Lilliput Monitor *IPS LED, 720P, 7in* $300-660

[Panagiotis Raris]

Have been hunting for field monitors this week, after i got rid of my Manhattan LCD HD089B. I havent bought it just yet, but i was looking at this new Lilliput, and older Marshall, and an Ikan; all with wildly varying specs.

I plan on migrating to new cameras in the next 12 to 18 months, so i have been shedding old gear and slowly replacing it with newer, higher quality kit that will last a few years and work better. I sold my Manhattan because i sold my XH A1, and the T2i's have great little LCD's, and with ML, i didnt really need it. Plus the LCD had a smeary look on pans, wasnt as bright, and had low ppi compared to the LCD's.

I was stuck on one of two new monitors, and i cannot find any reviews, but the prices and specs look great. I like using two monitors, one for framing, and one for fine focus/focus peaking/false color/etc.

The Lilliput has 4 or more versions with differing features, but all have 1280x768 IPS LED backlight and HDMI in.

Lilliput 663 - 7" HDMI IPS LED Backlit field monitor. Versions 663, 663 O, 663 O/P, 663 S
O means HDMI passthrough, ie HDMI in, and HDMI out. P means peaking/1:1/false color/zebra's, etc. S means all that and 3G SDI.

Basic Lilliput 663 ($275-ish)
Model:663

663 with 3G SDI ($650-ish)
Model:663/S

Ikan VH8 ($359 at B&H)
VH8: 8-inch HDMI Monitor w/ HD Panel | ikan

Ikan VH8 - 8" 1600x768 with some extra features that pop up in a right hand side HUD on the monitor.

Either way, great buys for sub-$500 monitors. The Lilliput with 3G SDI is over $600. I am planning on buying the Lilliput 663 O/P as i don't need 3G SDI and it is not needed in my next purchase/generation.

Figured i'd share.

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks for the info.

My 2 cents:

I have the Lilliput 5D-II 7" LCD field monitor. I got it off Ebay for about $300 US + shipping. I think it's pretty much the cheapest decent monitor available.

It's reasonably heavy and makes the camera too top heavy to hand-hold, but the hot shoe mount is pretty solid and holds it nicely so it's fine on a tripod.

The native res is 1280x720 which great for getting an accurate focus, especially with the 1:1 pixel feature which zooms the image right in.

Colours seem to be pretty accurate, and viewing angels are great.

My only complain is the sun hood is flimsy, mine broke after two or three uses.

Hope that helps someone.

[Arman Bohn]

I purchased this monitor from a ebay dealer located in China. Purchased the 663/O/P. They sent the wrong battery adapter plate and didn't send the battery with the unit. When I recieved the unit, I discovered that it is defective. When you use the "pixel-to-pixel" mode ... turning off "pixel-to-pixel" causes the screen to become a garbled mess. You need to reboot the monitor. I'm trying to get the seller to except a return, but I'm on my 12th email back and forth for days now.

There is now an outfit selling these monitors on ebay located in California. I have ordered one through them. I'm REALLY hoping the "pixel-to-pixel" bug isn't a firmware glitch.

The monitor looks great to me. It feels solid enough. The included hotshoe adapter was a little too weak to hold the monitor so I'm making my own mount. Menu controls are sluggish. Off angle viewing is good.

12v AC cable is a mess of hanging wires and I may need to create my own cable to get rid of some of the clutter.

[Panagiotis Raris]

Originally Posted by Arman Bohn

I purchased this monitor from a ebay dealer located in China. Purchased the 663/O/P. They sent the wrong battery adapter plate and didn't send the battery with the unit. When I recieved the unit, I discovered that it is defective. When you use the "pixel-to-pixel" mode ... turning off "pixel-to-pixel" causes the screen to become a garbled mess. You need to reboot the monitor. I'm trying to get the seller to except a return, but I'm on my 12th email back and forth for days now.

There is now an outfit selling these monitors on ebay located in California. I have ordered one through them. I'm REALLY hoping the "pixel-to-pixel" bug isn't a firmware glitch.

The monitor looks great to me. It feels solid enough. The included hotshoe adapter was a little too weak to hold the monitor so I'm making my own mount. Menu controls are sluggish. Off angle viewing is good.

12v AC cable is a mess of hanging wires and I may need to create my own cable to get rid of some of the clutter.

I bought mine from the California-based eBay seller, the 663 O/P. According to all the sites i found it on, it does NOT include a battery; just adapter plates. I use generic Sony NP mounts at about $10 a pop.

Here is a brief review, based on my experience with a Manhattan LCD HD089B...

Display - MUCH brighter, incredibly sharp. Definitely worth the money vs a 1024x600 display.
Power - The 4 pin XLR power/tally cable is odd, random wires hanging out bare is a no-no.
Input/output - HDMI passthrough works fine.
Build quality/accessories - Case is ok, mount is worthless, build quality of the unit is great.
Battery plates - The Sony mount plate (and the Canon one) pop off when removing batteries. I glued the mount to the unit.
Menu - i have no pixel to pixel issues or other glitches.
Color - damn near identical to colors on the T2i display

Peaking - Works fine, B&W only. False color; MUCH better than ML/T2i false color. Zebras work better than T2i/ML. The display itself appears to be about the same pixel density as the T2i display.

OVERALL... For $329 shipped, i definitely recommend it. In fact, i may buy two more. Other than the Ikan VH8 i could find nothing else 720P or greater under $500. MUCH better to focus on or prefocus than T2i screen.

[Arman Bohn]

What cameras are you using it with? I've had two of them now and both have the "Pixel to Pixel" problem as follows:

1) Press "Pixel to Pixel" or activate it from the menu
2) The screen zooms in 1:1
3) Press "Pixel - to - Pixel" again and exit the 1:1 mode
4) The screen becomes a garbled mess.

This happens on both of the 663/o/ps I have when using an HV20, T2i and GH2 HD and HDMI.

ALSO:

To get color peaking to work ... you need to go into the menu and change it from "mono" to "color"

[Donald McPherson]

I have a Lilliput 7" my only gripe is it doesn't have an headphone out. Which would have been good to monitor audio with my T2i.

[Panagiotis Raris]

Originally Posted by Arman Bohn

What cameras are you using it with? I've had two of them now and both have the "Pixel to Pixel" problem as follows:

1) Press "Pixel to Pixel" or activate it from the menu
2) The screen zooms in 1:1
3) Press "Pixel - to - Pixel" again and exit the 1:1 mode
4) The screen becomes a garbled mess.

This happens on both of the 663/o/ps I have when using an HV20, T2i and GH2 HD and HDMI.

ALSO:

To get color peaking to work ... you need to go into the menu and change it from "mono" to "color"

i just checked again and it does indeed get garbled when switching OUT of 1:1 mode; i was leaving it in pixel to pixel mode the whole time. I use it on T2i's, probably a firmware glitch. there is a USB port behind the battery mount so i assume F/W update is possible.

thanks for the peaking tip; i havent played around with the menu's yet. also havent tested the audio out; does yours output audio thru the headphone jack if its connected to HDMI? ill check it out, it would be useful, but im recording separately to a laptop with a 24 bit PCMCIA audio card and i monitor either from the laptop or from the preamp. the only cameras i use are T2i's via HDMI.

Donald i will check and see if the monitor outputs audio while recording or if it does in replay mode. i dont know if the t2i outputs audio via HDMI (i dont see why not) but with ML you can monitor audio over USB with a special USB/female headphone jack.

My friend is going to order the Ikan VH8 and see how that compares; slightly more expensive and less features per se but may work better, also a 1600x768 display, but no IPS LED.

[Donald McPherson]

I have ML and use the USB. But it would be one less thing to plug in. Oh well I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

[Panagiotis Raris]

Originally Posted by Arman Bohn

What cameras are you using it with? I've had two of them now and both have the "Pixel to Pixel" problem as follows:

1) Press "Pixel to Pixel" or activate it from the menu
2) The screen zooms in 1:1
3) Press "Pixel - to - Pixel" again and exit the 1:1 mode
4) The screen becomes a garbled mess.

This happens on both of the 663/o/ps I have when using an HV20, T2i and GH2 HD and HDMI.

ALSO:

To get color peaking to work ... you need to go into the menu and change it from "mono" to "color"

wow just went into the menu options; had no idea PIP was available on the 663 O/P. Havent tested it yet, but it would be great to use given i am shooting with 3 cameras and only 1 monitor. THANKS!

Have you by chance any experience using two of them in pass thru mode? i am wondering if they pass thru the original HDMI signal, or just output the signal modified by the monitor feed, ie if i have one set up for peaking or zebras, would the second (daisy chained) unit also display peaking or zebras, or the clean original HDMI signal?

If its a clean pass thru im sold; i can deal with a power on/off for 1:1 mode. I tested out the aforementioned Ikan VH8 and while its a great monitor, its not nearly as bright and lacks several useful functions.

[Chip Gallo]

I just ordered an Ikan from B&H. What useful functions is it lacking in your opinion? My primary use is for framing HF-G10 ice skating shots in a rink. I won't be mounting it on the camera but on a separate stand.

Been on the fence about which <$500 monitor to get and I finally decided based on the company as much as the specs. I will eventually need 2 or 3 of these so if I don't like the Ikan, I'll get a Lilliput. Wondering how long the Ikan will run on a Canon battery though, or should I plug it into a "brick" battery.

[Panagiotis Raris]

Originally Posted by Chip Gallo

I just ordered an Ikan from B&H. What useful functions is it lacking in your opinion? My primary use is for framing HF-G10 ice skating shots in a rink. I won't be mounting it on the camera but on a separate stand.

Been on the fence about which <$500 monitor to get and I finally decided based on the company as much as the specs. I will eventually need 2 or 3 of these so if I don't like the Ikan, I'll get a Lilliput. Wondering how long the Ikan will run on a Canon battery though, or should I plug it into a "brick" battery.

brightness is an issue for me, also overall screen size. picture in picture i will definitely use, as i am about to shoot a multicam doc with 3 T2i's and managing audio as well, having feeds from all three cameras (main in front of me on t2i LCD, secondary on lilliput, and tertiary in PIP mode on same monitor) will save my nerves. histogram may be worthwhile; haven't compared it to the T2i's just yet.

one of my partners just bought the VH8, and it is likely we will do some comparisons as well.

[Chip Gallo]

Thanks, I definitely would be looking at other monitors if I had your requirements :-)

[Panagiotis Raris]

Originally Posted by Chip Gallo

Thanks, I definitely would be looking at other monitors if I had your requirements :-)

yep. I was very torn over them; looking forwards to checking it out actually. lots of reasons having other data on the screen as well as framing would be very useful as well.

[Arman Bohn]

The 663 passes through the original signal on HDMI out with no overlays from the monitor. Any idea how to contact Liliput and get them to update the firmware?

[Panagiotis Raris]

About Us - LILLIPUT.

drop them a line there; or email me and we can both send a similar email to encourage a firmware correction.

thanks by the way; ordered a second one (663 o/p again).