okay maybe this is just me, but why can apple make an advanced piece of technology far superior than JUST an lcd screen (ie, camera monitors that we all buy)... and they can sell it for $500... but these monitors are costing us well over $500 for a decent set-up that all we will be using for is looking at a picture on the screen?! the ipad is only .5 inches thick and has a battery life of 10 hours too! geez

if im sorely mistaken and have for some reason missed the superior technological feat that it takes to create a high resolution screen, please correct me...

Refers to the Apple iPad.

No HDMI input, no HD resolution (only XGA)... not sure how you can draw a parallel to video monitors...?

Also, why did you post this to the EOS 7D Forum? Moved to The View (Monitors), where it belongs.

Chris I think you are missing the bigger picture in the question the Op was asking. That is why are most on camera monitors so expensive while offering inferior resolution and outdated technology in their screen panels?

Now obviously there is way more that goes into a pro monitor than just resolution or panel type, and we are talking about the giant that is apple and a mass market product vs the likes of Marshall, Ikan and SmallHD who are minnows by comparison and selling to a niche market...but still it does make you pause for thought.

I mean lets take stock - its the year 2010 - last week i was thinking why has no one brought out a portable monitor with an OLED panel we can use...then I find out Marshal will be soon...but its over $2k...and it STILL only offers 800*480 (making it much less 'HD' than the ipad)

I mean if Marshall or someone just brought something out that had a TRUE HD 1280*720 res - 9" or 10" panel WITH bluegun AND 1:1 pixel mapping AND peaking AND False color...hell id slap down my $2k no questions asked.

I'm exactly wondering the same.
It would be great if some hardware manufacturer might make an HDMI input adaptor for the iPad. Along with a simple monitor software and BINGO: I have a great monitor for my camera.

There will already be a USB and SDCard adaptor available for the iPad (according to Apple site). So an HDMI input adaptor might also be possible?

Anyway, my biggest problem is that in the professional video world everything costs a lot of money. From simple things as rails and handles to over the top expensive monitors.

I understand that research costs money, but when I see that some companies are asking $1000+ for something as simple as a follow focus (which are just a couple of gears put together) I know that this is a world ruled by big money.
For the record, I know a FF needs to respond well and fluid and such and that it takes research and maybe CNC machined gears to get it perfect. But in the end it's still just gears in a box.

according to Apple insider wall street annalists estimate that apple will sell 5 million ipads in their first year and 8 million in 2011

I'm sure Marshall and ikan would love design and produce dedicated lower cost chipsets and panels AND drop the price by 75% price it they knew the industry would purchase over 12 million units in two two years ... you going to buy a hdmi/sdi monitor for every one in your family and give them as Christmas presents??

hmmm 12 million divided by 730 days =16 thousand units a day

i doubt Marsahll or ikan make 16 thouousand of any model much less sell 16 thousand in a day

its all about scale





Chris I think you are missing the bigger picture in the question the Op was asking. That is why are most on camera monitors so expensive while offering inferior resolution and outdated technology in their screen panels?

Now obviously there is way more that goes into a pro monitor than just resolution or panel type, and we are talking about the giant that is apple and a mass market product vs the likes of Marshall, Ikan and SmallHD who are minnows by comparison and selling to a niche market...but still it does make you pause for thought.

I mean lets take stock - its the year 2010 - last week i was thinking why has no one brought out a portable monitor with an OLED panel we can use...then I find out Marshal will be soon...but its over $2k...and it STILL only offers 800*480 (making it much less 'HD' than the ipad)

I mean if Marshall or someone just brought something out that had a TRUE HD 1280*720 res - 9" or 10" panel WITH bluegun AND 1:1 pixel mapping AND peaking AND False color...hell id slap down my $2k no questions asked.

and now the scale part of things IS making sense to me now

just give me hdmi on the ipad and ill buy one! ahhhh

just give me hdmi on the ipad and ill buy one! ahhhh
That's pretty much what went through my mind yesterday when I saw the iPad :-). Never mind the apps and the wifi and stuff -- let me use that gorgeous screen!

no i was right the first time
quote from Apple Insider regarding estimated sales

"Reiner has included sales of 1.1 million iPad units in the first year in his projections, a total he said is conservative. For the second year, he has forecast 4 million, while checks with suppliers indicate Apple is prepared to ship 10 million units.""

this was my erroneous correction to my original calculations

i made a error in my calculations

the wall street guys are talking dollar sales and not units

so lets go with a 600$ average price thats still 20,000 units .... much less than my very wrong first calculation ... but still a good bit more than what the ikans and marshals mfg of their monitors


and now the scale part of things IS making sense to me now

just give me hdmi on the ipad and ill buy one! ahhhh

Don't forget the oft-used term of "loss leader" which big boys like Apple (iPad?), Microsoft (XBox) and others can do but Marshall et al can't. They take a hit on the hardware in order to enable sales of software. In the case of XBox it's games that pay a licensing and possibly a royalty fee. In the case of iPad it's additional developer licenses, app sales (in which Apple takes a cut), and now eBooks. Marshall and the rest sell hardware only, no expansion...

Sorry Ryan but Im fairly certain the term "loss leader" isnt in apples dictionary - I doubt there would be ANYTHING they sell at ANY level that generates a loss in the hopes of making it up elsewhere.

Dont let the logo fool you, there is only one kind of tree planted out the back of apple HQ!

The specs on their website talk about a composite and component video adaptor for the IPAD dock connection, is that something that will allow connection of a video camera?

If you look at the camera accessoire (USB and SD card) it states that it will be able to also get video from your camera.

Now MAYBE (big maybe) there will be an app iMovie like that will handle the video streamed from the camera => it should be possible to get live video from your camera.
But that will only work if your camera supports video via USB.

On the other side I think it will just access the card of the camera and copy the video from there, not streaming it.

Ah, an HDMI input piece of adaptor would be so great :-)

since it will play movies and media i imagine most likely those are OUTPUTS for playing back your i-tunes purchases .....

The specs on their website talk about a composite and component video adaptor for the IPAD dock connection, is that something that will allow connection of a video camera?

The specs on their website talk about a composite and component video adaptor for the IPAD dock connection, is that something that will allow connection of a video camera?

Definitely OUTPUTS, not inputs. (Edit: Snap! Sorry, Michael.)

check out the blog entry on www.ikancorp.wordpress.com... just shared a few thoughts on the matter...

I couldn't help but chime in here, because i have seen this similar question so much lately it's driving me nuts.

The screen on the iPad is nice: IPS, 1024x768 (4:3, so an effective 1024x576 for most people), and would probably produce a very nice image. But the price argument isn't fair because (and Michael above was correct here), they just have MASSIVE volumes, and when you have that much clout, you pretty much call the shots with your suppliers. "Hey Samsung, you will make me this panel, and you will make it for this price. If you don't, i'll find someone else who can and they'll get my 3mil/year order quantity." If Marshall or Ikan or SmallHD were to buy the same hardware it would cost 2-3 times, or possible more for the raw materials, because they simply can't buy as many. Bottom line, the higher the quantity, the less the cost. The market for these field monitors is minuscule in comparison. Also, and I can't say this with any kind of certainty, but i'd be willing to bet they have plans for digital content distribution that is part of a long term strategy - to price as low as possible, and get these devices into as many hands as possible. The money will come from enormous app and digital content sales. Apple is shifting this way, and now their goal is to just get their hardware into your hands. Part of why you can get an iPhone for 99 bucks these days.

Pricing aside - i'd be shocked if this thing has the horsepower to ingest (even if you could ever physically get the signal to it somehow, don't think the single data connector on this thing would support a 19pin HDMI connector with all the dedicated pins reserved already, plus power and whatever else you guys are wanting) 1080P video and in real-time scale it to fit the screen. It currently only supports 720p video playback. This tells me if it can't even play 1080p video, i doubt it can ingest, down-convert, and then play 1080p video. And as we all know most cameras nowadays are 1080p. This is the most fundamental problem i see (along with several others) with the iPad as a standalone field monitor solution... but i could be wrong. Maybe it's a magical 1ghz chip. I'm just skeptical that a device made to compete with the Kindle would be able to manhandle uncompressed Full HD video...

I do see it having potential in other areas though, like the iPhone.. (b/c after all it is just a slightly beefed up iPhone). Focus/exposure control, directors preview monitor (if it could maybe ingest an SD signal, or via USB like the 5D/7D can)... etc. Who knows.

One thing's for sure... it's interesting. And even if it doesn't work out as a field monitor, you can be rest assured that it will be driving field monitor companies harder. The next iPad might be the one that kills it.

how about as a teleprompter then? Im sure people already use the ipod touch and iphones for this...here the ipad would be ideal - especially if someone wrote a dedicated 'app' for that.

Wouldn't latency be an issue too?