Best "secondary" on-camera monitor?

[Tom Greenberg]

I am about to purchase a secondary on-camera monitor for my Scarlet (besides my 5" Touch) to use for focus-pulling by an AC and easy playback viewing by others on set. I could really use some input from you REDUsers. At the college, we have a SmallHD DP6 SDI, which is a decent monitor, but has it's issues, IMHO, so I am looking at other possibilities. Basic prerequisite is that it has to be SDI...I'm not a big fan of HDMI connectors and don't want to depend on them...I much prefer a nice, locking BNC connector.

By far, the hands-down favorite around my area is the TV Logic VFM-056WP. But, at almost $1500, this seems like a somewhat limited and dare I say "outdated" design compared to what is coming soon from Convergent with the Odyssey 7, and the new SmallHD DP7 Pro. I'm wondering if I am better off to wait a few months and let some of these new models land, or if the TV Logic has some hidden strengths that I'm not recognizing that will keep it on top. Or if there is some other choice I'm not aware of?

Another possible way to go is to change from my 5" Touch to the 9" Touch...when I used one for REDucation at NAB, I loved the size and clarity of the 9"...but that doesn't accomplish the goal of giving an AC his/her own monitor.

Your thoughts?

 

[Ayan Pratap]

Tom- have you thought about the Atomos Samurai Blade? Its 5" 720p and takes HD SDI. For your college with educational discount you can get it for $970. Also, the biggest extra benefit is that you can record real time proxies in the monitor on 2.5" HDD (really cheap 700GB for $70). I recently ordered mine. Some of my clients will pay extra to have real time proxies generated for their workflow. Since its 720p, it can work great as AC monitor. Also, it has many tools if not more like the TV logic like waveform, vectorscope etc for quality checks.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

Thanks for suggesting the Samurai Blade, Ayan...I had looked at it briefly at NAB and had sort of forgotten about it. It might e a good solution, certainly very affordable! I had been thinking about a larger 7" monitor to make critical focus decisions easier, but of course the TV Logic is only 5.6". Food for thought...

 

[Nick Morrison]

Tom- have you thought about the Atomos Samurai Blade? Its 5" 720p and takes HD SDI. For your college with educational discount you can get it for $970. Also, the biggest extra benefit is that you can record real time proxies in the monitor on 2.5" HDD (really cheap 700GB for $70). I recently ordered mine. Some of my clients will pay extra to have real time proxies generated for their workflow. Since its 720p, it can work great as AC monitor. Also, it has many tools if not more like the TV logic like waveform, vectorscope etc for quality checks.

Im considering the Blade, too...for both those reasons...

 

[Filip Vandoorne]

i'm very happy with my Ikan VX7i , new model 1280x800 pixel, ips, only 809 dollar for the sdi+hdmi version,
i choose it also because all the buttons are on the front and connectors to the back.
for wireless director monitoring, it's a perfect fit inside the portabrace MO-LVM071W
All other designs of SmallHD, tvlogic , are having connectors on the bottom, and dials on top.. doesnt work
if you need sun protection..

 

[Nick Morrison]

i'm very happy with my Ikan VX7i , new model 1280x800 pixel, ips, only 809 dollar for the sdi+hdmi version,
i choose it also because all the buttons are on the front and connectors to the back.
for wireless director monitoring, it's a perfect fit inside the portabrace MO-LVM071W
All other designs of SmallHD, tvlogic , are having connectors on the bottom, and dials on top.. doesnt work
if you need sun protection..

WOW looks good!

 

[Chad Cooper]

the tvlogic is by far the best gear investment i've ever made, hands down.

 

[Nick Gardner]

i'm very happy with my Ikan VX7i ,

Really? I have one and it is left in a case until an AD needs a little monitor to direct background. It's not sharp, the color and contrast are nowhere near the real thing, and it's not great outside. TV logic is hands down the best looking monitor our there. Another thing to consider is just getting the plus one module and two red monitors. That gives you the benefit of being able to rock an EVF and a monitor. Best of both worlds.

Nick

 

[Filip Vandoorne]

Really? I have one and it is left in a case until an AD needs a little monitor to direct background. It's not sharp, the color and contrast are nowhere near the real thing, and it's not great outside.

Was that the new VX7i version? I woud be surprized, this version is much better than is precessor VX7

 

[Ayan Pratap]

One big reason for me to order my Blade was the ability to do real time proxies and have a HD monitor on camera, both in one device. Only 5" screen but its HD and newly designed touch screen. I have already booked a few gigs where I am charging extra for giving the option of transcoding real time to my clients so they can edit how they want right away either on set or studio.

Also, if I ever need to record very long takes for my nature documentaries and such in 1080p, I can just keep my Epic on and hit record on the Blade. This way I am not using the REDmags for shots that could be LONG and record on the blade on inexpensive HDDs. Overall lots of plusses for the blade.

 

[Ayan Pratap]

Thanks for suggesting the Samurai Blade, Ayan...I had looked at it briefly at NAB and had sort of forgotten about it. It might e a good solution, certainly very affordable! I had been thinking about a larger 7" monitor to make critical focus decisions easier, but of course the TV Logic is only 5.6". Food for thought...

TV logic is great but the Blade has all the tools TV logic has plus it does proxies if you ever need them. Also, much cheaper too. I think Blade also has options for ordering a metal hood / sunshade for something robust.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

TV logic is hands down the best looking monitor our there. Another thing to consider is just getting the plus one module and two red monitors. That gives you the benefit of being able to rock an EVF and a monitor. Best of both worlds.

Nick

Thanks Nick...a Plus 1 and an EVF are definitely in my future plans, but my main "focus" (sorry, couldn't help myself) for now is on an AC confidence monitor.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

One big reason for me to order my Blade was the ability to do real time proxies and have a HD monitor on camera, both in one device. Only 5" screen but its HD and newly designed touch screen. I have already booked a few gigs where I am charging extra for giving the option of transcoding real time to my clients so they can edit how they want right away either on set or studio.

Also, if I ever need to record very long takes for my nature documentaries and such in 1080p, I can just keep my Epic on and hit record on the Blade. This way I am not using the REDmags for shots that could be LONG and record on the blade on inexpensive HDDs. Overall lots of plusses for the blade.

Proxies aren't really a big part of my world. The only thing I ever transcode are 720p dailies, everything else is edited natively in Premiere. Making instant dailies would be a time saver, but otherwise the record capabilities aren't a big feature for me. Mostly concerned with the absolute picture quality of the monitor itself. Has anyone been able to try the Odyssey7 or the DP7pro yet? I saw the Odyssey7 at NAB and it looked amazing, but really want to hear if anyone has experienced it in the field.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

the tvlogic is by far the best gear investment i've ever made, hands down.

Can you elaborate, Chad? I'd like to know what gets people so excited about the TV Logic.

 

[Will Keir]

Is it just me or is a 5" monitor just a bit to small to pull focus?

 

[Nate Clapp]

Bought a TV logic 5.6 a while back, as it seemed to be "what people expected" and had important pro features like waveform and vectorscope and cross convert HDMI to SDI. But I was always a little meh about the image. Not that bright for outside work and the colors don't really snap. the Small HD offering at the time ( DP6 maybe?) just looked snappier. But it didn't have the bells and whistles I thought it needed in the rental world. So, overall, I picked correctly with what was in the market at the time, but I myself have never been really excited by the image.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

Bought a TV logic 5.6 a while back, as it seemed to be "what people expected" and had important pro features like waveform and vectorscope and cross convert HDMI to SDI. But I was always a little meh about the image. Not that bright for outside work and the colors don't really snap. the Small HD offering at the time ( DP6 maybe?) just looked snappier. But it didn't have the bells and whistles I thought it needed in the rental world. So, overall, I picked correctly with what was in the market at the time, but I myself have never been really excited by the image.

I feel the same way, Nate..I agree that from a rental standpoint, that is all people want...which frustrates me a bit. I guess I want someone to convince me that there is "hidden gold" in the TV Logic because some of the other offerings seem like they have better images and more features.

 

[Ayan Pratap]

I feel the same way, Nate..I agree that from a rental standpoint, that is all people want...which frustrates me a bit. I guess I want someone to convince me that there is "hidden gold" in the TV Logic because some of the other offerings seem like they have better images and more features.

TV Logic is a great monitor, however doesn't it cost close to $1500? If you are not renting, cost is another issue to consider. Also, the new monitors like the Blade have a new snappier screen. Brighter and clear. It has the same screen technology as the HTC phones. The Blade doesn't have any dials, all touch screen, something that can come in handy. On one shoot my AC used a TV logic and kept pressing the buttons on his monitor for focus checks and such, it would bump the camera at times and surely annoyed the sound guy. However, the TV logic I believe had the zoom function, where you can zoom into the image to see focus, not sure if the Blade has the zoom function.

If you don't need proxies, then consider TV logic, but depends on your budget too. TV logic is also only .6" bigger than blade. Not a huge difference, unless you get the 7". It does have more connectors though than the Blade. Blade only has SDI.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Bought a TV logic 5.6 a while back, as it seemed to be "what people expected" and had important pro features like waveform and vectorscope and cross convert HDMI to SDI. But I was always a little meh about the image. Not that bright for outside work and the colors don't really snap. the Small HD offering at the time ( DP6 maybe?) just looked snappier. But it didn't have the bells and whistles I thought it needed in the rental world. So, overall, I picked correctly with what was in the market at the time, but I myself have never been really excited by the image.

Perhaps Im wrong, but I was under the impression the TV logic 5.6 and the DP6 had...possibly..the exact same Screen. Meaning, their image is very comparable.

But SmallHD has new offerings now, maybe they are better. The DP6 looks like old tech. And even the TV Logic has been around for a couple of years now...

 

[Nate Clapp]

they might have had the same screen, but the boards inside are very different. I can confirm that they do NOT look the same. I liked the SmallHD image better, but I liked the engineering displays of the TV logic better. The SmallHD just looked "snappier" if it had just been for me I might have bought it instead. But again, no HDMI to SDI conversion and no Waveform display. RED One MX has same sensor as Epic X but while they look similar, I don't think they look the same. Boards matter.