i'm a producer who uses final cut pro on a 15" macbook pro. i often do my own rough cut and then start to work with an editor. but for that first pass on the footage, i'm looking to move to a larger, second monitor.

i've read great reviews of the apple cinema series along with the dell ultrasharps. lately, i've been shooting with the sony ex1/ex3 which produces a 1080 image. my questions:

if the footage is 1080 but the monitor is 720p, what happens? will the image be down-sized to fit 720 or will i lose image information on the sides?

i would like the color to be very good but i am not using this monitor to color grade the final project. does that change my ultimate decision as to which monitor?

during this holiday season, i've seen several hdtv/monitor by samsung, sony, panasonic and other brands pointed towards a consumer market, not a professional video maker. does the idea of using a hdtv/monitor change my ultimate decision as to which monitor?

i apologize in advance for my newbie-type questions.

thanks to any and all who care to share.

be well

rob

Yes. Both of those are adequate. But the question is how are you going to get your image to the monitor? You cannot monitor properly on the computer monitor. Your best solution for a MacBook Pro is the Matrox MXO2 which will convert that computer signal into proper video with correct color space and compensation for interlacing, if you are shooting 1080i. Then connect your Dell or Apple monitor to the MXO.