LCD Monitor Shootout

[Steve Sherrick]

yes it does both

 

[Dominic Jones]

Interesting, the poll is showing the Black Magic solution as the way to go, which is of course what I currently have. I'm running BM>HD Link>Dell 2407. What is the trick to calibrating it to its full potential? I've tried two methods. The first was to get a Spyder 2 Pro and calibrate it to Gamma 2.2. Should I be calibrating it to something else?

The other method was to run bars from Final Cut Pro and manually adjust the monitor via it's menu controls for chroma, hue, and luminance. This method got me much closer, but I still don't feel it's right. I also have HD Link utility which is great for providing Blue Only, but I haven't used any of its other features.

The answer, unfortunately (as in it's a hardware change, not a settings change), is that you need the HDLink Pro, rather than the HDLink. The Pro version includes, apart from anything else, 3D LUT capability which allows you to get really good calibration.

FWIW, our equipment suppliers (Solutions Inc, who I highly recommend if you're in the UK - speak to Leo Manning-Jones, and tell 'im Dom sent ya!) have just installed a bunch of these rigs (exactly as yours Steve, but with the HDLink Pro) for Warner Bros, who have said of them (quote) "They are the best HD monitoring solution we have". Now, I've got no idea what their other monitoring solutions are, but I'll bet they're pretty damn good - either way, it's a great solution at a very low cost (UK prices, you can get the Dell/BM rig for about £800 = $1600).

Bars and manual adjustment is absolutely the way to go - at the end of the day, if your eye isn't good enough to calibrate, it ain't good enough to do the grade!