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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Best grading monitor under $3,000

M

Matt W.

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For Apple Color and Resolve. HDMI input from black magic intensity. What is popular?

I'm looking for something that's pre-calibrated or easily calibrated and with a wide viewing angle etc. Thanks for your recommendations.
 
I've heard good things about the Dell UltraSharp and the HP DreamColor paired with something like the Spyder4Pro display calibration system. It's likely what we will be purchasing soon.
 
I have a pair of NEC multisync's that show 2K and have an auto calibration device that work quite well.
 
Thanks... a bit wary of the HP and Dell... is the video processing on those good through HDMI or are they mostly just good for computer displays? We need to grade through HDMI (primarily Alexa footage, actually).

Right now we're using a Panasonic BT-LH1850 field monitor and the colors are accurate enough but the viewing angle is terrible. Something that works as a field monitor, too, would be nice, but not necessary.

Jake, what are you using? And what do you recommend that's affordable?
 
I'm not Jake, but i finish / grade a pile of indie films, MoW's & TVC's.... i bounce between four suites... identical software & hardware, all on shared storage... just different reasons for the rooms, and different mon's as a resualt...

For finishing/gradeing theatrical i have a Christe proj and a Sony BVM OLED in a theatre,
I use a Dolby PR4200 in a suite aimed at finishing / gradeing TV movies & drama series.
My main room is baised towards TVC's i also have another Dolby 4200 there
And the all purpose catch all suite has a DreamColor, and we do web destined stuff there, i graded one of the first promo's for the Alexa (on Arri's website to this day), and that was done with the DreamColor;
http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_cameras/news.html?article=688&cHash=b572cc81e0

All the mon's are all very similar in 709... color decsions made on the DreamColor track well through to the Dolby and OLED as long as one understands the nature of the displays.. the big differences show up when you work in P3, then the DreamColor taps out after a base grade, and i find it impossiable to judge sharpening and NR on any 24" display, they are just too small for my comfort zone...

For low money I'd go with a DreamColor, i feed mine via displayport from a Aja 444 duallink i/o card

d
 
Can someone tell anything about how the Dreamcolor perform when feeded through a HDMI connection? The monitor I've got at the moment is a LG W2420 and it's not perfect, especially since the HDMI signal gets "smeared" out like motion blur (it's not sharp in motion, only when it's still). Does the Dreamcolor show a true progressive flow?
 
Dermot said:
I'm not Jake, but i finish / grade a pile of indie films, MoW's & TVC's.... i bounce between four suites... identical software & hardware, all on shared storage... just different reasons for the rooms, and different mon's as a resualt...

For finishing/gradeing theatrical i have a Christe proj and a Sony BVM OLED in a theatre,
I use a Dolby PR4200 in a suite aimed at finishing / gradeing TV movies & drama series.
My main room is baised towards TVC's i also have another Dolby 4200 there
And the all purpose catch all suite has a DreamColor, and we do web destined stuff there, i graded one of the first promo's for the Alexa (on Arri's website to this day), and that was done with the DreamColor;
http://www.arri.com/camera/digital_cameras/news.html?article=688&cHash=b572cc81e0

All the mon's are all very similar in 709... color decsions made on the DreamColor track well through to the Dolby and OLED as long as one understands the nature of the displays.. the big differences show up when you work in P3, then the DreamColor taps out after a base grade, and i find it impossiable to judge sharpening and NR on any 24" display, they are just too small for my comfort zone...

For low money I'd go with a DreamColor, i feed mine via displayport from a Aja 444 duallink i/o card

d
Click to expand...

Thanks. This display will be used for similar purposes. We will be working exclusively in rec709 and converting to XYZ for delivery when necessary, which is probably bad form. Oh well.

Is this the display in question? Reviews seem bad, but I have heard it's nice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E16824176106&gclid=CMmdu8fW6LUCFQyg4Aod6HkASQ

We'll be using an intensity pro and can feed the monitor pretty much only through HDMI. How do you calibrate this monitor? What do you have to be aware of in terms of "understanding the nature of the displays?" Is it mostly a matter of contrast ratio? How is the viewing angle? Thanks!
 
My selection is quite retro. I use Sony BVM-D24E1WU 24" Trinitron Color Broadcast Video Monitor. Originally they were $25k, but you can pick one up now for $1500 or less. The trick is to get one with low hours, which can be difficult or impossible with EBay. I found local supplier and I was able to come over and choose one out of four available. Obviously, if money is no object I would love to get Dolby, but otherwise i still think, that Sony BVM-D24E1WU CRT monitor is the best monitor money can buy. And did I mention, that it's a 2k monitor and it is the easiest monitor to calibrate?
 
Thanks! That looks like a good option. I've been impressed with the high end Sony CRTs, but I do worry about the tubes burning out with too much use.

How do you calibrate that monitor and what inputs does it use? I imagine it doesn't have HDMI given its age... HD-SDI? Also, how do you feed it a 2k signal? It's possible we'll need to grade 2k prores and previously I've only used 1080p. I'm not worried about the software (I'll be using Color or Resolve, which can handle 2k), but all our video displays are 1080p and I'm not sure if the Intensity can even output 2k...
 
Matt W. said:
Thanks! That looks like a good option. I've been impressed with the high end Sony CRTs, but I do worry about the tubes burning out with too much use.

How do you calibrate that monitor and what inputs does it use? I imagine it doesn't have HDMI given its age... HD-SDI? Also, how do you feed it a 2k signal? It's possible we'll need to grade 2k prores and previously I've only used 1080p. I'm not worried about the software (I'll be using Color or Resolve, which can handle 2k), but all our video displays are 1080p and I'm not sure if the Intensity can even output 2k...
Click to expand...
Sdi works great, although it's only psf. You don't have to use 2k, 1080 works just fine. Calibration is with usual tools- Cinespace or Lightspace.
 
Thanks! Jake, can I PM you with a quick question? Nothing too in-depth, I'm just not supposed to post publicly about some stuff (though I don't know why in this instance, it's a very mundane question).
 
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