DreamColor LP2480zx and Scratch

[Seth Larney]

Hey Lucas (and all),

We are putting together the final specs of our Scratch system and I'm looking into the feasibility of using the new DreamColor LP2480zx with Scratch and not having to use HD-SDI. We don't have any SDI decks currently and if the display is as accurate as HP claim then I'm hoping we may be able to get by without HD-SDI for now.

My question is about feeding 10-bit via anything EXCEPT HD-SDI from Scratch.

My understanding is that Scratch likes Nvidia cards, we are currently running a 8800GT in the machine that we are going to install Scratch onto but afaik the nvidia cards do not do 10-bit via DVI, (the firegl 7700 does via displayport) does anybody know anything about this? I do know that the Dual-Link DVI spec has provisioning for 10-bit though.. but that's just a spec.

Lucas, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this, have you guys had a chance to test the Dreamcolor display yet? Do you have any advice on how I could feed it a 10-bit signal from Scratch? Obviously the Quadro's will output 10-bit via SDI, but the Dreamcolor display has no SDI.

Alternatively, the other option would be to just feed it an 8-bit signal via an Nvidia card from Scratch and make use of the display's good color fidelity for grading but in 8-bit viewing space until there is a video card option that will enable us to bump up to 10-bit. Most professional panels are 8-bit currently anyway.

We are an independant film production company and will be using the System for film DI work and commercials etc. We just outsource our HD-SDI layoff's (when needed) or master (or supply) our projects as data.

Would greatly appreciate any thoughts..
Thanks!
Seth.

[Richard Lackey]

I've been wondering the same thing. Lucas?

[Lucas Wilson]

Hi guys,

I think the answer for now is pretty simple. The Dreamcolor does not accept an SDI input. The NVidia cards do not do anything greater than 8-bit on DVI output.

Tab A does not fit into Slot B.

It would be cool for several applications if DVI would output greater than 8-bit. But it doesn't and probably will not anytime soon. So for right now, HD-SDI is the viable path.

Best,

Lucas

[Bruce Allen]

...or ATI/AMD?

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[John Tissavary]

I'm wondering if there's a good, reasonably priced HD/SDI to HDMI 1.3 or Displayport i/o converter? Not being much of a video hardware geek I'm fairly unaware of the options, but wouldn't this be a reasonable way to feed the Dreamcolor?

I really hope manufacturers jump on displayport quickly - this seems to be a much nicer option than DVI & HD-SDI. Nvidia is listed as a supporter of the spec - anybody have an idea when they plan on releasing compatible hardware :)?

cheers,

jt

[Darren Orange]

It "looks" like this Gefen Box would convert dual link HD-SDI to HDMI in 10-bit. Key word "looks".

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4211

[Gabriele Turchi]

It's from a long time that i would ask to clarify this point : 8Bit DVI VS 10 Bit SDI,

Right now I am working as a retoucher in the photography business ,so i know pretty well how important is to have the right monitor for the Job , i am using The Eizo CG 211 (calibrated every weeks using the gretag Eye one Pro) and I have to say that what i see in my Eizo is really the same image that come out from my printer Epson 7800/4800 (also linearizated and profilated every months)

I am approaching to do the color grading of my stuff (actually i am still waiting my RED one...),so i am looking for the hardware and software etc...
And Scratch off course it's one possibility.

Talking about the monitor , i think that it's easy to understand that a dual link SDI display like the ecinema DPX is the best on the market , and i would trust it

But i really want to understand why and How a dual link SDI instead of a DVI connection could compromise the grading process,

Ok, 8 bit VS 10 Bit , but does it really compromise the grading?
I mean a monitor like the eizo CG241W wich offer hardware calibration and it cover the 96 of the adobe RGB it can't be considerate a good option because doesn't offer an SDI connection?

Or maybe this new HP?

What about grading a 444 material or RAW material using single link SDI ?
I can really understand the difference between grading 422 material instead of 444 material , but in terms of monitoring the grading could really change the results ?


PS: Off course i am talking about all the DVI monitor with a good LCD panel and not a monitor like the Apple Cinema Display etc...


So,are we sure that SDI is the only way to go to do a good job?
Or have an SDI monitor it's a must because many many hardware work with that standard?


PSS:what about the calibration procedure for the Dreamcolor? It's automatic hardware based or what?

Thanks


G

[Seth Larney]

Thanks for the speedy reply Lucas :)

I guess the other option would be to use the panel via 8-bit DVI until more cards are available that support both the Dreamcolor and Scratch. Obviously this isn't as ideal as viewing 10-bits, but then most (all?) high end panels used for DI work actually display 8-bits anyway, right?

I guess the question would be :

Color accuracy of DVI aside. Would the fact that you are only feeding the panel 8-bits from the video card, have any nagative effect as opposed to a more standard approach of feeding the panel 10-bits and having it downconvert it to 8-bits before the lcd? Would we be losing any fidelity/accuracy? would it have any effect of luts etc? ... or is there something else that I am missing that would not make this viable (in theory) for DI work? (perhaps this is a question that can't be answered without testing, but I'm hoping that you might have an opinion Lucas?)

Even if we can't display 10-bits from Scratch to this panel, it would still seem to be a viable option for high end work? - providing that it does what HP says it does (obviously this is a big if).

Cheers,
Seth.

[Seth Larney]

PSS:what about the calibration procedure for the Dreamcolor? It's automatic hardware based or what?
G

Hi Gabriele,

From what I've been able to ascertain, the Dreamcolor has it's own calibration probe (or other hardware).

[MichaelP]

I am using the Dreamcolor and the Blackmagic HDLink Pro. Works just fine.

Michael