Hey guys,

Well we've all heard the news about the new Panasonic camera. I've put a lot of things on hold so I can get one! One really troublesome area though is monitoring the footage in a decent manner. Clearly any onboard LCD isn't going to cut it for critical focus. Heck, it's hard enough to use the LCD to focus SD! I've looked around and about the only monitors I can find are thousands +.

How hard do you guys think it would be to create a DIY monitor? I'm thinking that it should be easy enough to take the LCD out of a computer monitor (and/or modify it) and then work from there. I'm thinking that modding an LCD display would be easiest.

It shouldn't be too hard to reroute the power wiring to some onboard power supply. The tough part comes about finding a decent power supply that will 1) last 2) be relatively small and 3) fit the monitors requirements for voltage etc.

The second hard part comes about with adapting the video cable to accept video inputs. I'm not sure how to go about this at all. Anyone have suggestions?

Overall I think it's a relatively easy (ha famous last words) project - albeit somewhat expensive if you screw up/burn out an LCD or two. What do you guys think? I'm certainly not going to pay 3K+ for a $400 project.

How would you get the HD signal out of the camera? It's probably
far easier to just bring a laptop with a decent screen and run
some (capture?) software on it to see the signal?

Through the normal video out whether that be component or another variant. True about bringing a laptop. I'm just not sure I want to bring an expensive laptop with me into all shooting environments. Much easier to replace an LCD.

Yes, but I'm thinking of the following:

- is there any output on the camera that outputs a true HD signal (I don't know)

- is there any device that understands this signal and convert it into the signal the LCD/TFT screen needs to have

- does it really stay HD throughout the entire process

Guys I have seen converters for this..the apple cinema display is a great choice at only 1200$ it makes a WONDERFULL true HD monitor..get the box to take HD out from the camera and connect the apple display ...

Intersting! What about power though? I'd love it if that works!

I am not sure if this will work but I have to try it no matter what:
get a portable DVD player (as best (IMHO) price/size/quality/convenience choice, just for the screen) and get the signal to it. Z1 has a connector that plugs in and has (at the other end) RGB connectors that go into bigger LCD/plasma displays. That image is good enough (for me) for both framing/color correction/focus (after all, the monitor's settings are adjustable, right? and Z1 has color bars) I am sure other HD will have the same function as well.
As for power, most LCD's have an external power supply 110V to 12V DC. Just power it from any battery that will last long enough for the day and recharge over night.
Check out the fourth down this list:
http://www.allcam.biz/products/ptdvd.html

the deal is TRUE HD...this would be the big issue..you don't want Svideo or standard def on a great monitor..that is garbage trust me I have seen it..must be TRUE HD

This box from Blackmagic Design will display the HD signal on a computer LCD monitor:
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/site/hdlink.htm
or AJA Kona:
http://www.aja.com/hdp.htm.
Look for also at other A/D mini converters