16:9 lcd screens
 

Any suggestions on small 16:9 lcd screen for the xl2. Thanks

I've been looking around and have asked Nebtek if they would consider looking into this as well. So far I've found only the TransVideo units which are very much high-end (read: expensive). I'd really like to find something much smaller than the popular 7" Panasonic model, preferably one that is in the 4" or 5" size. Stay tuned,

Yes Yes Yes
I have done more research than a pack of lab donkeys on this matter

You do not need to speak to anyone else except me!

Right, I originally bought a 7"TFT screen off of eBay. It was OK, but was not really great. All of those 7" TFT screens with a TV tuner built in have only 234 lines of vertical resolution. Because of that, the image is quite blurry, and not great for focussing with (which was one of the main reasons why I wanted a 7" TFT screen in the first place!

Now those screens have a pixel count of 336,960 pixels. I started looking around and thought, there must be a higher pixel count screen of this size. All of these TV screens are of the same quality, whichever name you buy, they all use the same number of pixels.

I then found out that a professional 7" TFT screen crammed in 1,152,000 pixels. Thats nearly 4 times as many pixels. But these cost more. So that was bad. I then went back to eBay and started looking at the pixel counts of all the screens, and found one type of 7" screen in particular that had 1,152,000 pixels! Wow I thought. The reason is this screen is also designed to hook up to a pc as a monitor. Therefore it has to have more pixels! However, and this is the bit that is useful to us... They also take a video input signal too... Striaght from the video camera!

Now the downside is they cost a little more, however, they are still cheaper than a dedicated professional 7" TFT monitor/screen.

If you go to ebay.com or ebay.co.uk, type in - 7" Touch Monitor - They will all be displayed, and they all have the higher pixel count, and all work with a video camera input. It is up to you to decide which one to go for. I bought one in the UK off eBay, and did a deal with the auctioneer, and got one for £165 UKPounds including delivery.

The screens also have a touch screen function, that works if you link them up to a pc, however it is disabled for a standard video input. Also they do not picj up a TV signal like the cheaper TFT TV screens - but your filmaking, not watching TV on it!

This is THE screen you need, it is the best vvalue for money you can get, as it has the quality of more expensive screesn, but the price of just a bit higher than the cheaper screens!

If you are confused, let me know and I can give you more info.

The screen is so useful, I velcroed it onto tha back of my XL2 accessory mount, and I watch the screen wile I am on the tripod (I run the screen off a 12Volt battery :)

The only downside of the screen is that it does not have a 4:3 viewing mode. With 16:9 it is fine - and perfect for the XL2, but when you shoot in 4:3 instead of having black borders on the sides of the image, it stretches it to the edge of the screen, giving it a stretched look sideways.
However I only shoot 16:9, so this is not a problem for me!

Regards
Lawrence

I agree I have the same £150 version off ebay its the 1,152,000 as lawrence mentions, these are far superior to the 336.000 rez versions, nice clear picture to focus with and anamorphic 16:9......Great stuff.

Does the touch screen you found offer underscan so that you can check your entire fov? I thought those touch screens looked pretty decent too, but was concerned that they would not offer an underscan feature to check my full video signal.

No they dont unfortunatly.
They are not a pro video monitor, they are just a high res standard monitor. Due to this they dont have pro features like hue and saturation :(
You can't have everything for a low price. I would rather have this low price monitor and forgo the underscan feature, instead of pay 4 times as much!

Lawrence

power
 

How do you power this lcd? Portable 12 volt battery?

There are 45 of them listed on eBay. But I have my doubts about them... would love to see one before committing any cash.

Jay

If you are looking for more info on the Lilliput line of video displays you could go to their manufacturer's web site at: http://www.made-in-china.com/showroo...Co.,_Ltd..html

This gave me a good overview of what is available and offered a little more detail on the units that one can find on e-bay.

My personal preference is for the Panasonic display - it offers underscan which I think is essential for accurate framing.

I made my own power unit
I got a 12V lead acid battery from www.maplin.co.uk (well I went to the shop actually) and made a little cable with the same connector as the power supply on the end, and hey presto it works great. I used strong velcro to attach the battery to the back of the monitor!

These monitors are probably not quite as good as a dedicated video monitor with all the pro controls, but they are really great, and I mean come on we are all talking about the various thousands we have spent on the XL2, the monchrome viewfinder tripods etc. What's another £150/$200 dollars!?!

Also if you buy it and don't like it then you can always sell it on eBay again! OK it will be used, but say you get £130/$180 for it, then you have hardly risked anything!

I am considering buying another one of these. One to remain with the camera, so whoever is operating it can see a good image, and I want to adapt one to work wirelessly, so I can transmit the image from the camera to the monitor. I can then wander around with the screen when I am directing without having any cable issues!

What have you got to lose really?

lawrence... are we getting carried away a la george lucas and his "video village"? =^).

Lawrence:

Can you give specifics as far as what you needed to create the portable power unit? Interested in doing the same, but not sure where to start (will be purchasing materials in U.S.).

Thanks!
Sal

batteries
 

I found an inexpensive portable 12 battery with cigarette lighter input at the automotive department at Best Buy

AC ?
 

Will this model plug into a wall?

I bought a cheaper Lilliput 16x9 monitor before and the quality is...okay, but only useful for framing, not at all for color correction or focus.

It did, however, have an AC plug on it.

Jeremiah

Re: batteries
 

<<<-- Originally posted by William LiPera : I found an inexpensive portable 12 battery with cigarette lighter input at the automotive department at Best Buy -->>>

Can you give us the make and model number of this battery?

Also.....which exact LCD make and model has everyone bought that does indeed have the higher resolution? I'm mostly concerned with critical focus and not so much accurate colors....but that would be a bonus!

Thanks