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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 :)

GROUP BUY - SmallHD Ultra Bright Monitors!

very very excited about this group buy!!!
 
+1 for a 703 for me too, thanks Chris
 
What was the 703 marked down to out of curiosity?
 
Got my 703 in today, thanks again Chris!
Another well executed group buy as always!

I suspect I'm one of many who's upgrading from the industry standard SmallHD 702 bright.

It's been really hard to find reviews on the 703UB monitor so I'm including some first impressions here in case it's helpful to others later on, I'll probably write a review at some point after I've had some time with it on set.

SnLmmN3l.jpg


First thing that's most noticeable when you compare it to the 702 is that it's quite a bit bigger for a monitor that's still the same screen size.

I hadn't seen any size comparisons online, and since the screen was the same 7" it just didn't occur to me that the monitor as a whole might be larger.

It's slightly heavier too weighing in at 26oz as opposed to the 702 at 17oz, for me I can't see the weight making much of a difference at such a small amount for each.

Build quality is vastly superior to the 702, I always thought of the 702 as a pretty tough monitor. I treat mine like a baby, but I've seen several from rental houses that have taken a beating, and kept on going without issue, but the 703 is in a different class altogether, I have heard that it's built like a tank, and I don't think its an exaggeration anymore. It's one solid piece of metal that feels incredibly durable.

I think the only parts that are plastic are the joystick, and the cover surrounding the headphone port.

In my opinion the only area that I don't consider the build quality to be an improvement over the 702 is with the screen protection itself.
The 702's screen is slightly recessed from the actual front of the monitor protecting the screen if you end up having to set it face down for some reason (battery swap, cable plugin, etc...)
Whereas the 703's screen is flush with the front, so if you lay it down on the front, there is no recess to protect it from scratches etc...

I really wish SmallHD had been able to implement what they have on the 1703 line with the 2 flat retention screws that hold in place a thin acrylic screen protector that you can easily throw away and swap out if it gets damaged, while protecting the real screen beneath, oh well perhaps the 704 will incorporate that.

Oh, and that's another thing, they actually do include a D-tap to lemo cable in the box with the core monitor. I ordered a separate one not aware of this, but I'm really glad to have a spare.

The joystick feels much more durable on the 703, I was never worried that I would have any issues with my 702 as I treat it well, but a few times the 702's at my rental house will have some joystick issues that take a monitor restart to resolve. the new one feels tough, and stronger than the 702's.

Color, and contrast are definitely better on the 703, looking at the same image on my 702 and 703 the 703 is the clear winner in color, contrast, and saturation.

The image is also more pleasing right out of the box than my 702, the 702 looks like it has a greenish yellow color shift, while the 703 holds much closer to the original image.

The sunhood was my single biggest dislike about the 702, and it was one of the main factors in my choice to upgrade.

The 702 sunhood quite frankly has a poor design for how you affix it to the monitor, and I have broken my own, and seen several others broken as well.
I feel like I use a reasonable amount of care when attaching, and removing it, yet the parts are made from flimsy plastic, and the way they click into place just seems to beg for the plastic to crack.

The 703 sunhood is exactly what someone in the film industry would hope for, all metal except for the sunhood fabric itself, it goes on in 5 seconds, simple, solid, excellent!

The sunhood on the 703 does require the mounting cage, but this is a win as it gives you a lot of mounting points on both sides of the monitor, and adds a minimal size/weight increase.

The V-mount plate is simple, and straightforward to install, it doesn't add much weight so I intend to always keep mine on even though for on camera work I intend to use the D-tap to lemo cable.

(Top monitor 702 Bright - Bottom monitor 703 Ultrabright)
QPKscPcl.jpg


The one thing that is puzzling to me about the 703 vs 702 is that the 703 really does not appear to be all that much brighter than my 702 bright.
I would love for other users with both to chime in, and give me their thoughts on this.

(Top monitor 702 Bright - Bottom monitor 703 Ultrabright)
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(Top monitor 702 Bright - Bottom monitor 703 Ultrabright)
rqeKGDil.jpg


Both monitors have the backlight set to 100%

Let me say that I do not doubt that the 703 is in fact brighter than the 702, I can see that easily enough from my testing.

What I don't understand is how 2200 nits of brightness on the 703 vs 1000 nits of brightness on the 702 does not visually translate into a bigger difference.

Inside/outside makes no difference, it seems like the 703 is maybe a 1/3 again as bright as the 702, but unless I'm mistaken it should have slightly more than double the amount of brightness the 702 has.

All in all I'm still very pleased with the monitor, if nothing else it's a more aesthetically pleasing monitor than the 702, and coupled with all the other improvements if I was given a choice I would choose the 703 every time unless I absolutely had to minimize size/weight wherever possible.

I'm looking forward to deploying it on set, and I'm happy to have it in my kit!
 
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