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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 :)

LCD Monitor Shootout

LCD Monitor Shootout

  • JVC DT-V24L1DU 24-inch Production LCD

    Votes: 20 28.6%
  • Sony 24” WUXGA High Grade LUMA Monitor with HD-SDI

    Votes: 12 17.1%
  • Black Magic HD Link to 24" Dell or 30" Apple Cinema Display

    Votes: 23 32.9%
  • Panasonic BT-LH2600W

    Votes: 15 21.4%

  • Total voters
    70
what is the difference between the eCinema DCM23 and the FX? I dont see the FX on their website.

BandPro has the DCM23 on sale for $6500:

** eCinema Systems DCM23 Special **

Current US MSRP for this monitor is US $16,995. For the next thirty days, Band Pro customers will be able to purchase DCM23's for US $6,495, a discount of 60%! Simply contact Band Pro Sales at 818-841-9655 to place your order. Other conditions may apply.
 
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.

Perhaps a better understanding of my setup is what's in order here, but I do like the feature set of the JVC. And at that price point, it's very tempting. But I would have to order it, try it out next to my current setup, and see how much better it is, i.e. is it $3700 better.

Anyway, if anyone wants to share their experience with the Black Magic solution, I'd really appreciate it. Mike Curtis has already been helpful to me in this regard, saying that having the BM for judging pixel info and CRT for judging color is one way to go.

Thanks,
Steve
 
At NAB 2007 I was beeing told that e-cinema monitor cannot be sold in EU, because of special material they use to build it, and which is not legal in EU. Of course I think they will work on it, as Europe might be interesting for business... though a guy from their booth was like joking at EU law, saying we are stupid...

And I didn't see them in IBC this year, so it might be because they haven't yet work on the problem.

IMHO, when SONY will get its LCD "BVM replacement" it will be the best LCD available, but I think they will be match to the price of BVM.
For now I still think SONY BVM are the best monitor for CC, but depending for what I would color correct (theatre release), I might prefer to CC on DLP projector.

antoine.
 
DP90_N.jpg


Probably on Barco D-Cine Premiere DP90P Dedicated Post Production projector

"The Barco DP90P is the only digital cinema projector on the market today, specifically designed and built to meet the enhanced performance needs of the post production market.
Based on 2k DLP Cinema™ technology from Texas Instruments, the DP90P projector is the first dedicated post production projector to enable an enhanced color gamut, significantly exceeding the current DCI and SMPTE recommended color space. When combined with a Post Production edition of the D-Cine Communicator software, this increased color space provides the production professional with the tools to perform at the highest level.
The DP90P comes fitted with a motorized lens holder and CLO software which ensures constant light output of the projector over time."

LINK >>
 
2K + display capability is something worth talking about. Under 5K is the thread however. I certainly don't have any answers as even our on board Astro HD-SDI monitor is over 5K.
 
ip240mprod.jpg

QUATO Intelli Proof 260 motion excellence

Full HD Video Processing Displays with ITU-R BT.1361-compliant calibration >
"The new Intelli Proof 260 motion excellence displays (26") are optimized for Video editing, cutting and controlling. As color confidence and color management for motion content is as essential as it is for prepress and photography, the new displays have been developed by using the same calibration technology as Quato´s highly awarded Intelli Proof and Intelli Proof excellence displays. With a special wide color gamut panel, the model 260 is able to reproduce nearly the full NTSC and the digital Cinema (DCI) gamut while the model 240 is primary focused on the PAL-Standard and HDTV. The integrated 14bit hardware-calibration ensures an excellent color reproduction - no matter what input source is being used. Apart from professional video input- and output-interfaces like SDI-HD and Component, the display also features two DVI-connectors for computer based connections."

Technical data and features >
Video-optimized TFTs with 24” / 26” size and HD+ resolution of 1.920 x 1.200 pixel
direct calibration of the 3x 14bit LUT and 30 bit color output
HDTV (ITU-R BT.1361 / BT.709) or DCI (Gamma 2.6, 6.300K) compliant calibration
iColor Display 2 calibration-software and hood included, measuremnt device optional
48Hz (Cinema), 50Hz (PAL) and 60Hz (NTSC) modes, Picture-in-Picture feature
SDI-HD-, Component-, S-Video RGB- and DVI-connectors

Intelli Proof 260 me 26“ TFT Broadcast Monitor 4.200 EUR (netto)

LINK >>
 
At NAB 2007 I was beeing told that e-cinema monitor cannot be sold in EU, because of special material they use to build it, and which is not legal in EU.
Probably lead. The EU is mandating RoHS compliance.

IMHO, when SONY will get its LCD "BVM replacement" it will be the best LCD available, but I think they will be match to the price of BVM.
You mean the BVM-L? In the ballpark of $25k. They were showing it at NAB (and IBC I believe) with a color matching demonstration between it and similarly-sized BVM CRTs.

It looks decent.
The CRTs will flare if picture luminance is high, reducing black level/contrast (it should reduce saturation too).
The CRTs don't show full HD resolution. (The 32" model is better.)

On dark scenes the BVM-L's black level is not as good.

Those are the things I noticed.

eCinemasys is claiming much better black levels (on their DPX models)... it seems like they might still be one step ahead of Sony.
 
Okay here is what I did. I might get attacked on this one, but I'll try to duck.

I'm going to keep the Black Magic setup Decklink extreme>HD Link>Dell 24". This will let me see full 1080 and 720 signals for pixel information.

I ordered a Sony PVM-14M4U that I will use for color decisions. I ordered the monitor from David Riddle and it's new (as in never been used, not new model). They do a thorough calibration on the monitor before it gets sent out, including burning it in for 4 days and then recalibrating. It's an SD CRT but the high end HD CRTs were out of my budget. I'll be running component to it using the HD>SD downconversion from Decklink Card.

Really, it came down to wanting an accurate monitor that fit into a certain price range. The LCDs that have been deemed close to CRT color quality were way out of my budget, as were the HD CRTs. I almost ordered the JVC 24" HDSDI LCD and even looked at the JVC HD CRT which actually was in the budget range, but decided the calibrated Sony was more affordable and will probably give me the color accuracy that my current LCD monitoring can't.

I'm open to people's opinion on this, in fact I welcome it. I know guys like Glenn Chan and Mike Curtis have a lot of experience with this stuff, and I'm sure many others do too and I will certainly listen to any suggestions. I can still reconsider my decision if given enough reason to do so.

Thanks to everyone that have chimed in so far. It's very helpful.

Steve
 
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?

Steve

Windows doesn't like loading 2 color profiles on the one dual head video card....that's if thats your setup! There is a microsoft app called 'Color' on MS site that lets you load 2 separate color profiles on the one dual head card. I loaded it and using ColorPro Spyder2 sofware, if I apply the color profile to screen 2 then apply screen 1's profile, it seems to work. I'm still playing with it but not too sure how the MS Color application interacts with the ColorPro.
 
Windows doesn't like loading 2 color profiles on the one dual head video card....that's if thats your setup! There is a microsoft app called 'Color' on MS site that lets you load 2 separate color profiles on the one dual head card. I loaded it and using ColorPro Spyder2 sofware, if I apply the color profile to screen 2 then apply screen 1's profile, it seems to work. I'm still playing with it but not too sure how the MS Color application interacts with the ColorPro.

I'm on a Mac, but that's interesting about the 2 color profiles.

Steve
 
You are talking about a monitor to have on location, right?

I've used the Panasonic on a few shoots now and I like it a lot. For a HD shoot the built-in waveform is a life saver. You immediately see if your whites are still holding and how much your blacks are above the noise level.

Even the 8-inch version is very good and has a waveform as well.

Compared to the Z1-Screen the blacks looked a bit greenish but I think that this is a Z1 problem.

I once had the 6-inch Astro during a camera test. This monitor is extremely sharp and has a way better waveform than the Panasonic. Unfortunately it has a noisy fan and therefore you can not use it on a set.

Simon
 
While I was at NAB last year, I decided to purchase 2600H after seeing them everywhere. Apple, AJA, Adobe and more! Apples Color app was one of the main reasons after viewing that made my decision. And of course the 2k feature. I don't see it being soft at all. But then again that's just my opinion.
 
Just found this really interesting thread through Google...

Okay here is what I did. I might get attacked on this one, but I'll try to duck.

I'm going to keep the Black Magic setup Decklink extreme>HD Link>Dell 24". This will let me see full 1080 and 720 signals for pixel information.

I ordered a Sony PVM-14M4U that I will use for color decisions. I ordered the monitor from David Riddle and it's new (as in never been used, not new model). They do a thorough calibration on the monitor before it gets sent out, including burning it in for 4 days and then recalibrating. It's an SD CRT but the high end HD CRTs were out of my budget. I'll be running component to it using the HD>SD downconversion from Decklink Card.

That's almost EXACTLY what I'm planning to do!

Have you found a way to simultaneously send SD to your Sony CRT and HD to your Dell LCD when editing an HD project?

Or do you do your "offline" edit with the Blackmagic Decklink HD card set to output HD (i.e. you can't use your Sony CRT but you can see the full 1920x1080 on your LCD so you can safely assess focus when picking which take to use etc)... then, when you've finished editing and you're grading, do you tell your Blackmagic card to downconvert HD to SD so you can use your CRT for grading?

Have you come across any colour space conversion issues?
 
I have moved onto AJA Kona 3 but everything else still the same. KONA can do hardware conversion. BM uses software. I like hardware.
 
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