16:9 preview monitor?
 

Hi -

I have a friend who wants to buy this for his DVX with anamorphic adapter:

http://www.varizoom.com/products/monitors/vztft7u.html

I was skeptical, because this resolution seems very off. More wide pixels than necessary for this, but then again, its vertical pixels are much lower. (It's like 1440x234.) With that kind of resolution, will he be able to properly determine focus?

And is there anything better? In the past, when shooting 4:3, I would just hook it up to a cheap 12" tube TV for like $120. Which I know is not accurate, but we aren't rich. A true calibrated NTSC monitor os not really an option. So is there anything better than this device for him within that same price range (around $500)? And will it work properly?

Funny you should ask and frankly I'm a little embarrased to answer.
Once upon a time while unloading gear from my beamer, I happened to drop and step on my 16:9 TFT portable monitor. While cussing under my breath and calling my fortune many, many choice names, I happened to see a Wal-Mart accross the highway from where I was. Sent my trusty assistant to pick up any kind of monitor that we could use as long as it was small and cheap and "PRESTO, SHAZAM" he came back with a $ 150.00 7" portable DVD player which happens to have in/out s-video inputs. When I saw the performance of such cheaply constructed and looking device I was amazed. How in the hell did it occur to me to pay over $800.00 for a monitor that literally wound up under my feet?.
We now own three of these gadgets and will never buy an expensive portable monitor again.
Bonuses: menu switchable 4:3 and 16:9, works great with on-board battery or AC, about the size of a stack of three DVD covers.
Hope this helps you.

You are spending $550 plus already right? Spend another $50 and get a JVC CRT pro monitor. They can display 16:9 and have all the necessary controls for calibrating it. maybe a little less "cool" then a LCD, but for the money it will be something you can actually USE for more then just displaying the right aspect ratio.

Careful - Varizoom is quoting the RGB resolution which is a bit of a cheat. The actual resolution of this monitor is 480xRGBx234. Varizoom are not alone here - many manufacturers do this, but the actual resolution is only 480x234.

Have anyone try monitor from this company http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...roductlist.asp ? IT the same quality to Marsahall but much cheaper, email for the price.

And it's 8 inch.

Ironically Varizoom is the dealer for this one as well.

The specs for that monitor are really confusing.
"S-1080DF/HF is a professional LCD monitor with the function of transferring SDI/HD-SDI signal to YUV, S-Video or Composite signal. The input SDI signal is the 8 bits or 10 bits and defined by SMPTE259M Standard."

SMPTE259M is standard def only. SMPTE 292M is hi def.

My best guess would be that neither this monitor or the analogue version accept hi-def signals. But who would know - it isn't clear from the specs.

Varizoom's site claims they are hi-def, but still there are inaccuracies like the input list for the SDI model, which leaves out SDI!