when cooking. WHen shooting, I'll just snap it off the wall, slap it on a C-Stand, and go to work. *smile*

When it comes, I will take some pictures of it mounted to the retrofitted stand with my Z1 & my DVX100a plugged into it using the PIP/PBP/POP features. Those features alone were the biggest convincing factor for me.

OH... and it's NTSC "AND" PAL compatible, so if i want to slap my Z1 in 50i or CF25...NO PROBLEM! *CHEESE*

- ShannonRawls.com

Kurth Bousman · March 30th, 2005, 05:50 PM

..and it's $150 off - at 7 bills for a 19", that's pretty good .How could one run an lcd off auxiliary power? I mean , if it was REALLY portable, that'd be cool. I'll look forward to seeing the pics. thanks

Tommy Haupfear · March 30th, 2005, 06:28 PM

Another vote for the pics when you get your monitor in.

My cousin just picked up the Dell 2405fpw LCD and this sounds like a good time to pay a visit and see just how good it looks with my FX1. The 2405fpw is a 24" LCD with 1080p resolution (1920x1200) and can be had for under $900.

I still think I want a CRT for the house but I am tempted to go LCD for the field. LCDs look really great unless you have them right beside a properly calibrated CRT. Color accuracy and black levels are best with tubes but LCDs continue to improve.

Ed Szarleta · March 30th, 2005, 10:44 PM

Tommy, you show me where you can get that Dell for under $900. It's $1199 and was just released.

Tommy Haupfear · March 30th, 2005, 11:09 PM

Ed, it appears the deal (from fatwallet.com) was earlier this month and I see that Dell has since moved the price back to $1199. Try doing a Google on "2405fpw $860"

March 25th, 2005, 10:42 PM	#1
Shannon Rawls Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 853	Field Monitor for your FX1/Z1U.... OK...I'd like to have real HD field monitors when shooting on set with Sony HDV cameras. I want this not only for the director to use for composing his shot or for the Script Supervisor to monitor continuity or for looky-loos to have something to smile at each take, but for the Cinematographer to be able to correctly light and paint the picture as well. Am I about to buy one? NO. OK....so until I get one I had been using a pair of 9" DVD/TV combo Flat 12V portable Televisions from Orion. They have been extremely useful for video village. However....the screen size was a tad bit small for the amount of people who hung out in the village on my sets. I mean they are cool for personal use for a single shooter or for a DP to have near the camera, but for an area with 6 people minimum watching the screens??...naaaaaaa. I originally used 13" VHS/TV combos (we used the vcr for playback) and the screen size was perfect, but since I went 9"....too small. However, the 9" DVD combo's were perfect because the picture was better/clearer then the old 13" VHS combo's I had. I guess its because DVD's required a better image, so the manufacturers had to put in some better electronics.... OK, so now I want to go back to 13" screen size. But before I buy a pair of 13" DVD/TV combo's, I was looking around at some flat panel options. SInce the DVD players on the DVD/TV combos are basically useless (and I'd only buy them because its a better picture on those then a 13" VHS/TV combo) then someone tell me.... do you think something like this would be equal or BETTER then sticking with a "Tube Type" television.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW c'mon DVINFO family, help a brutha out.... - ShannonRawls.com

March 25th, 2005, 10:53 PM	#2
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Shannon, Wait til after NAB....I'd love to say more but you know how I am. :-) You gonna be there, right? __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

March 30th, 2005, 01:32 AM	#7
Ben Buie Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 184	<<<-- Originally posted by Shannon Rawls : I went with a single Dell W1900 widescreen 16:9 LCD 1280x768 HD monitor to use on set. I will retrofit it to mount on a C-Stand. - ShannonRawls.com -->>> Looks like a solid choice, way to think outside the box man. For someone on more of a budget who still wants an LCD field monitor, the Envision E17W221 is not a bad little setup. 17" widescreen, component in (480p, 720p, 1080i), 13 lbs, VESA mount, can be found for $350.00 on-line. Gets good ratings and is dirt cheap. Ben __________________ Ben Buie, Producer "On Our Way Up" - Shot Completely in HDV http://www.onourwayup.com HD Articles and Reviews at HDSource! http://hdsource.highlydef.com

March 30th, 2005, 06:56 AM	#8
Christopher C. Murphy Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,707	Both of those units looks cool. When you guys get them up and running a short review would be great. I'm in the market very soon myself... Thanks doods! __________________ Christopher C. Murphy Director, Producer, Writer

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March 25th, 2005, 11:10 PM	#3
Shannon Rawls Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 853	NAB??????????????? ahh man... check your email Spot! hahahaha __________________ How about this one guys? for a good SD field monitor: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...762439507&rd=1 and it's 12V DC & NTSC/PAL Switchable!!!!! I was thinking of building them into a lightweight box side by side with convienent plugs on the side of the housing and mounting them on a C-Stand. - ShannonRawls.com

March 26th, 2005, 09:43 AM	#4
Eric James Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 126	For my field moniter I use a samsung 997df so I can see all 2073600 pixels from the HDV cam. I use a componet to VGA transcoder to get it into the display. The colors are not perfect but it is much much better than an SD display. The best part? This set-up only costs $200! I've been shooting all week on a feature that I'm DPing with this set-up and it helped out quite a bit. There are some scenes where we didn't use the moniter and it was much much harder for me to paint the scene by looking in the LCD. My 2 c, Eric James

March 26th, 2005, 09:50 AM	#5
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	Shannon - I think you'd want an interlaced widescreen crt. The Z1 will probably shine more if the monitor is interlace vs. a prog lcd solution. Samsung makes a real nice 16:9 26" for about $700 ( and toshiba makes another cheap 16:9 crt ) both native 1080i. If you want a small, cheap lcd solution , I'd look also to samsung. I know that samsung has a combi dvdplayer/ 12" 16:9 lcd for about 5 bills - it just might have component in but is probably only 480 res. Otherwise . the lcd solution might be the HP 23" hd monitor that goes for about 15 bills( I believe it has dvi , s video and component ) or a cheaper 17" 16:9 samsung ( 7 bills ) .Since it's for a studio , I'd go with the 26"samsung if you're not lugging the beast around to exotic locations. take care - kurth

March 29th, 2005, 10:37 PM	#6
Shannon Rawls Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 853	I went with a single Dell W1900 widescreen 16:9 LCD 1280x768 HD monitor to use on set. I will retrofit it to mount on a C-Stand. Why did I choose this method.... Because it uses PIP/POP/PBP. This way, in case we do a dual camera shoot (like I frequently do) we can tap both cameras into this single monitor and have both pictures side-by-side of eachother because the screen is so wide! When using a single camera setup...I got a nice wide anamorphic field monitor for the director to use when framing & composing his shot. Not to mention, it's light (16lbs), it's HD, it's component in, and it looks cool as f*k! It should be here Friday....just in time for a short film we are doing called "Smashing Stereotypes" smile* http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs - ShannonRawls.com

March 30th, 2005, 10:43 AM	#9
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	yeh Shannon , I double that . I'd love to hear how the z1 looks direct into a new widescreen lcd. Congrats on owning another tool/toy. - Kurth

March 30th, 2005, 12:42 PM	#10
Tommy Haupfear Wrangler Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 1,415	I'm still kinda iffy on a 720p LCD (or any LCD for that matter) for an interlaced cam. I'm aiming for the Samsung 26" 1080i CRT with their new SDI Vixslim technology for reduced depth. There is something to be said about the black levels of a traditional tube.

March 30th, 2005, 05:23 PM	#11
Shannon Rawls Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 853	Ok, no problem. I'll report NOW instead of later, cause I've already tested it out for an hour! smile Tommy.... an "i' camera on a "p" monitor...ummm...I dunno how it works or why it works....all I know is that it works and it LOOKS GOOD. I went to the DELL OUTLET store in the Westside Pavillion in Beverly Hills yesterday. The salesman was like "SURE, plug your camera on up buddy". We did, I tried it with Composite AND Component connections. It was gorgeous. I compared what I seen on the dell monitor to what the flipout LCD had and they were like brothers & sisters. The DELL was much crisper and cleaner...couldnt see any grids or pixels like I do camera LCD's, but otherwise, very much the same as far as colors and framing. So I am happy to know that a DP can easily color-correct & a director can easily compose his shot using this HD monitor. The native widescreen matched perfectly to the DELL, and the DELL even had "OVERSCAN" mode, effectively called "Standard". When the DELL is in "WIDE" mode, it is basic 16:9 and the frame matches that in the cameras viewfinder and the flip out lcd. but when the DELL is in "STANDARD" it overscans the image, and shows that 'extra' stuff on the outsides. When the camers is in OVERSCAN, they match. When I was plugged up using the components, the picture was clear as a glass of water, it was a trip looking at the soft baby hairs on the face of women walking out of the Robinsons-May store. LOL When plugged up using RCA composite jacks...it wasn't nearly as clear, but I would have been satisfied had I never seen the components. Basically, I only knew it could get better after seeing better, otherwise, BNC/RCA would have been fine for my purposes. Picking up the DELL was great because it's very light compared to other field monitors I'm used to, like those big bulky sony monsters that always seem to almost fall off of whatever they are sitting on because some PA bumped it "Nice Save!" we always scream whe someone catches it before it slams to the floor. Not to mention, it's picture seems better to me anyhow, so I SURELY cant see myself buying a so-called 'broadcast field monitor" after witnessing this DELL. And hell, itss lighter then the 13" VCR/TV combo's I used to lug around, and the besture is 10x's better! The Picture-By-Picture feature is the BEST! I can plug up two cameras and monitor them on one widescreen DELL unit. Most likely I will use the Picture-IN-picture feature and have Camera "A" as the master image and have Camera "B" as a smaller image in the upper right hand corner....just to make sure that the B-Camera operator isn't shooting stupid stuf when he should be getting reactions and other B-roll footage. I will be making a sunshade for this monitor so when shooting outside, I have no sun-glare. I'm also mounting it to a C-stand with wheels or some other type of collapsable stand that will fit in the trunk of a car. I looked at the Envision mnitors that Ben showed us, and while it's cool I liked the DELL becuase it is pure black, which makes a good color for on-set gear, it's 2-inches bigger, it has Picture-BY-Picture AND Picture-OUTSIDE-Picture which is important to me, and DELL stands by their stuff, so I have a little more peace of mind. OH ..... and did I mention....when not out shooting a movie...I now have a 19" widescreen HD monitor to watch TV at home? I think I'm going to get a wall mount and putting it in the kitchen for my wife to have a TV when cooking. WHen shooting, I'll just snap it off the wall, slap it on a C-Stand, and go to work. smile When it comes, I will take some pictures of it mounted to the retrofitted stand with my Z1 & my DVX100a plugged into it using the PIP/PBP/POP features. Those features alone were the biggest convincing factor for me. OH... and it's NTSC "AND" PAL compatible, so if i want to slap my Z1 in 50i or CF25...NO PROBLEM! CHEESE - ShannonRawls.com

March 30th, 2005, 05:50 PM	#12
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	..and it's $150 off - at 7 bills for a 19", that's pretty good .How could one run an lcd off auxiliary power? I mean , if it was REALLY portable, that'd be cool. I'll look forward to seeing the pics. thanks

March 30th, 2005, 06:28 PM	#13
Tommy Haupfear Wrangler Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 1,415	Another vote for the pics when you get your monitor in. My cousin just picked up the Dell 2405fpw LCD and this sounds like a good time to pay a visit and see just how good it looks with my FX1. The 2405fpw is a 24" LCD with 1080p resolution (1920x1200) and can be had for under $900. I still think I want a CRT for the house but I am tempted to go LCD for the field. LCDs look really great unless you have them right beside a properly calibrated CRT. Color accuracy and black levels are best with tubes but LCDs continue to improve.

March 30th, 2005, 10:44 PM	#14
Ed Szarleta Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 156	Tommy, you show me where you can get that Dell for under $900. It's $1199 and was just released.

March 30th, 2005, 11:09 PM	#15
Tommy Haupfear Wrangler Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 1,415	Ed, it appears the deal (from fatwallet.com) was earlier this month and I see that Dell has since moved the price back to $1199. Try doing a Google on "2405fpw $860"