Sony PVM 2010 Monitor & Color Correction
 

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone has had any experience with the Sony PVM 2010QM video monitor? A friend has one for sale at a reasonable price. Would it be any good for doing color correction on?

I have done a bit of search on google and cant really find much on it apart from a few technical service manuals.

Cheers

Robert

Ideal broadcast monitor for color correction would be a Sony BVM-series monitor that accepts a calibration probe. For your needs it may make sense to get something more reasonably priced, and focus on setting up your studio right (i.e. all light sources including computer monitors at 6500k color temp).
Searching the TIG (telecine internet group) mailing list would be one good place to research this.

Features to look for would be SMPTE C phosphors, blue gun, automatic calibration, beam current feedback (many of the higher-end monitors have this feature; maintains white balance/color temperature as monitor ages as far as I can tell), 16:9.

If buying used, I would definitely watch out. Used monitors can have a wide range of problems, some of which may be subtle and may not be that readily noticeable (i.e. your TV at home may be too blue, bright, contrasty, and saturated but you may not necessarily notice it).

Also, the phosphors on a monitor will get dimmer as electrons hit it (when the monitor is showing a picture). The monitor could have picture burns where an area is worn out more than others. Also, phosphor wear will affect the color reproduction of the monitor- a calibration probe is supposed to compensate for this.

2- From a practical standpoint, you should try to run some test patterns through the monitor to see if there are any problems with it. Example test patterns:
Grey + Red + G + B full screens for purity tests, a pattern with straight lines to test geometry and convergence (there's a specific name for this one), resolution test chart (1-pixel lines on a DVD/DV would work), grayscale ramp from 7.5 to 100IRE, and a black+white picture (it should be black and white without color).