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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 :)

Which TV/Screen för color grading?

Christoffer Glans

Christoffer Glans

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I'm not sure that the Red Projector will come out this year and I'm not sure how good it will be for critical color grading. I'm planning to get it, but because there are no information I have to look at alternatives.

So, to not blow up my bank account with buying both a monitor AND the projector, I'm looking into getting a TV or monitor that is able to be calibrated properly and that has the best image you can get for a low price.
I got calibration software and hardware, but the settings on my current monitor is limited, most notably the six color settings which lacks the third setting (!) so I can only move the individual color dot on the gammut (while calibrating) in a limited way which means I cannot get the gammut correctly calibrated to REC709.

So, what TV or monitor has the best possible image and also has the best possible settings for calibration; grey points calibration, six color, black level, gamma etc.
For under 2500 USD (16 000 swedish)?

There's a lot of forums that talks about Eizos and such, but are they really good for color grading video? Most of them are made for print and photoshop, not video. To this day I haven't been able to find a reliable source of information about screens.
 
I'm not a colorist and am pretty much in the same boat as you are. First of all, my thoughts are here: http://wolfcrow.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-professional-display-monitor-part-one/

I know the HP Dreamcolor is a 10-bit monitor which covers Rec.709/NTSC/PAL easily. It is just within your budget. I am due to buy two monitors in April, one of which will be an Ultrasharp for GUI, so I'll be writing more stuff as I learn more.

Hope this helps.
 
Does dreamcolor have 1:1 mapping over HDMI, true progressive playback, grey points calibration, six color, black level, gamma? The HP dreamcolor is, as my own LG display I have currently, made for photoshop and print, it's a wide gammut display which makes accurate Rec709 problematic if you don't have true calibration tools within the display.
 
For the price-point, the Dreamcolor is (in my opinion) one of the best options. It wasn't designed for print but for a color-critical film and video environment (honestly, if I was working in print I'd likely go for an Eizo). The next step up would lead to either a professional level Panasonic plasma (or perhaps Sony) or to a Flaunders at almost twice the price (but well worth it). I think the Dreamcolor easily beats out other monitor solution at the $2000 to $2500 range.
 
Sareesh Sudhakaran said:
I'm not a colorist and am pretty much in the same boat as you are. First of all, my thoughts are here: http://wolfcrow.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-professional-display-monitor-part-one/

I know the HP Dreamcolor is a 10-bit monitor which covers Rec.709/NTSC/PAL easily. It is just within your budget. I am due to buy two monitors in April, one of which will be an Ultrasharp for GUI, so I'll be writing more stuff as I learn more.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Excellent article.. +1
 
Wouldn't a plasma for around 3000 USD be a better choice then the dreamcolor when looking at a grading critical output? There must be a choice which has all the calibration settings you need?
 
Are there any economical choices in terms of displays. Best would be a display with SDI, CMS calibration and blue only. I've got a C6 Calman 5 calibration tool but I need a display that I can really calibrate and that is considered ok for professional use. I know that I want something that might not exist,but there has to be some choice that is somewhat economical.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Are there any economical choices in terms of displays. Best would be a display with SDI, CMS calibration and blue only. I've got a C6 Calman 5 calibration tool but I need a display that I can really calibrate and that is considered ok for professional use. I know that I want something that might not exist,but there has to be some choice that is somewhat economical.
Click to expand...
Your two goals are at odds: you want something accurate, but you also want something affordable. There isn't one that will do both.

I can tell you that the Panasonic BT-300 plasma monitors are being used all over LA for color-correcting American network TV shows in HD. They do have the problems of ABL as Steve Shaw says above, but I don't find this is a deal-killer problem at the low levels we usually work at (30fL). No question, the best monitor to go with is something like the Dolby 4200 or a top-flight projector like one of the Barco, Christie, or Sony theatrical projectors.

The new Flanders line just shown at NAB might be a nice "inbetween" cost/feature choice that could work very well. I'd like to see the new 50" CT-500, which is about $7500, and I bet that would calibrate very well and beat plasma in a lot of ways.

http://cinescopophilia.com/flanders-scientific-dropped-three-monitors-at-ibc-2013/
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Are there any economical choices in terms of displays. Best would be a display with SDI, CMS calibration and blue only. I've got a C6 Calman 5 calibration tool but I need a display that I can really calibrate and that is considered ok for professional use. I know that I want something that might not exist,but there has to be some choice that is somewhat economical.
Click to expand...
I don't think there are any economical solutions with SDI in. And while consumer plasmas do suffer from ABL, the top models from Panasonic are definitely not the worst choice one can make in the price range. Although I wouldn't rely on one as my only monitoring solution.
 
I'm thinking the Eizo with SDI ports, but what about the Eizo CG246, I heard from a post house who tested the rec709 on it and it was spot on. Even though it doesn't have SDI inputs, is it possible to have a SDI to display port output from my Decklink HD Extreme 3D card for a 10-bit image? Or is it not recommended to do that?

At this time I'm not looking for very expensive equipment because grading isn't my primary line of work, if it becomes something I do more and more then yes, but right now I want to be able to offer a lower cost service but still be able to output something according to the standards.
 
You can use an HDLink in between your Decklink and your display to go from SDI to Displayport in 10 bit. I understand there are problems with the HDLinks if you use the built-in LUT capabilities, but if you're just running a straight signal it should be fine. You can also calibrate your Eizo's built-in LUT with Lightspace CMS (although the software would cost more than your monitor).
 
Steve Shaw said:
Plasmas are not at all ideal for grading due to ABL.
Click to expand...

Steve, I know how strongly you feel about this, but the fact is that plasmas are used as primary grading monitors in virtually every post facility that does television work in Los Angeles. That means they're used on more than 90% of the television programs Americans see, and a whole lot that the rest of the world sees as well.

Sometimes technical perfection is not the primary aim. There are other considerations for grading rooms, such as the ability of clients to view the images without dealing with off axis viewing issues and without having to sit on top of the monitor. Plasmas, especially the most recent Panasonic VT60 series, can be brought very close to a "proper" 709 display today. You can argue - and not necessarily incorrectly - that they are not as "perfect" as other device that you mention, but the reality is that they're being used very successfully with the most demanding clients in the world on a daily basis, and are considered the standard monitoring platform in the busiest post production market in the world. So they're not nearly as awful as you make them out to be.
 
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