Comparing HD LCD Monitors
 

I've been neck high in differents types of HD monitors. And my eyes are going buggy after scrolling through pages and reading up on different products. I've narrowed the search down to a Marshall V-LCD84SB-AFHD, Marshall V-LCD651ST-3GSDI and a Panasonic BT-LH900A... and last on my list is Sony. I wish I could sit down and compare against LCDs to see which gives me the best pictures. System requirements for me are a monitor that provides Composite, HD/SD-SDI, 4:3 and 16:9 switchable, between 6.5-8.4" size, a blue only mode, and a price below $2500 USD if at all possible. I've seen a drastic price difference in LCDs... especially Sony when comparing feature specs. I seem to have trouble finding good answers to what causes other brands to jump so much in price. Is resolution 800x600 vs 1024x768 a big difference, do different companies use higher grade panels which justify the cost?

The Marshall V-LCD84SB-AFHD is my number one choice right now as it offers the inputs that I demand, V Mount for battery, blue only mode, and great screen specs and most importantly an excellent price. It's going to be a very heavily used panel that will be toted around everywhere. I'm hoping somebody here has experience with Marshall products and can give me some reassurance because it's looking like a very good option for me. Kind of long winded but I'm now on a short time line and need to make an informed decision fast.

- Jonny

Jonny,

I have that Marshall, and it is excellent (especially for bright exterior use), but Charles Papert (who is one this board, and really knows his stuff) highly recommends the new Nebtek Solar 7-SC unit, and it is less expensive than the Marshall.

Give it a peek.

Thats good to hear the Marshall proves well on set. We have a Nebtek on camera LCD monitor here that's just absolutely terrible. It was purchased brand new some time ago, never used it due to its poor quality and contrast as well as the amount of noise it produced along with wavy scanlines as a bonus. However I'd assume they'd have worked out all those bugs since their earlier days :), but it's definitely going to be the Marshall I think after further research. Thanks for your input!

Jonathan: I've got 2 JVC 9" monitors with component and HD-SDI arriving this week. If you'd like to check them out, I can arrange to meet with you (assuming you're in Winnipeg currently). My cost is under $2500 each on them (out of respect for my retailer, I won't post ACTUAL price).

I have little faith in JVC monitors... there's just something about them i've never liked. Which models did you purchase? I may be interested in taking a peek if its indeed worthy.

SD or HD monitor
 

Jonathan, you might also check out the TV Logic brand. I am using the LVM-071W. Decent features, HD, SD, component, or DVI, built in V-mount, built in speaker, can show 8 channels of embedded audio, waveform and vectorscope, and weighs about 3lbs. Found it online for a bit under $2400.

David

As it turns out, my monitors will be arriving tomorrow and need to go IMMEDIATELY into my road case as I'm shipping out for a road gig on Monday and not returning to Winnipeg. Sorry Jonathan.

No fear Shaun, our producer went down to MidCan earlier in the week and checked out some of their offerings as to picture quality of a couple different brands. In the end he decided to choose the Marshall and I think it'll be a fine piece of kit to add to the collection!

Marshall has had a lot of improvement in recent years--their early products (like Johnathan's note about the Nebtek) were pretty low-end but they've stepped it up. We had several Marshalls at the Great Monitor Shootout and they were the budget favorite. The Nebtek Solar unit had a significantly larger screen (and 16:9 to the Marshall's 4:3) and they are building in a number of functions specific to Steadicam. For an all purpose monitor, the Marshalls seem like a pretty good bet, although I just used an HDMI model with the Canon 5D and it had a tendency to shift in luminance when you touched the case just so--Vincent Lafloret had noticed the same thing.

I'm on the warpath for a monitor with similar specs as Jonathan describes for a 5/7D setup myself right now, will let you know what else I might turn up.

Any clear winner yet?
 

Hi,

Just curious to hear how things are going with the monitors and DSLR set ups.

Any real winner?

All the best,

Martin