What is the actual limitation of dsmc2 sending out a normal + 1:1 over hdmi.

[Joel Arvidsson]

What is the limiting factor in dsmc2 (in this case the helium) that stopping us from getting the 1:1 function working while recording? The dream would be to have a second monitor that always shows 1:1. But that will never goingto happen in dsmc2. But Im still curios what is the limitation.

 

[Les Hillis]

That's a question for the engineers at RED really.

It's a hardware limitation of some kind, related to the boards that process and send out the monitoring signal.

The same or a similar limitations also exist with other combinations and kinds of monitoring using the DSMC2 internals.

Whether that's entirely by necessity or by choice as well I don't know.

As it is, the 'Zoom' magnification you get with DSMC2 is an actual crop of the sensor down to its lowest resolution (2K with the 8K Helium), so that partly explains why you can't see that crop of the sensor at the same time as you record the full sensor (because you'd be trying to read and display the sensor at two resolutions at the same time).

To have the HDMI or SDI do the Zoom/Magnification of the full resolution (or other resolution) signal on the fly must also be limited somehow by the internal processing capabilities of the camera's HDMI and SDI signals as well. The HDMI output is limited to 1080p anyway as well, so even if you could magnify that internally, I'm not sure what the image-quality would be like.

When you record ProRes and R3D's at the same time, the ProRes is also limited to the same sized frame chosen for the R3D, so there's no simultaneous display of the frame at different magnifications available there either.

Using a third-party monitor as a way of magnifying the image could work, but again you'd be magnifying the signal it receives, not the original sensor-level image, so...

Short answer is, the DSMC2 internal boards just weren't designed and made to do it, while DSMC3 has more advanced internal signal processing/relaying.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

On the dsmc3 you have atleast a 4k signal for extarnal monitor to crop into. But I belive a 1:1 picture would be better. I prefer putting focus points on the follow focus when I can viewing the signal 1:1 for precision. But a lot of times when I pull the focus on the fly, I wish I had a referens with 1:1for 100% confidens. What is your favorit monitor and what focusing tool? I nail the focus, but looking better focusing tools.

 

[Les Hillis]

I just use a manual follow-focus that has adjustable focus stops on it, with a RED 7" monitor and it's focus tools.

I can see the appeal and understand the necessity of bigger monitors and non-camera-attached follow-focus controlling, but I don't really want or need to use the modern focusing options, so I'm the wrong person to ask about those.

Maybe someone else can offer some suggestions.